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Survival instinct is deeply hard wired into all animals, including humans. It's natural to want to continue living. Anti-aging is picking up now because there'

by a13n 2y ago

Survival instinct is deeply hard wired into all animals, including humans. It's natural to want to continue living. Anti-aging is picking up now because there's a growing belief that significantly extending the healthy human lifespan is within scientific/technological reach.

logifail 2y ago
> Survival instinct is deeply hard wired into all animals, including humans. Survive and reproduce... So if/when one has the reproduction bit out that of the way, the survival bit as such may not seem to be quite as vital. You know your genes are going to survive, meaning you don't personally have to. Which is the whole point of evolution, right?
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  "Which is the whole point of evolution, right?" Pretty much the entire point of civilization is not to be at the mercy of natural forces, including evolution.
  - logifail 2y ago
    > Pretty much the entire point of civilization is not to be at the mercy of natural forces, including evolution The parent to my comment did bring up "survival instinct" (!)
    - inglor_cz 2y ago
      Sex, hunger, sleep are all instincts, but civilization tries to make their satisfaction nicer, safer, cheaper, more reliable.
- a13n 2y ago
  I don't know that we have evidence that survival instinct goes away after reproduction. It's still valuable to our species to survive after reproduction in order to protect and nurture offspring, for example. There's no evolutionary reason that survival instinct would turn off after a certain age.
  - logifail 2y ago
    > There's no evolutionary reason that survival instinct would turn off after a certain age Umm, without wishing to get too clinical or morbid, it's clear that once your offspring have reached adulthood there will always come a point beyond which you rely on them more than they rely on you, right?
- stickfigure 2y ago
  Evolution is not a motivational poster or a speech from your therapist. It's just the outcome of a physical and biological process. It just is. I personally would prefer to survive longer. If you don't, that's your business.
  - logifail 2y ago
    > I personally would prefer to survive longer. If you don't, that's your business. Ideally I'd die in my sleep 75-80 +/- a few years having seen some grandkids. Doing daft stuff now to push that number further out just seems pointless. The next generations will have enough problems to deal with without having one more cranky 90+ year-old constantly popping pills claiming he can live forever.
    - shermantanktop 2y ago
      And voting.

by a13n 2y ago

logifail 2y ago

> Survival instinct is deeply hard wired into all animals, including humans. Survive and reproduce... So if/when one has the reproduction bit out that of the way, the survival bit as such may not seem to be quite as vital. You know your genes are going to survive, meaning you don't personally have to. Which is the whole point of evolution, right?

inglor_cz 2y ago
"Which is the whole point of evolution, right?" Pretty much the entire point of civilization is not to be at the mercy of natural forces, including evolution.
- logifail 2y ago
  > Pretty much the entire point of civilization is not to be at the mercy of natural forces, including evolution The parent to my comment did bring up "survival instinct" (!)
  - inglor_cz 2y ago
    Sex, hunger, sleep are all instincts, but civilization tries to make their satisfaction nicer, safer, cheaper, more reliable.
a13n 2y ago
I don't know that we have evidence that survival instinct goes away after reproduction. It's still valuable to our species to survive after reproduction in order to protect and nurture offspring, for example. There's no evolutionary reason that survival instinct would turn off after a certain age.
- logifail 2y ago
  > There's no evolutionary reason that survival instinct would turn off after a certain age Umm, without wishing to get too clinical or morbid, it's clear that once your offspring have reached adulthood there will always come a point beyond which you rely on them more than they rely on you, right?
stickfigure 2y ago
Evolution is not a motivational poster or a speech from your therapist. It's just the outcome of a physical and biological process. It just is. I personally would prefer to survive longer. If you don't, that's your business.
- logifail 2y ago
  > I personally would prefer to survive longer. If you don't, that's your business. Ideally I'd die in my sleep 75-80 +/- a few years having seen some grandkids. Doing daft stuff now to push that number further out just seems pointless. The next generations will have enough problems to deal with without having one more cranky 90+ year-old constantly popping pills claiming he can live forever.
  - shermantanktop 2y ago
    And voting.