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I might be the only one who thinks this around here, but I think the concept of mortality is kind of beautiful. However, ask me about that when I'm facing my o

I might be the only one who thinks this around here, but I think the concept of mortality is kind of beautiful. However, ask me about that when I'm facing my own and the answer might be different.

MikeCapone 16y ago
I think it's a really powerful concept, and like religion and superstition, I think it's fine in fiction (books and movies would be boring without that imagery). But in the real-world, it's just plain bad and we need to do something about it. Nobody is in favor of malaria or smallpox, but most people turn a blind eye to the diseases of aging even though they kill a lot more people. The real question is: If dying of old age didn't exist (if everybody stayed physically as fit as 25 years olds indefinitely, until they get hit by a truck or whatever), would we miss frailty and decrepitude? Would we invent death by slow diseases that make our bodies and minds fall apart? I kinda doubt it.
- TheSOB88 16y ago
  You guys seem to think death isn't inevitable? Huh?
  - MikeCapone 16y ago
    Not death, just the diseases of aging (which aren't so different from other diseases in their effects, when it comes down to it). The general idea is that our bodies accumulate damage as a side product of metabolism (stuff that evolution hasn't equipped us to deal with - various long-lived molecules that we can't break down); over a certain threshold, that damage turns into pathologies. So your skin is less elastic, your arteries aren't as flexible, your immune system doesn't work as well, your brain accumulate beta amyloids that lead to alzheimer's, etc. If we could periodically repair that damage before the pathologies happen, we could potentially keep young bodies indefinitely and cure many diseases without having to understand how metabolism works, thus reducing human suffering tremendously (about 150k deaths each day). For more on this, check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthroughs-Lifetime/dp/B001O9CHRA/ http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthrough... Or these presentations: http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/player.html?pguid=E586AD51-418F-C8CE-442B-828A9164D788&vtguid=70B21F9A-4BCA-C090-62F2-F77C0B007FE2 http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/player.html?pguid=E586AD51-41... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&hl=en# http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&... Or the work of this foundation (I'm in no way affiliated with them - I'm just a fan and individual donor): http://www.sens.org http://www.sens.org
    - TheSOB88 16y ago
      So that would result in immortality, right? How else would people die? The obvious problem here is overpopulation. What's your stance on that?

I might be the only one who thinks this around here, but I think the concept of mortality is kind of beautiful. However, ask me about that when I'm facing my own and the answer might be different.

MikeCapone 16y ago

I think it's a really powerful concept, and like religion and superstition, I think it's fine in fiction (books and movies would be boring without that imagery). But in the real-world, it's just plain bad and we need to do something about it. Nobody is in favor of malaria or smallpox, but most people turn a blind eye to the diseases of aging even though they kill a lot more people. The real question is: If dying of old age didn't exist (if everybody stayed physically as fit as 25 years olds indefinitely, until they get hit by a truck or whatever), would we miss frailty and decrepitude? Would we invent death by slow diseases that make our bodies and minds fall apart? I kinda doubt it.

TheSOB88 16y ago
You guys seem to think death isn't inevitable? Huh?
- MikeCapone 16y ago
  Not death, just the diseases of aging (which aren't so different from other diseases in their effects, when it comes down to it). The general idea is that our bodies accumulate damage as a side product of metabolism (stuff that evolution hasn't equipped us to deal with - various long-lived molecules that we can't break down); over a certain threshold, that damage turns into pathologies. So your skin is less elastic, your arteries aren't as flexible, your immune system doesn't work as well, your brain accumulate beta amyloids that lead to alzheimer's, etc. If we could periodically repair that damage before the pathologies happen, we could potentially keep young bodies indefinitely and cure many diseases without having to understand how metabolism works, thus reducing human suffering tremendously (about 150k deaths each day). For more on this, check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthroughs-Lifetime/dp/B001O9CHRA/ http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthrough... Or these presentations: http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/player.html?pguid=E586AD51-418F-C8CE-442B-828A9164D788&vtguid=70B21F9A-4BCA-C090-62F2-F77C0B007FE2 http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/player.html?pguid=E586AD51-41... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&hl=en# http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&... Or the work of this foundation (I'm in no way affiliated with them - I'm just a fan and individual donor): http://www.sens.org http://www.sens.org
  - TheSOB88 16y ago
    So that would result in immortality, right? How else would people die? The obvious problem here is overpopulation. What's your stance on that?