8 ms·

The tech is still fun and cool, it's the hype that's taxing. VCs promising to invent human immortality 'we're going to solve the problem of death' was the pinna

by dpweb 10y ago

The tech is still fun and cool, it's the hype that's taxing. VCs promising to invent human immortality 'we're going to solve the problem of death' was the pinnacle of their hubris. Calm down guys. A global communication network is great but it ain't an invention on the level of a cancer cure. People who love computers take a hobbyists view. It used to be a hobbyist thing. That's gone forever if you look at the world the influence now of global power structures and corrosive effects of greed. You can preserve the hobbyist mentality about it yourself in your own pure joy of it but if you don't naturally your going to get disillusioned about the whole thing.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
> VCs promising to invent human immortality 'we're going to solve the problem of death' was the pinnacle of their hubris. I have a different view. I'm thinking, "finally someone is fucking serious about what should obviously be the goal of everyone". If rich SV people are willing to throw money at something actually useful for a change, I'm all for it.
- shshhdhs 10y ago
  I disagree. It should not be the goal of everyone because we have hundreds of other larger humanitarian issues on earth than delaying aging & dying. That literally is a "first world problem". Let's fix the crises first
  - nathcd 10y ago
    Why not both? To me, your argument sounds a bit like the argument that we shouldn't be exploring space because we have enough problems here on earth.
    - shshhdhs 10y ago
      Both is fine. I disagreed with OP that it is the goal of "everyone". It is only the problem of the rich.
      - enraged_camel 10y ago
        Really? Mortality is only a problem of the rich? Huh... interesting.
        shshhdhs 10y ago
        Mortality by age, and mortality by violence, starvation, sanitary conditions, diseases, etc, etc are very different problems. See the difference?
  - adrusi 10y ago
    If you can give a million rich people an extra 1000 years of life, is that not as good as giving 100 million poor people an extra 10? Arguably it's better since those thousand years are going to be spent in greater comfort than the 10 years in the other case. How much should we value global justice relative to human life?
    - shshhdhs 10y ago
      The problem I see with your strawman is that only the rich have the ability to extend age for the rich, further leaving the poor behind who are unable to close the humanitarian gaps on their own. What have we done to deserve to live 1000 years while others starve, other than being born in better circumstances.
      - adrusi 10y ago
        That was not a strawman, unless you think I missed something about your position. The question I asked was how much we should value the extent to which people "deserve" longer life against the moral value inhernet in extended life. You have to show that the fact that the rich have done nothing to "deserve" extended life (which I'll assume is true for the sake of argument) is bad enough to outweigh a million people getting an extra 1000 years of life, regardless of who those people are.
  - orangecat 10y ago
    we have hundreds of other larger humanitarian issues on earth than delaying aging & dying Do we? Preventing people from dying is at the core of what "humanitarian issues" actually means. Yes, too many people die because of violence or starvation or lack of basic medical care, and we should absolutely address those problems, but the effects of aging are harming billions of people and will ultimately kill them.
    - shshhdhs 10y ago
      Death is a guarantee, even if you extend it. While in the United States we may live 70-100, in other countries they live to maybe 40, while child mortality is sky high. It would be awesome if we can close that gap first, instead of making the divide between the rich and poor even wider.
      - TeMPOraL 10y ago
        It would be awesome, sure, but if both things can be done in parallel, why not? This smells of a "if I can't have it first, nobody can have it" thinking. Do lives of the westerners matter so little? Are they not people too?
stuaxo 10y ago
I wonder if it being so fast to get stuff done is leading to more fatigue now ?
woah 10y ago
What does biotech investment even have to do with computers at all?
pault 10y ago
> People who love computers take a hobbyists view. This is the key. You can ignore all of the distractions and use the incredible resources available to you to dive deeply into whatever topic you're currently interested in. If you remain vigilant it's an amazing time to be alive. Just turn off the facebook and ditch your smart phone if you can. I haven't had a phone in three years (just use skype and IM to keep in touch) and I couldn't be happier. In my opinion, there are two things that make life worth living: hobbies and relationships with fellow sentient beings (I was going to say human relationships but I'll leave the door open for future machine buddies; I personally believe that if the AGI problem is ever cracked, humans will become far more attached to their AIs than to their human friends. This may be what drives the next wave of isolation). The Amish have a good way of dealing with technology adoption: if a technology is interfering with your core values, it should be avoided at all costs. It is possible to avoid our ubiquitous digital skinner boxes if you adopt this practice.

by dpweb 10y ago

TeMPOraL 10y ago

> VCs promising to invent human immortality 'we're going to solve the problem of death' was the pinnacle of their hubris. I have a different view. I'm thinking, "finally someone is fucking serious about what should obviously be the goal of everyone". If rich SV people are willing to throw money at something actually useful for a change, I'm all for it.

shshhdhs 10y ago
I disagree. It should not be the goal of everyone because we have hundreds of other larger humanitarian issues on earth than delaying aging & dying. That literally is a "first world problem". Let's fix the crises first
- nathcd 10y ago
  Why not both? To me, your argument sounds a bit like the argument that we shouldn't be exploring space because we have enough problems here on earth.
  - shshhdhs 10y ago
    Both is fine. I disagreed with OP that it is the goal of "everyone". It is only the problem of the rich.
    - enraged_camel 10y ago
      Really? Mortality is only a problem of the rich? Huh... interesting.
      - shshhdhs 10y ago
        Mortality by age, and mortality by violence, starvation, sanitary conditions, diseases, etc, etc are very different problems. See the difference?
- adrusi 10y ago
  If you can give a million rich people an extra 1000 years of life, is that not as good as giving 100 million poor people an extra 10? Arguably it's better since those thousand years are going to be spent in greater comfort than the 10 years in the other case. How much should we value global justice relative to human life?
  - shshhdhs 10y ago
    The problem I see with your strawman is that only the rich have the ability to extend age for the rich, further leaving the poor behind who are unable to close the humanitarian gaps on their own. What have we done to deserve to live 1000 years while others starve, other than being born in better circumstances.
    - adrusi 10y ago
      That was not a strawman, unless you think I missed something about your position. The question I asked was how much we should value the extent to which people "deserve" longer life against the moral value inhernet in extended life. You have to show that the fact that the rich have done nothing to "deserve" extended life (which I'll assume is true for the sake of argument) is bad enough to outweigh a million people getting an extra 1000 years of life, regardless of who those people are.
- orangecat 10y ago
  we have hundreds of other larger humanitarian issues on earth than delaying aging & dying Do we? Preventing people from dying is at the core of what "humanitarian issues" actually means. Yes, too many people die because of violence or starvation or lack of basic medical care, and we should absolutely address those problems, but the effects of aging are harming billions of people and will ultimately kill them.
  - shshhdhs 10y ago
    Death is a guarantee, even if you extend it. While in the United States we may live 70-100, in other countries they live to maybe 40, while child mortality is sky high. It would be awesome if we can close that gap first, instead of making the divide between the rich and poor even wider.
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      It would be awesome, sure, but if both things can be done in parallel, why not? This smells of a "if I can't have it first, nobody can have it" thinking. Do lives of the westerners matter so little? Are they not people too?

stuaxo 10y ago

I wonder if it being so fast to get stuff done is leading to more fatigue now ?

woah 10y ago

What does biotech investment even have to do with computers at all?

pault 10y ago

> People who love computers take a hobbyists view. This is the key. You can ignore all of the distractions and use the incredible resources available to you to dive deeply into whatever topic you're currently interested in. If you remain vigilant it's an amazing time to be alive. Just turn off the facebook and ditch your smart phone if you can. I haven't had a phone in three years (just use skype and IM to keep in touch) and I couldn't be happier. In my opinion, there are two things that make life worth living: hobbies and relationships with fellow sentient beings (I was going to say human relationships but I'll leave the door open for future machine buddies; I personally believe that if the AGI problem is ever cracked, humans will become far more attached to their AIs than to their human friends. This may be what drives the next wave of isolation). The Amish have a good way of dealing with technology adoption: if a technology is interfering with your core values, it should be avoided at all costs. It is possible to avoid our ubiquitous digital skinner boxes if you adopt this practice.