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All else being equal, immortality could very well be a bad thing - overpopulation, over-consumption of resources, massive unemployment, etc. But the problem is
by brianchu 14y ago
All else being equal, immortality could very well be a bad thing - overpopulation, over-consumption of resources, massive unemployment, etc.
But the problem is that in the real world immortality obviously will not be achieved alone. If society makes the technological leap towards immortality, almost certainly society will have undergone other technological transformations. By the time we achieve immortality, maybe computer-brain interfaces would allow us to live in a virtual reality, maybe capitalism will be dead and automation will be complete, maybe we will have colonized other planets, the list goes on. These changes may obviate the negative effects of immortality on society.
The fact remains that technological progress is inexorable and inescapable. Contrast this against people's attitudes towards changing trends in technology, and people are remarkably stubborn. That people today by and large want to eventually die does not mean that people living in a future society where immortality is taken for granted will also wish to die eventually. Just compare attitudes towards social networking between people who are in their teens, and people who are in their 60s.
- Lost_BiomedE 14y ago'overpopulation, over-consumption of resources, massive unemployment, etc.' We are going to have to face these things with or without immortality, likely this century.