Immortality: 20 years away? (without spelling or theological errors!)

[Desdichado]

In order to maintain my plan, I need to Dictator (or Dicator, like Barsoomcore )

Sorry, barsoomcore's got my support for Dicator. But I'll back you as Minister of Immortality if you like.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Sorry, barsoomcore's got my support for Dicator. But I'll back you as Minister of Immortality if you like.

Hmm. Minister of Immortality. I like the sound of that. And Barsoomcore would be the one who would get most of the assassiantion attempts. Sure, I can live with that!

 

[Torm]

I don't want to live forever. Even if resources weren't an issue, there's just so much to do, really. I'm raising my kids, and eventually they'll probably have kids, and I'll be a grandpa, and that will be new. And when they have kids, it'll probably still be a kick. But beyond watching them grow up, it seems like it is going to get mighty boring and repetitive - especially since people really only have so much time for so many people in their lives. And I've heard a lot of people say, "What about seeing the Wonders of the World?" or some such. I've gotta tell you, I've seen a lot of stuff like that already - neat enough, but eh.

I have no plans to cause this to happen by any means, but I think that I would like very much for my wife and I to kick off together, on Sept. 4th, 2053 - we'd get to celebrate our 61st wedding anniversary a few months before, and go out on the 62nd anniversary of the day we met. Generationally, that would probably put our great-grandkids old enough to handle it, emotionally, and our great-greats unborn or too little to know anything happened. And it is well away in the year from my kids' birthdays - I wouldn't want them to get bummed every year afterward because we died on their birthday or something. I hope none of the grandkids are born on Sept. 4th.

I'd be 78 and she 77. Not a bad run. Unfortunately, there's very little control over these things. I'll probably get hit by a bus tomorrow.

P.S. to Josh: Who says we don't have a lunar colony? And heck, maybe it'll even be declassified where you can know about it before we die of old age.

 

[Angcuru]

chit chat about immortality

Thing is, immortality in the form of ceased aging is a genetic possibility. See, there's these things called telomeres that cap off every strand of our DNA. The more intact the telemore, the more perfect the divided DNA-containing cell is. As time goes on, the telomeres decay, and eventually, the divided cells start to get screwy. Hence old people looking saggy, people getting cancer, etc. Our bodies are constantly being rebuilt from the inside. Every so often, your body's cells have been replaced to the point that you are not physically the same person you were some time ago ('cept for brain cells). This is why we grow old and die. Now, to achieve immortality in a sense, all we have to do is find a way to prevent telomeres from decaying. Problem is, this would require constant injections of whatever chemical can do this (or regular replacements of whatever nano-tech devices we concieve to do this for us), and this be intrusive and majorly expensive.

I for one, don't want to be immortal. I believe that immortality is the most sought-after curse in human history. (an you can quote me on that)

 

[Zappo]

I think brain-to-machine interfacing and the possibility of running a mind as a computer program would be more interesting. What's so special about having a body anyway?

 

[Darrin Drader]

When you capture Bond, you shoot him, then bring me the body as proof. Much safer and more pleasant that way.

What's the point? Didn't you hear? He's been fired.

 

[Darrin Drader]

What's so special about having a body anyway?

One word: Johnsons.

 

[Terath Ninir]

What's the point? Didn't you hear? He's been fired.

There's always another one coming along, foiling one's plans.

Torm: After seeing, say, your great-grandkids grow up, why would you bother keeping in contact with your family, anyway? You'd only be of the most casual relation with your great-great-grandkids. Hell, there's a chance that random strangers you meet are closer related to you. No need to pay attention to "family" that remote...

Angcuru: Immortality is only a curse if you have a small imagination.

 

[Shemeska]

Thing is, immortality in the form of ceased aging is a genetic possibility. See, there's these things called telomeres that cap off every strand of our DNA. The more intact the telemore, the more perfect the divided DNA-containing cell is. As time goes on, the telomeres decay, and eventually, the divided cells start to get screwy. Hence old people looking saggy, people getting cancer, etc. Our bodies are constantly being rebuilt from the inside. Every so often, your body's cells have been replaced to the point that you are not physically the same person you were some time ago ('cept for brain cells). This is why we grow old and die. Now, to achieve immortality in a sense, all we have to do is find a way to prevent telomeres from decaying. Problem is, this would require constant injections of whatever chemical can do this (or regular replacements of whatever nano-tech devices we concieve to do this for us), and this be intrusive and majorly expensive.

Mmmmm....Telomerase. The vast majority of human cells don't actively produce it, and thus we slowly tick down towards damage to our chromosomes as each cell division hacks off bits and pieces of the repeat codon sequences at the ends. There's contention, last I checked, however as if this is the cause or a byproduct of the limit in terms of divisions in somatic cells.

Cells that do have active telomerase don't have a limit to division, however they're almost always cancerous. Thus our catch 22, how to have active telomerase without predisposing the body to cancer. Limited cell disivions may in fact be one of the body's ways of limiting cancer within the body. You also have the issue of certain genes being less active in later years, and we're not sure if they're coordinated as we age to do this, or if it's a byproduct of various cells/tissues aging and slowly failing, bit by bit.

I'll settle with non cancerous, immortal cells and eternal youth. Though every so often I may find myself wanting to take a dip in the Styx and start over

 

[Torm]

Torm: After seeing, say, your great-grandkids grow up, why would you bother keeping in contact with your family, anyway? You'd only be of the most casual relation with your great-great-grandkids. Hell, there's a chance that random strangers you meet are closer related to you. No need to pay attention to "family" that remote....

Right. And they'd be of only casual relation to me - which, knowing my luck, I would need them to feel much closer, since odds are good I would have the sort of immortality where you just keep getting older and older.

Angcuru: Immortality is only a curse if you have a small imagination.

Not Angcuru, but methinks you have some word other than "immortal" in mind. Means forever. Even if you have an almost infinite number of things to do, you've got an INFINITE amount of time to do it in. You will get terminally bored. Only, wait, that's right - "terminal" doesn't apply! Frack!

Besides which, a lot of the things I can imagine are bad - if I can take those out, that narrows down the field of stuff to do a good bit, making boredom more likely, and if I can't (more likely) that means an infinity of mostly pain and things sucking.

If someone told me I and my wife, could be guaranteed to live exactly 1,000 years, at our current ages, THAT I might consider. But still probably not - I wouldn't want to outlive my kids. If someone told me that they were about to make me IMMORTAL, I would shoot them first. (Or, if they've already made THEMSELVES immortal, a nice, thick steel box placed at the bottom of the ocean will do nicely. )