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As Steve Jobs eloquently put it in his Stanford commencement speech: "Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent." In my

As Steve Jobs eloquently put it in his Stanford commencement speech: "Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent." In my opinion this not just applies to the species as whole but to individuals, too: Old people tend to become set in their ways. It's not overpopulation but this very issue that's the most evident problem with extreme longevity or immortality: As soon as a significant amount of people will be able to live forever, change and human development will likely cease to exist in the long run. Perhaps this can be delayed by not just rejuvenating the body but at the same time also preventing the biochemical processes that lead to fossilization of thinking but in the end this might be unavoidable and ultimately lead to the extinction of the human race due to sheer boredom.

alejohausner 11y ago
Then again, maybe Jobs' view of death was colored by knowing he had pancreatic cancer. It might have made him more fatalistic. Also, can it be said that the older Steve was more set in his ways than when he was younger? His example argues against characterizing old people in that way. Mind you, he's just one data point.
- BjoernKW 11y ago
  Perhaps he wasn't in a way that would've kept him from innovating our industry but there's a thin line between knowing your purpose and becoming single-minded to the extent that you become stubborn and don't accept criticism or new ideas anymore. Steve Jobs showed some signs of that later in his life. Besides, 56 certainly isn't old age, especially nowadays and even more so when your daily activity involves thinking about new product ideas that have the potential to change the world.
  - alejohausner 11y ago
    I see your point. I was kind of equivocating "being set in one's ways" with "being uncreative". Jobs was certainly single-minded throughout his life. In a way, he was set in his ways from an early age, at least in that sense.
sliverstorm 11y ago
Old people tend to become set in their ways We have opposing problems approaching though. As our fields of knowledge grow ever deeper, our investment in education in each individual grows and their productive years grow fewer. With a fixed lifespan, there is a fixed amount of education you can invest in a person. That will either limit our development of science, math, etc or it will force us ever further down the road of abstraction piled on top of abstraction.

alejohausner 11y ago

Then again, maybe Jobs' view of death was colored by knowing he had pancreatic cancer. It might have made him more fatalistic. Also, can it be said that the older Steve was more set in his ways than when he was younger? His example argues against characterizing old people in that way. Mind you, he's just one data point.

BjoernKW 11y ago
Perhaps he wasn't in a way that would've kept him from innovating our industry but there's a thin line between knowing your purpose and becoming single-minded to the extent that you become stubborn and don't accept criticism or new ideas anymore. Steve Jobs showed some signs of that later in his life. Besides, 56 certainly isn't old age, especially nowadays and even more so when your daily activity involves thinking about new product ideas that have the potential to change the world.
- alejohausner 11y ago
  I see your point. I was kind of equivocating "being set in one's ways" with "being uncreative". Jobs was certainly single-minded throughout his life. In a way, he was set in his ways from an early age, at least in that sense.

sliverstorm 11y ago

Old people tend to become set in their ways We have opposing problems approaching though. As our fields of knowledge grow ever deeper, our investment in education in each individual grows and their productive years grow fewer. With a fixed lifespan, there is a fixed amount of education you can invest in a person. That will either limit our development of science, math, etc or it will force us ever further down the road of abstraction piled on top of abstraction.