3 ms·

In all seriousness, the price for eternal youth will be the cost of production and shipping. If it turns out to be a compound for eternal youth, then it can be

In all seriousness, the price for eternal youth will be the cost of production and shipping. If it turns out to be a compound for eternal youth, then it can be reverse engineered by labs in China or India (or anywhere). There is no sufficient patent, IP law, moral high ground about R&D expenses. The world will be supplied at the cost of production and shipping.

jacquesm 10y ago
Just like the cost of all medication is just production and shipping?
- yazaddaruvala 10y ago
  My doctors in the US, were hesitant to give me an MRI for my knee because of costs (~$1000 per MRI). Something about the insurance company needing some prerequisites. Fair enough. My knee really wasn't that bad, and I lived my life. 3 months later I was in India for other reasons. I walked into a clinic, spent $96, two days later I had the results of my MRI. I was handed a CD with the raw image files they collected (MRI specific file format). I had "printouts" of those images. I even had a note in english for a layperson like myself to understand. Later, I took those MRI files to my doctors in the US. They confirmed all the findings, and suggested the same things as the doctors in India and I went along my way. Unprovoked the Ortho looking at my knee and the MRI even exclaimed, "thats the best $100 MRI I've ever seen". In this case, the total costs of production/shipping were higher than they would have been in the US. But that is because I had to ship myself (i.e. ~$2000 round trip). However, I built it into my vacation, so the MRI essentially cost me the ~$100 for "production". I've had single dinners which are more expensive. Taking pictures of your body is relatively innocent. Medication is a little more tricky. You need to be able to trust the source. However, if layperson B can trust the source of the Heroin they consistently buy on Silk Road, I have no doubts that the trust issues for medication will be solved far before we have compound "eternal youth". For what its worth, we just happen to have insurance so we tend to think everyone buys drugs legally like we do. Do some research about what people without options actually do. Did you watch the "Dallas Buyers Club"? Where do you think poor diabetics get Insulin, or Metaformin? Even today, Metaformin being an "anti-aging" drug, is even imported from China and sold without prescription. If you're still not convinced: Think about the risk reward calculation for a second. Importing illegal drugs, risk (aside from eating bad pills): 50 years in prison. Reward: You're now eternally young. Endure a really poor 50 years, then a long long time from now, watch the universe slowly end as you eat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, fondly looking back at the last bajillion years.
Practicality 10y ago
I am supposing that it will be incredibly expensive, something like $1 trillion/person or something along those lines. Hence, the 1,000 years of debt. A lot of people will take the deal anyway.
- yazaddaruvala 10y ago
  No way. For example: Is it illegal to buy lab equipment? No. Is it illegal to make medical compounds in your home? No. Is it illegal to violate patent or copyright law with zero intent to distribute and monetize? No. For a couple 10s or 100s of millions of dollars I could buy the infrastructure to build the compound in my garage. Depending on the legality, potentially use it to feed friends and family as gifts. Sell the infrastructure. All of a sudden the compound's cost is determined by your ability to buy and sell on craigslist. Meanwhile, why go through all the trouble? Just go on Yelp, find a reputable seller in Brazil, China, or India (somewhere it is not illegal to buy). Spend $5000 on a vacation, and another couple thousand on the compound. At most (for the poorest people) its a couple years (10 maybe) of debt.

jacquesm 10y ago

Just like the cost of all medication is just production and shipping?

yazaddaruvala 10y ago
My doctors in the US, were hesitant to give me an MRI for my knee because of costs (~$1000 per MRI). Something about the insurance company needing some prerequisites. Fair enough. My knee really wasn't that bad, and I lived my life. 3 months later I was in India for other reasons. I walked into a clinic, spent $96, two days later I had the results of my MRI. I was handed a CD with the raw image files they collected (MRI specific file format). I had "printouts" of those images. I even had a note in english for a layperson like myself to understand. Later, I took those MRI files to my doctors in the US. They confirmed all the findings, and suggested the same things as the doctors in India and I went along my way. Unprovoked the Ortho looking at my knee and the MRI even exclaimed, "thats the best $100 MRI I've ever seen". In this case, the total costs of production/shipping were higher than they would have been in the US. But that is because I had to ship myself (i.e. ~$2000 round trip). However, I built it into my vacation, so the MRI essentially cost me the ~$100 for "production". I've had single dinners which are more expensive. Taking pictures of your body is relatively innocent. Medication is a little more tricky. You need to be able to trust the source. However, if layperson B can trust the source of the Heroin they consistently buy on Silk Road, I have no doubts that the trust issues for medication will be solved far before we have compound "eternal youth". For what its worth, we just happen to have insurance so we tend to think everyone buys drugs legally like we do. Do some research about what people without options actually do. Did you watch the "Dallas Buyers Club"? Where do you think poor diabetics get Insulin, or Metaformin? Even today, Metaformin being an "anti-aging" drug, is even imported from China and sold without prescription. If you're still not convinced: Think about the risk reward calculation for a second. Importing illegal drugs, risk (aside from eating bad pills): 50 years in prison. Reward: You're now eternally young. Endure a really poor 50 years, then a long long time from now, watch the universe slowly end as you eat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, fondly looking back at the last bajillion years.

Practicality 10y ago

I am supposing that it will be incredibly expensive, something like $1 trillion/person or something along those lines. Hence, the 1,000 years of debt. A lot of people will take the deal anyway.

yazaddaruvala 10y ago
No way. For example: Is it illegal to buy lab equipment? No. Is it illegal to make medical compounds in your home? No. Is it illegal to violate patent or copyright law with zero intent to distribute and monetize? No. For a couple 10s or 100s of millions of dollars I could buy the infrastructure to build the compound in my garage. Depending on the legality, potentially use it to feed friends and family as gifts. Sell the infrastructure. All of a sudden the compound's cost is determined by your ability to buy and sell on craigslist. Meanwhile, why go through all the trouble? Just go on Yelp, find a reputable seller in Brazil, China, or India (somewhere it is not illegal to buy). Spend $5000 on a vacation, and another couple thousand on the compound. At most (for the poorest people) its a couple years (10 maybe) of debt.