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after money, fame, what else? the google founders desire to live forever
by devanti 13y ago
after money, fame, what else? the google founders desire to live forever
- nullc 13y agoDesire _everyone_ to live forever. What kind of monster are you that you don't think thats a laudable goal?
- sigzero 13y agoYou have no idea what you are even saying. Have you even thought about what "everyone living forever" means? Probably not.
- nullc 13y agoI have. Have you? I suspect not: http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html Of course, the result won't actually achieve that. But it is not an unhonorable goal. Involuntary death is not a virtuous thing.
- objclxt 13y ago> What kind of monster are you that you don't think thats a laudable goal? I think there are many compelling ethical and philosophical arguments one can make against wanting everyone to live forever. We shouldn't confuse live extension with living forever. Oddly enough, David Attenborough is in the news today for suggesting population control is a huge and growing problem[1]. You could argue that research into extending human life when we are looking at significant problems with population overcrowding and competition for resources in the near future is putting the horse before the cart. I am not sure which side of the fence I fall on. Medical research can allow people with previously incurable conditions to live full lives. This is a laudable goal. But that's not what you said - you're talking about living forever. Is that so laudable? I would certainly not call someone who thought that was a truly awful idea 'a monster'. Indeed, there's lots of speculative fiction based around how awful it would actually be to live forever (or even a very long time). [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10316271/Sir-David-Attenborough-If-we-do-not-control-population-the-natural-world-will.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10316271/Sir-D...
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoAdmittedly, you do have to laugh at the sheer irony. Research into life-extension is taking place in advanced countries that can't even maintain their current population levels without net immigration. And also, at the same time, cannot be bothered to raise labor wages. What the fuck?
- lmm 13y ago> Research into life-extension is taking place in advanced countries that can't even maintain their current population levels without net immigration. Sounds perfectly consistent to me. > And also, at the same time, cannot be bothered to raise labor wages. As long as the immigrants keep coming, why bother raising wages?
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoRight, the inconsistency is: the First World goes tsk tsk at the Third World for its overpopulation and poverty; meanwhile, it critically relies on the Third World to breed a neverending supply of cheap immigrant labor to exploit.
- lmm 13y agoYou could just as well say it offers people suffering from those circumstances the chance of a better life.
- devanti 13y agowoah, woah, hold on there. I never said it was bad
- MyNewAccount99 13y agoeven w/o immortality humans already have serious overpopulation issues on earth.
- victorhn 13y agoWho would not desire that?
- hosay123 13y agoI never became confident that my worldview had matured into adulthood until I lost my fear of death. And not only that, someday will welcome it (and all the agonizing pain it may likely entail) as the ultimate justification for everything that came before and that will occur after. Actually, I have no fucking clue what kind of mindset wants to live forever. Reminded of the beautiful (book) scene in Ender's Game where Wiggin ponders the death of the buggers, and the essential union of death and rebirth.
- frank_boyd 13y agoYou're almost certainly amongst the oldest HN readers. I'd put you at around 40.
- loup-vaillant 13y ago> Actually, I have no fucking clue what kind of mindset wants to live forever. The kind of mindset capable of performing induction over the positive integers. For me, today was a good day. I want to live until tomorrow, at least, and I want tomorrow to be at least as good. Therefore, I want to live forever, or at least as long as reasonably possible.
- melange 13y agoI.e. People who think they are machines want to live forever?