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Are you by chance in your early twenties? The core message is that animal years map very badly to human years. During the first twenty years, we are busy with

by Udo 12y ago

Are you by chance in your early twenties? The core message is that animal years map very badly to human years. During the first twenty years, we are busy with development. The fertility part is gender specific, and lasts about 25 to 30 years in women and much longer in men. Conflating active years with fertility is a problematic idea. Maturity is a very fuzzy concept, but cortical development is commonly not considered complete until the mid-twenties. The variance in energy is probably higher compared across different individuals than across different age groups. Health problems also vary greatly from person to person, but it's fair to say that crossing 40 risk factors for everything go up dramatically. How many active years humans get out of their life is subject to great individual variation. Some get zero. Others are highly productive for 60+ years. But I agree it's not enough - that's why we need transhuman advances in science. Less than a Guard of Terra, maybe more like a Space Marine ;)

guard-of-terra 12y ago
I'm in late twenties. The idea that I have to make all the important choices in the first half (second quarter even) of my life which is almost over saddens me. Short fertility in women (which we cut in half with our clumsy society) is THE problem. With the exclusion of mismatches, which I shun, male fertility is effectively limited to the same age range too.
- Udo 12y ago
  It depends a lot on attitude. If you consider procreation and family a big goal in your life, then you're right: the clock is always ticking. I'm almost 40 now, that ship has thoroughly sailed. I don't agree that all the important choices happen during the first half though. Consider that for the first 1.5 decades you hardly make any of your own choices at all. So while the procreation thing is about halfway over at your age, in a lot of other ways you're just getting started.
  - guard-of-terra 12y ago
    If procreation and family is not a big goal in your life, then it ain't life. Because reproduction is a defining property of "life" if you think of it. As I've added, it's actually a quarter. For women in modern society it's even less, close to 1/8 of their life. After "the ship has sailed", no choices matter anymore. Surely, you may decompose faster or slower, rot for quite some time or go out with the bang. But it's confined to your own body now, which is definitely mortal.
    - eurleif 12y ago
      >After "the ship has sailed", no choices matter anymore. Surely, you may decompose faster or slower, rot for quite some time or go out with the bang. But it's confined to your own body now, which is definitely mortal. You're assuming the only way to influence the world is by spreading your genes. That's completely false.
      - guard-of-terra 12y ago
        I'm assuming that the only satisfying way to influense the world is one that includes spreading your genes. And the age constaint is a huge problem here because it can ruin the whole thing even if I figure out everything else later on. You can fix many things later but not this. That's scary.
        Udo 12y ago
        > I'm assuming that the only satisfying way to influense the world is one that includes spreading your genes. We get that, but it's an assumption that depends on your personal value system and on what you personally consider satisfying. That's hardly something you can just project onto the general population. A lot of people will agree with your basic assessment, however in this extreme form I'm afraid you're rapidly coming to a point where you don't see any value in humans once they have spawned their genes. And that's not how we as a civilization see things any more, and the understanding that we have value based on who we are (instead of how many offspring we have) has been part of the general social contract since at least the enlightenment era.

by Udo 12y ago

guard-of-terra 12y ago

I'm in late twenties. The idea that I have to make all the important choices in the first half (second quarter even) of my life which is almost over saddens me. Short fertility in women (which we cut in half with our clumsy society) is THE problem. With the exclusion of mismatches, which I shun, male fertility is effectively limited to the same age range too.

Udo 12y ago
It depends a lot on attitude. If you consider procreation and family a big goal in your life, then you're right: the clock is always ticking. I'm almost 40 now, that ship has thoroughly sailed. I don't agree that all the important choices happen during the first half though. Consider that for the first 1.5 decades you hardly make any of your own choices at all. So while the procreation thing is about halfway over at your age, in a lot of other ways you're just getting started.
- guard-of-terra 12y ago
  If procreation and family is not a big goal in your life, then it ain't life. Because reproduction is a defining property of "life" if you think of it. As I've added, it's actually a quarter. For women in modern society it's even less, close to 1/8 of their life. After "the ship has sailed", no choices matter anymore. Surely, you may decompose faster or slower, rot for quite some time or go out with the bang. But it's confined to your own body now, which is definitely mortal.
  - eurleif 12y ago
    >After "the ship has sailed", no choices matter anymore. Surely, you may decompose faster or slower, rot for quite some time or go out with the bang. But it's confined to your own body now, which is definitely mortal. You're assuming the only way to influence the world is by spreading your genes. That's completely false.
    - guard-of-terra 12y ago
      I'm assuming that the only satisfying way to influense the world is one that includes spreading your genes. And the age constaint is a huge problem here because it can ruin the whole thing even if I figure out everything else later on. You can fix many things later but not this. That's scary.
      - Udo 12y ago
        > I'm assuming that the only satisfying way to influense the world is one that includes spreading your genes. We get that, but it's an assumption that depends on your personal value system and on what you personally consider satisfying. That's hardly something you can just project onto the general population. A lot of people will agree with your basic assessment, however in this extreme form I'm afraid you're rapidly coming to a point where you don't see any value in humans once they have spawned their genes. And that's not how we as a civilization see things any more, and the understanding that we have value based on who we are (instead of how many offspring we have) has been part of the general social contract since at least the enlightenment era.