11 ms·
Absolutely brilliant. Finally, Aubrey De Grey's unapologetically straightforward logic [1] regarding aging has gained traction with the crowd who has the means
by FD3SA 13y ago
Absolutely brilliant. Finally, Aubrey De Grey's unapologetically straightforward logic [1] regarding aging has gained traction with the crowd who has the means to tackle this grand challenge. I am sincerely proud of Page and Brin for their vision and commitment.
This is one of those rare times that powerful people make bold choices that catalyze a shift in the world's thought paradigm. Aging will now be seen for what it is: the root of all chronic illness.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMAwnA5WvLc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMAwnA5WvLc
- MikeCapone 13y agoThis is great if they do take the engineering approach of SENS and Aubrey de Grey. Ideally they would partner with SENS.org since they already have a lot of the infrastructure set up.
- epicureanideal 13y agoAgreed. I love that mainstream companies with lots of money are getting involved though. It's nice to be ahead of the curve but it's even better when the curve catches up.
- MikeCapone 13y agoAbsolutely. Right now money is the bottleneck for the things that SENS is doing, so rich companies joining in are very welcome, as is the mainstream coverage that will come with them (hopefully resulting in more donations).
- brd 13y agoEver since coming across Aubrey De Grey I've been waiting for a more mainstream adoption of his ideas. I can only hope you're right and that this announcement will incite real change in the public's opinion on age.
- 300bps 13y agocatalyze a shift in the world's thought paradigm Absolutely. The goal should be to enact a vector of a new paradigm, as proactive team players synergize an out-of-the-box strategy of functionality and infotainment, re-engineering the learning curve framework of your dotted-line relationship.
- JamesArgo 13y agoIn case you run out of ideas:http://www.1728.org/buzzword.htm http://www.1728.org/buzzword.htm
- vbl 13y ago...responsively.
- onedev 13y agowith Node.js and CSS3.
- ArbitraryLimits 13y agoLet's take that offline.
- benihana 13y ago>This is one of those rare times that powerful people make bold choices that catalyze a shift in the world's thought paradigm. Let's just go ahead and pump the brakes here before we start clapping each other on the back and talking about shifted paradigms. I'll gladly join in the happy-clappy fest once some actual results come through. But saying we've catalyzed a shift in the world's thought paradigm (that is a really pretentious way of saying "this might make people think differently", by the way) at the announcement of a new product might be just a wee bit premature.
- sp332 13y agoChanging the way people around the world think about death is pretty significant, though. It's going to rewrite important aspects of many cultures. Edit: I mean "make people think differently" is underselling it.
- melling 13y agoLanding on the moon in 1969 rewrote a lot too. I bet if you asked people back then what the future would be like, the space program would look a little different. All we're doing today is announcing a moon shot.
- Florin_Andrei 13y agoA great problem is the current mindset. Many, many people think of life extension as undesirable. It's mind-boggling at first sight, but then you understand it for what it is: the Stockholm Syndrome, with Death as the hostage-taker, and all the life-extension-deniers as the hostages. We need to get out of that hole first. Google is doing the right thing.
- eli_gottlieb 13y agohttp://lesswrong.com/lw/6vq/on_the_unpopularity_of_cryonics_life_sucks_but_at/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/6vq/on_the_unpopularity_of_cryonics_...
- 13y ago
- prlambert 13y agoPerhaps I missed something... where is Aubrey de Grey linked with Calico? I didn't see any mention of him in Larry's post, the press release, or the time article. Where is this coming from?
- grannyg00se 13y agoAubrey has been talking about tackling aging as a disease for a long time now. Some of us have been waiting for some real serious investment in that direction because historically it seems he has been the lone voice in the field willing to challenge aging in this way. This announcement could be interpreted as strong support for the general concepts that Aubrey talks about.
- SkyMarshal 13y agoHe's not, he's just well known as having put together the first clear roadmap for life extension and ultimately "curing" death. If anyone could be considered the "father" of the field, it's him. Hence the comparisons people are making.
- stevewilhelm 13y agoJuan Ponce de León springs to mind. He had a fairly clear roadmap, it just happened to end in Florida.
- Techowl 13y agoAubrey's reaction piece is listed on the front page of Time's website, and can be seen here: http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/18/finally-the-war-on-aging-has-truly-begun-2/ http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/18/finally-the-war-on-aging-ha...
- palimpsests 13y agoThat whole article is incredibly creepy -- 'War on Aging' -- do we really need more 'War on X' rhetoric? Regarding the fact that we know that we eventually die, he states > So soul-destroying has this knowledge been, for almost everyone, that we have constructed our entire society and world view around ways to put it out of our minds'. Absolutely ridiculous. Besides the fact that I think a 'soul' is a poorly-defined construct and thus hard to crush, I really don't see a problem with death; to me it's just as necessary as birth. Sure, it's sad when someone dies, and death can be a traumatic experience, but it's also simply part of being a biological organism. I suppose I find some agreement with de Grey in that large portions of societies fear death and try not to think about it. However, perpetual avoidance through the declaration of war on Death seems practically infantile in view.
- palimpsests 13y agoActually the root of all chronic illness is being born. You can't age without that happening first.
- devx 13y agoHe just wrote an article as a response to this: http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/18/finally-the-war-on-aging-has-truly-begun-2/ http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/18/finally-the-war-on-aging-ha...
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ams6110 13y agoHonestly, this just smells like trying to get positioned favorably for the coming geriatric population bubble as the boomers finally reach the point where they aren't able to screw everything up anymore.
- kamakazizuru 13y ago"Aging will now be seen for what it is: the root of all chronic illness." .. That´s simply not true. There are people suffering chronic illnesses at very young ages - ones that are completely unrelated to aging. Aging is a natural process that all biological species undergo - humans are no different. There are plenty of people who have lived healthy and normal lives, aged, and then died naturally. Chronic illnesses are caused by genetic factors and / or personal habits.