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Death will become optional at some point. But it will be only for the rich. Death was always this great equalizer. With that not being the case there will be a

Death will become optional at some point. But it will be only for the rich. Death was always this great equalizer. With that not being the case there will be a revolt on the size and proportion humanity would not have seen. how do we deal with that?

ImSkeptical 9y ago
Technology is going to force us to deal with some age old questions. There is a line I remember from Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" that goes something like "There is neither art nor skill at arms which will protect one man from one hundred of his fellows." In context, it's referring to the fact that even Roman emperors could be murdered by a relatively small coalition of men. No matter how rich and powerful a person is, a few people working together and willing to sacrifice can kill that rich and powerful person. Technology seems to imperil this age old truth. What about an immortal billionaire with drones, AI, and a robot army? The coming elite will have power that no human individual, or even organization, has ever had. We should figure out how to deal with that - but I don't really expect the common folk will. Instead, we may just have to hope that our future billionaire deities are benevolent.
- true_religion 9y ago
  Could the rich raise armies and hold off the rest of the world? Yes... but only if the rest of the world has no technology or monies of its own, and additionally none of the 'rich' are in opposition that that single renegades plan.
- cubano 9y ago
  Human history seems to prove that over time, any billionaires heirs will eventually drain the money away.
godelski 9y ago
I see this happening a few different possible ways. 1) You give it to everyone. 2) You make it expensive, but not prohibitively. Maybe out of reach of the lower class, but obtainable to the middle. The latter is more likely. Though if we're looking at the emerging markets with automation, we see that #1 isn't out of the question. If you're making money from people, the amount of people helps you make money. In reality I think it'll take quite some time to get to either of those points. Because in the beginning this technology is likely to be extremely costly. And I worry that this fact (I'm predicting the common s-curve) will prevent it from becoming cheap.
idlewords 9y ago
I'm with team death on this one. I don't think we'll find a fix. I agree with you that a situation where a real life extension technology was available but costly—especially if it required tissue from young people—would be pretty terrible.
- tomc1985 9y ago
  > I don't think we'll find a fix. I hope we don't find a fix. The last thing this world needs are immortal god-barons running around extending their greedy agendas.
  - AgentME 9y ago
    Immortal god-barons would probably care a lot more about sustainable practices and the environment at least, since they could live to see the consequences.
yazaddaruvala 9y ago
> But it will only be for the rich. Why? Because of big pharma? People sacrifice their lives for their children, do you think the law will really restrict people from saving/improving their children's lives. You think the law would be enough to stop you from saving/improving your own life? 1. Insurance. As soon as it is cheaper to keep people young as compared to keep elder people healthy/alive, insurance companies will hand out these procedures like candy. 2. Medical tourism. IP is only valid within a certain jurisdiction. Reverse engineering a cocktail of molecules is not easy but well within reason. Manufacturering said molecules is ridiculously cheap. Even training professionals in other countries is relatively cheap. 3. Black market. If any white hat leaks these formulas or recreates them. If I chose to I can buy clean heroin from a reputable dealer online. You think I wont be able to get a life saving drug for the cost of manufacturing+tiny margin? FWIW, this is already commonplace for a lot of poor people and their "restricted" access to expensive drugs.
dahart 9y ago
> Death will become optional at some point. There are people who'd like others to believe this. There is money to be made as long as people hope death can be avoided. What's the evidence that this will ever be true, that it's even possible?
nafizh 9y ago
Let me make a bold prediction. Death will not be overcome. Maybe, the eta will be increased, like the situation in the West where life expectancy is higher.

ImSkeptical 9y ago

Technology is going to force us to deal with some age old questions. There is a line I remember from Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" that goes something like "There is neither art nor skill at arms which will protect one man from one hundred of his fellows." In context, it's referring to the fact that even Roman emperors could be murdered by a relatively small coalition of men. No matter how rich and powerful a person is, a few people working together and willing to sacrifice can kill that rich and powerful person. Technology seems to imperil this age old truth. What about an immortal billionaire with drones, AI, and a robot army? The coming elite will have power that no human individual, or even organization, has ever had. We should figure out how to deal with that - but I don't really expect the common folk will. Instead, we may just have to hope that our future billionaire deities are benevolent.

true_religion 9y ago
Could the rich raise armies and hold off the rest of the world? Yes... but only if the rest of the world has no technology or monies of its own, and additionally none of the 'rich' are in opposition that that single renegades plan.
cubano 9y ago
Human history seems to prove that over time, any billionaires heirs will eventually drain the money away.

godelski 9y ago

I see this happening a few different possible ways. 1) You give it to everyone. 2) You make it expensive, but not prohibitively. Maybe out of reach of the lower class, but obtainable to the middle. The latter is more likely. Though if we're looking at the emerging markets with automation, we see that #1 isn't out of the question. If you're making money from people, the amount of people helps you make money. In reality I think it'll take quite some time to get to either of those points. Because in the beginning this technology is likely to be extremely costly. And I worry that this fact (I'm predicting the common s-curve) will prevent it from becoming cheap.

idlewords 9y ago

I'm with team death on this one. I don't think we'll find a fix. I agree with you that a situation where a real life extension technology was available but costly—especially if it required tissue from young people—would be pretty terrible.

tomc1985 9y ago
> I don't think we'll find a fix. I hope we don't find a fix. The last thing this world needs are immortal god-barons running around extending their greedy agendas.
- AgentME 9y ago
  Immortal god-barons would probably care a lot more about sustainable practices and the environment at least, since they could live to see the consequences.

yazaddaruvala 9y ago

> But it will only be for the rich. Why? Because of big pharma? People sacrifice their lives for their children, do you think the law will really restrict people from saving/improving their children's lives. You think the law would be enough to stop you from saving/improving your own life? 1. Insurance. As soon as it is cheaper to keep people young as compared to keep elder people healthy/alive, insurance companies will hand out these procedures like candy. 2. Medical tourism. IP is only valid within a certain jurisdiction. Reverse engineering a cocktail of molecules is not easy but well within reason. Manufacturering said molecules is ridiculously cheap. Even training professionals in other countries is relatively cheap. 3. Black market. If any white hat leaks these formulas or recreates them. If I chose to I can buy clean heroin from a reputable dealer online. You think I wont be able to get a life saving drug for the cost of manufacturing+tiny margin? FWIW, this is already commonplace for a lot of poor people and their "restricted" access to expensive drugs.

dahart 9y ago

> Death will become optional at some point. There are people who'd like others to believe this. There is money to be made as long as people hope death can be avoided. What's the evidence that this will ever be true, that it's even possible?

nafizh 9y ago

Let me make a bold prediction. Death will not be overcome. Maybe, the eta will be increased, like the situation in the West where life expectancy is higher.