Death is the greatest of all equalizers; no one can elude it, no matter how blessed in life. Take that away and you will have either the greatest differentiator between the haves (those who can pay for extended life) and the have-nots, or the mother of all entitlement programs.
Also, it is foolish to assume that longer life equals greater productivity. Death is the proverbial “shot clock” that forces people to score before time runs out. Take away the clock and humanity will slide into despair and suicide as we fritter away the hours that are no longer precious.
As I read this, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fate of Eldon Tyrell in Ridley Scott’s, Blade Runner. These days a lot of things remind me of that movie.
Why is it cool to be an extremist today? Live forever? Have 14 kids instead? Just like the extremism in politics. In life I am around ‘normal’ people like me. It seems so much of what I read is about extremists. .., and I like Suzy’s writing
This whole effort to live forever is nothing but a new version of the Garden of Eden story. The serpent’s lie to humans was that they would “be like God” and that they would not die. That’s what the people featured in this article are hoping for. They believe technology will ‘save’ them. In these examples, as in Genesis, it’s got a lot to do with hubris. And fear.
As those who treat hypothermia say, "You're not dead until you're warm and dead."
The sci-fi novel Cryoburn takes this scenario to its logical conclusion - a society where the cryo-preserved retain voting rights, assigned to still-breathing proxies. In the story, the proxies grow to outnumber the votes of the still-breathing, resulting in the entire society being dedicated to the needs of the cryo-preserved. Drama ensues.
Living forever? Yeah, sure. As they say, the first million years are the hardest. But after the 1000. new hip and knee joints, every 50 years or so new eyeballs, new teeth and so on, life is getting really great. If there is enough titanium left, but this is maybe just a matter of good recycling.
Converting the existence to a digital one, I'm not so sure. "Forever" means one hell of an electricity bill. Backups won't come cheap either even in glacier storage. And the firewalls... who wants to get hacked, or being hybridized with Joe Biden or Donald Trump or Wile E. Coyote? Let's hope no one pulls the plug.
My only concern is that in about 1 billion years Earth as we know it will likely cease to exist. Our Sun will grow and swallow the rest of the solar system a few billion years later. If these Methusalahs are still around, they have to get really creative to continue their existence. But they'll surely find a way.
"Pritzker also created the first chair in transgender studies at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The current chair, Aaron Devor, founded an annual conference called Moving Trans History Forward, whose keynote speaker in 2016 was the renowned transhumanist, Martine Rothblatt, who was mentored by the transhumanist Ray Kurzweil of Google. Rothblatt lectured there on the value of creating an organization such as WPATH to serve “tech transgenders” in the cultivation of “tech transhumanists.” (Rothblatt’s ideology of disembodiment and technological religion seems to be having nearly as much influence on American culture as Sirius satellite radio, which Rothblatt co-founded.) Rothblatt is an integral presence at Out Leadership, a business networking arm of the LGBTQ+ movement, and appears to believe that “we are making God as we are implementing technology that is ever more all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful, and beneficent.”"
So, tons of billionaire money goes into pushing this.
Until I read all the comments, I was tempted to type a single word: horrifying. But my TFP family came through! Great, hilarious reasoned comments. Thanks Suzy!
And Jeanne Calment died in 1997, at 122, being born in 1875.
Death is the greatest of all equalizers; no one can elude it, no matter how blessed in life. Take that away and you will have either the greatest differentiator between the haves (those who can pay for extended life) and the have-nots, or the mother of all entitlement programs.
Also, it is foolish to assume that longer life equals greater productivity. Death is the proverbial “shot clock” that forces people to score before time runs out. Take away the clock and humanity will slide into despair and suicide as we fritter away the hours that are no longer precious.
As I read this, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fate of Eldon Tyrell in Ridley Scott’s, Blade Runner. These days a lot of things remind me of that movie.
Jasper the dog’s parents are able to pay $30,000…wow, was his father Lassie? Or did you mean his owners, because that what humans who have pets are.
Pretending like animals are human is silly. Please stop.
Why is it cool to be an extremist today? Live forever? Have 14 kids instead? Just like the extremism in politics. In life I am around ‘normal’ people like me. It seems so much of what I read is about extremists. .., and I like Suzy’s writing
This whole effort to live forever is nothing but a new version of the Garden of Eden story. The serpent’s lie to humans was that they would “be like God” and that they would not die. That’s what the people featured in this article are hoping for. They believe technology will ‘save’ them. In these examples, as in Genesis, it’s got a lot to do with hubris. And fear.
As those who treat hypothermia say, "You're not dead until you're warm and dead."
The sci-fi novel Cryoburn takes this scenario to its logical conclusion - a society where the cryo-preserved retain voting rights, assigned to still-breathing proxies. In the story, the proxies grow to outnumber the votes of the still-breathing, resulting in the entire society being dedicated to the needs of the cryo-preserved. Drama ensues.
A fascinating piece, Suzie! What would Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Unamuno, Sartre, Beckett, and other such thinkers say?
Another fascinating article. I love the free press!
Excellent journalism. Thank you.
Who can afford to live forever?
Bingo!!
Arrogance and ignorance in equal parts makes for an unpalatable mixture.
Living forever? Yeah, sure. As they say, the first million years are the hardest. But after the 1000. new hip and knee joints, every 50 years or so new eyeballs, new teeth and so on, life is getting really great. If there is enough titanium left, but this is maybe just a matter of good recycling.
Converting the existence to a digital one, I'm not so sure. "Forever" means one hell of an electricity bill. Backups won't come cheap either even in glacier storage. And the firewalls... who wants to get hacked, or being hybridized with Joe Biden or Donald Trump or Wile E. Coyote? Let's hope no one pulls the plug.
My only concern is that in about 1 billion years Earth as we know it will likely cease to exist. Our Sun will grow and swallow the rest of the solar system a few billion years later. If these Methusalahs are still around, they have to get really creative to continue their existence. But they'll surely find a way.
There's lots of Transhumanist and TransGender overlap:
"What is the Trans Agenda? - Questions For Corbett (video)"
https://www.corbettreport.com/what-is-the-trans-agenda-questions-for-corbett-video/
Billionaires who back trans-humanism/synthetic sex identities:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers
"Pritzker also created the first chair in transgender studies at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The current chair, Aaron Devor, founded an annual conference called Moving Trans History Forward, whose keynote speaker in 2016 was the renowned transhumanist, Martine Rothblatt, who was mentored by the transhumanist Ray Kurzweil of Google. Rothblatt lectured there on the value of creating an organization such as WPATH to serve “tech transgenders” in the cultivation of “tech transhumanists.” (Rothblatt’s ideology of disembodiment and technological religion seems to be having nearly as much influence on American culture as Sirius satellite radio, which Rothblatt co-founded.) Rothblatt is an integral presence at Out Leadership, a business networking arm of the LGBTQ+ movement, and appears to believe that “we are making God as we are implementing technology that is ever more all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful, and beneficent.”"
So, tons of billionaire money goes into pushing this.
This article was a total waste of time. Way to long about crazy people.
Until I read all the comments, I was tempted to type a single word: horrifying. But my TFP family came through! Great, hilarious reasoned comments. Thanks Suzy!