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“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents die, and a new generation g
by Mandelmus 5y ago
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
– Max Planck[1]
Often paraphrased as "Science progresses one funeral at a time."
I don't think we really want immortality or unnatural longevity.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle
- AlwaysRock 5y agoYou might not. Sign me up. Maybe just maybe if people live longer, they will be more likely to change their beliefs over time.
- wyre 5y agoI would agree “we” don’t. Whoever “we” is. The problem is the hypothetical billionaires and politicians expanding their power with elongated lifespans. Imagine the ramifications if Supreme Court justices lived 50+ more years, for one example.
- paulluuk 5y agoOf course, we'd have to change how many things work in the world, this specific example seems like a rather simple one to change.
- dcow 5y agoHow do you propose we do it?
- paulluuk 5y agoI don't really understand the US systems very well, but I'd probably start with putting a maximum term in place, instead of membership for life.
- wyre 5y agoYes, it was a simple example but regardless I have a hard time believing that the needed changes would happen before powerful people achieve and take advantage of supraphysiological lifespans. Also I’m not sure how simple changing it would be to change Supreme Court justice retirement.
- beambot 5y agoShould watch "Altered Carbon" if you haven't already...
- PeterisP 5y agoIndeed, I can agree that there are all kinds of practical disadvantages if other people would start living forever. On the other hand, if we're talking about me or you then suddenly it's different, isn't it? I think I'd choose to take unnatural longevity for myself even if it imposes some problems for the social fabric.
- bschne 5y agoThat's the crux of it — visions aside, day-to-day, nobody is going to suddenly "solve aging" for everyone. Progress comes gradually, in the form of everyone's loved ones dying and suffering less often and less early — and very few people are opposed to that. You hear about older people fall ill and think things like "I've lived long enough, I don't want to go through the ordeal of treatment X for a .05 probability of living for one more year in bad health" — but would they see it that way if the treatment were to become much better and safer?
- paulluuk 5y agoI'd definitely want immortality in the sense of stopping physical (and mental) deterioration. You can always just commit suicide if you're done. I discuss this with friends and family occasionally, and they all seem to have these ideas that we're "only supposed to live 100 years or so". But that seems like a logical fallacy (appeal to nature) to me, it's not an actual argument. And sure, there are plenty of dystopian movies about how all of your friends die while you live on. But you know, you can make new friends. As someone who has moved often and had to make new friends often: it's not that bad. Friendships come and go. Just imagine the things you could get done if you weren't pressured by time. You could witness the colonization of other planets, the unification of humanity. And if everyone were immortal, we wouldn't have to worry about things like pensions anymore, and I bet that we'd see an extreme lowering of crime and violence. The only read problem I see would be overpopulation, and possibly draconion measures to regulate it.
- wefarrell 5y agoThere's the problem of the elderly continuing to accumulate wealth and power without ceding any to the younger generations. It's already happening. Look no further than the geriatric US lawmakers and how out of touch they are with the future.
- aerovistae 5y ago
- metalliqaz 5y agoMost people won't have access. Just the ultra elites.
- foobiekr 5y agoI would rather be alive and trying to work that out than dead.
- bsenftner 5y agoI say the same goes for business models. About 15 years ago I spent 5 years in the early SaaS space, and it was extremely difficult to convince IT Mgrs and CTOs that software as a service was not some evil plan. Today, it is hard to sell software that is not sold as a service. Why? The old guard management is gone, and tech is managed by people who grew up with SaaS and/or are afraid of managing their own hardware infrastructures.
- Animats 5y agoI don't think we really want immortality or unnatural longevity. Imagine Putin, Trump, and Xi still running the world in 2100.