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Except that this time the elixir isn't powered by magic or fairy tales. Aging is just another biological process. It's controlled by genetics and environment l

Except that this time the elixir isn't powered by magic or fairy tales. Aging is just another biological process. It's controlled by genetics and environment like everything else, and can be manipulated using similar principles. It seems likely (thinking of CRISPR and similar inventions) the rudimentary tools for controlling aging are coming of age. I believe biological immortality is closer than we think.

LocalH 5y ago
I wouldn't actually want to be immortal. I'd imagine that'd get really boring after a few centuries
basilgohar 5y ago
I posit that you've just found the name or class of elixir of our times. I'm not denying that life expectancy can be increased due to advances in science, healthcare, medicine, and lifestyle changes. But there's a difference between extending by a few years or even decades every century or so and immortality. We will discover other aspects that become limiting factors. Aging as "just another biological process" is a drastic oversimplification in my opinion and I think the more accurate statement is our understanding of aging has grown, but I doubt it's complete.
jbotz 5y ago
Sorry to burst your bubble, but aging is not "just another biological process". It isn't even biological... everything ages and decays, even inorganic matter. Even rocks decay into clay. Living biological processes by their nature resist decay, but that's an uphill battle... eventually entropy wins. Errors and waste products accumulate, materials become brittle and fragile, with every year lived the probability of dying before the next increases. Can we help our biology to become more efficient at maintenance and repair? Probably, but not all that much. We are already very long lived. The only complex terrestrial beings that live longer do so by living very slowly... in terms of subjective time experienced, maybe they don't live any longer at all.
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LocalH 5y ago

I wouldn't actually want to be immortal. I'd imagine that'd get really boring after a few centuries

basilgohar 5y ago

I posit that you've just found the name or class of elixir of our times. I'm not denying that life expectancy can be increased due to advances in science, healthcare, medicine, and lifestyle changes. But there's a difference between extending by a few years or even decades every century or so and immortality. We will discover other aspects that become limiting factors. Aging as "just another biological process" is a drastic oversimplification in my opinion and I think the more accurate statement is our understanding of aging has grown, but I doubt it's complete.

jbotz 5y ago

Sorry to burst your bubble, but aging is not "just another biological process". It isn't even biological... everything ages and decays, even inorganic matter. Even rocks decay into clay. Living biological processes by their nature resist decay, but that's an uphill battle... eventually entropy wins. Errors and waste products accumulate, materials become brittle and fragile, with every year lived the probability of dying before the next increases. Can we help our biology to become more efficient at maintenance and repair? Probably, but not all that much. We are already very long lived. The only complex terrestrial beings that live longer do so by living very slowly... in terms of subjective time experienced, maybe they don't live any longer at all.

deleted 5y ago
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