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Imagine a world in which Xi, Kim Jong *, and a host of other wealthy dictators were immortal, and the rest of us pee-ons were not. I believe that is the future
by timthelion 9y ago
Imagine a world in which Xi, Kim Jong *, and a host of other wealthy dictators were immortal, and the rest of us pee-ons were not. I believe that is the future of high tech immortality.
- top256 9y agokind of Warhammer 40K?
- bamboozled 9y agoI've been thinking about this lately too, it almost feels like we're here already. I often read stories about innocent younger people dying from something tragic; However, why do I almost never wake up to, "<evil tyrannical dictator> has unexpectedly and peacefully passed away in their sleep?" Brave new world I guess?
- sleepychu 9y agoLots of innocent young people, not many dictators
- bamboozled 9y agoFair point :)
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 9y agoThe dictators started out innocent and young too.
- numismatex 9y agoBrave old world, just more networked.
- datawarrior 9y agoRobert Mugabe is an example of this.
- mcgarnagle 9y agoI don't think immortal is the right word here. You can still die from physical harm, no matter how many stem cells you consume. So in theory if someone abused the pee-ons for enough time, probably one of them would get mad enough to overthrow the power. Just like many revolutions throughout history.
- timthelion 9y agoMost dynasties in history were overthrown by competing heirs, not the people. It is actually very rare for dictatorships to turn into democracies. Many reigns only end in death. Do you think Putin will ever be overthrown?
- narag 9y agoIt is actually very rare for dictatorships to turn into democracies. In the last half century give or take some years, half of Europe and Latin America nations have successfully and peacefully made this transition. And only Venezuela has returned to dictatorship. Do you think Putin will ever be overthrown? No idea. Formal democracy is still in place, so there's hope.
- timthelion 9y agoBut recorded history in Europe goes back some 3000 years.
- narag 9y agoUniversal suffrage is as recent as 1906, and only for male voters was introduced in American and French revolutions. So with some back and forth, (modern, real) democracy has been steadly advancing since it was born two centuries ago, with a much clearer trend last half century.
- mcgarnagle 9y agoNo, because he: a) has a very high approval rating, b) minimized a lot of corruption problems for Russia where people were stealing absolutely everywhere after the soviet collapse c) does not commit humanitarian crimes
- ourmandave 9y agoWe can't all live forever. The Soylent Green factory needs "volunteers" 24/7.
- erikj 9y agoThey can still be shot in the face, stem cells won't help them with that.
- yAnonymous 9y agoArtificial body parts and a backup of the mind on USB...
- knodi123 9y agoMind backups do nothing for me. Imagine if your airplane ran out of fuel over the ocean. You're going to crash and die, so you get on the radio, and air traffic control says "don't worry, your estate already restored a backup of your mind into a cloned body. just go ahead and plow into the water at full speed, the new you is already awake and seems happy and comfortable." Would you think "whew, I really dodged a bullet there", or would you think "fuck that clone, I don't want to die!" ?
- Danihan 9y agoThe former.
- alien_at_work 9y agoI can't grasp this view point. A clone with a "mind upload" is more like a twin. You'll still die and will not exist anymore to see what you're clone/twin does.
- knodi123 9y agowow. so you're perfectly at peace with death if someone convincingly tells you that your family won't be able to tell the difference between the old you and your clone? That whole mindset is utterly alien to me. I guess it all comes down to how you feel about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity
- deleted 9y ago
- lawlessone 9y agoWell the current Kim is 3rd in his line, so clearly they die. And clearly death doesn't end the dictatorship.
- melling 9y agonah, I’m imagining a different world. I get bored with always imagining the world where “only the rich...”. At any rate, very few people are actually working on “immortality”. Most of us squander our time bullshitting on the Internet. There’s little danger of solving immortality for several generations.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- karmelapple 9y agoAll medical advancements that enhance or prolong life get to be used first by wealthy individuals. Eventually, they reduce in price and reach more people. Just because only a few people could afford a CT scan when it first came out doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep developing it for the wife benefits we will see in the future.