5 ms·

I've always had a personal saying to short any story or company that appears on the cover of Time Magazine. The thought being that by the time a movement or com

by arcanus 10y ago

I've always had a personal saying to short any story or company that appears on the cover of Time Magazine. The thought being that by the time a movement or company is that mainstream it is oversold. I'm inclined to stick to my heuristic here. I'm not seeing any scientific basis to these life enhancing approaches. Rather, I see extremely wealthy individuals who are afraid of dying. Lorenzo de Medici was also magnificently wealthy and willing to deploy substantial capital in an attempt to live longer. Supposedly he ate crushed diamonds on the recommendation of his doctors, before he died.

paulcole 10y ago
>I've always had a personal saying to short any story or company that appears on the cover of Time Magazine. The thought being that by the time a movement or company is that mainstream it is oversold. You are describing the Sports Illustrated Jinx: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_cover_jinx https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_cover_jin... As well as the Madden Curse: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-madden-curse/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-madden-curse/
- random_rr 10y ago
  No, he's not. One is about popularity and the possibility of overcoverage. The other is an unlucky trend of athletes getting hurt.
  - ben_jones 10y ago
    I think there is some truth behind the Madden curse. In order for a player to be seen as ahead of the pack he has to put up statistics and plays that are abnormal on normal teams with balanced offenses and play-styles. Increased minutes or usage in a high impact sport like Football will cause what is probably a drastic increase in injury risk, as well as influence legal targeting where defenses stack in an attempt to stop the player in question, usually a running back or wide receiver.
tps5 10y ago
> I see extremely wealthy individuals who are afraid of dying. This is exactly how I feel about this nonsense. It has always been funny to me that Ray Kurzweil keeps predicting functional immortality within the next decade or two. How convenient that, based on his prediction, humans will attain immortality right as he nears the end of his lifespan.
- Filligree 10y ago
  ... And how unlikely to help him attain that immortality. If he were more realistic, he'd spend more time looking at the alternatives. Still, there are far worse things to pursue.
  - coolgeek 10y ago
    > If he were more realistic, he'd spend more time looking at the alternatives What alternatives? Accepting death as inevitable? Embracing it? Celebrating it? The survival instinct is hard-wired. Given that, seeking immortality is the only rational choice.
    - Filligree 10y ago
      Cryonics, for example. Or pushing artificial intelligence, though if he were doing that in the absence of safety research I'd be disgusted. Or pushing longevity research in other, longer-term ways. Even if it wouldn't save him personally, it could still save people he cares about. Or...
      - coolgeek 10y ago
        Some snippets from his wikipedia and About pages: - He's a member of Alcor. - He is Co-Founder and Chancellor of Singularity University - He is a Director of Engineering at Google heading up a team developing machine intelligence and natural language understanding - Among other things, he has supported the SENS Research Foundation's approach to finding a way to repair aging damage, and has encouraged the general public to hasten their research by donating He's done more to popularize trans- and post-humanism than any other person ever. What am I missing here?
pmoriarty 10y ago
Speaking of quack treatments by the rich and famous.. mercury used to be a popular treatment. Some rich people used to soak in bathtubs full of it. One of the popes supposedly had a special suit of armor constructed so that he could soak in mercury 24 hours a day.
ktRolster 10y ago
Some of the earliest writing we have is about attempts to live longer. Epic of Gilgamesh, Egyptian tombs.....
- melling 10y ago
  Yeah, I'm not really sure why this story always gets the same reaction on HN; it does occur in some form a few times a year. If a few rich people figure out how to add an extra decade or two onto their lifespan, I'm sure several billion other people will gain some of the benefits in this century alone. At the very least, hopefully some of the research will contribute to our basic understanding of the human body.
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Qin huangshi (China's first emperor) was famous for this, so much that he died taking mercury to prolong is life.
  - yorwba 10y ago
    Nitpick: He was Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), which literally means "First Emperor of Qin". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang

by arcanus 10y ago

paulcole 10y ago

>I've always had a personal saying to short any story or company that appears on the cover of Time Magazine. The thought being that by the time a movement or company is that mainstream it is oversold. You are describing the Sports Illustrated Jinx: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_cover_jinx https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_cover_jin... As well as the Madden Curse: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-madden-curse/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-madden-curse/

random_rr 10y ago
No, he's not. One is about popularity and the possibility of overcoverage. The other is an unlucky trend of athletes getting hurt.
- ben_jones 10y ago
  I think there is some truth behind the Madden curse. In order for a player to be seen as ahead of the pack he has to put up statistics and plays that are abnormal on normal teams with balanced offenses and play-styles. Increased minutes or usage in a high impact sport like Football will cause what is probably a drastic increase in injury risk, as well as influence legal targeting where defenses stack in an attempt to stop the player in question, usually a running back or wide receiver.

tps5 10y ago

> I see extremely wealthy individuals who are afraid of dying. This is exactly how I feel about this nonsense. It has always been funny to me that Ray Kurzweil keeps predicting functional immortality within the next decade or two. How convenient that, based on his prediction, humans will attain immortality right as he nears the end of his lifespan.

Filligree 10y ago
... And how unlikely to help him attain that immortality. If he were more realistic, he'd spend more time looking at the alternatives. Still, there are far worse things to pursue.
- coolgeek 10y ago
  > If he were more realistic, he'd spend more time looking at the alternatives What alternatives? Accepting death as inevitable? Embracing it? Celebrating it? The survival instinct is hard-wired. Given that, seeking immortality is the only rational choice.
  - Filligree 10y ago
    Cryonics, for example. Or pushing artificial intelligence, though if he were doing that in the absence of safety research I'd be disgusted. Or pushing longevity research in other, longer-term ways. Even if it wouldn't save him personally, it could still save people he cares about. Or...
    - coolgeek 10y ago
      Some snippets from his wikipedia and About pages: - He's a member of Alcor. - He is Co-Founder and Chancellor of Singularity University - He is a Director of Engineering at Google heading up a team developing machine intelligence and natural language understanding - Among other things, he has supported the SENS Research Foundation's approach to finding a way to repair aging damage, and has encouraged the general public to hasten their research by donating He's done more to popularize trans- and post-humanism than any other person ever. What am I missing here?

pmoriarty 10y ago

Speaking of quack treatments by the rich and famous.. mercury used to be a popular treatment. Some rich people used to soak in bathtubs full of it. One of the popes supposedly had a special suit of armor constructed so that he could soak in mercury 24 hours a day.

ktRolster 10y ago

Some of the earliest writing we have is about attempts to live longer. Epic of Gilgamesh, Egyptian tombs.....

melling 10y ago
Yeah, I'm not really sure why this story always gets the same reaction on HN; it does occur in some form a few times a year. If a few rich people figure out how to add an extra decade or two onto their lifespan, I'm sure several billion other people will gain some of the benefits in this century alone. At the very least, hopefully some of the research will contribute to our basic understanding of the human body.
seanmcdirmid 10y ago
Qin huangshi (China's first emperor) was famous for this, so much that he died taking mercury to prolong is life.
- yorwba 10y ago
  Nitpick: He was Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), which literally means "First Emperor of Qin". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang