The Effects of Longer Lifespans

[@SteffenDietrich81]

From now on I am gonna use that motto of yours in as many conversations as I can. „Live forever or die trying“

[@jackbrown3985]

I love it too!

[@EliasMheart]

Not sure about this actually... Doesn't it kind of defeat the point of life if all you do is trying to increase it's length? Like, you don't actually live a life. I know this is not what is meant, but it sure sounds like it and you will often run into that rebuttal

[@jackbrown3985]

Fair point, I still think it’s hilarious though!

[@koboldparty4708]

Already on it.

[@johnburt1172]

And every New Year's Eve, drink a toast to those who didn't make it: *_L'Chaim,_* "to Life.'

[@johnburt1172]

When I was 23, I married a woman who was 46 (yes, twice my age) and had a family of five children (one adopted), one of whom was a year older than myself (she was a year older than my mother). She and I reared another four adopted children, and when they were nearly grown, a friend of ours asked if I would father a child with her. He's now about to turn 14, and I spend parenting time with him. My wife died last year, so I am now a widower of 60, with a 61-year-old stepdaughter and a 13-year-old son, currently courting a widow of 68 (who happens to have been my first girlfriend, with whom I reunited after a gap of almost forty years). This isn't the first time I have thought that I was living a life of a kind that would be more common if our lives were two or three centuries long. For certain, it is one of the more blended of the blended families I have ever heard of.

[@johnburt1172]

@@jeremycmsmith You won't regret it. People should not shy away from entering into a blended family.

[@blakereneehope]

beautiful. Nature over hate.

[@johnburt1172]

@@blakereneehope Love is our nature. Hate has to be taught.

[@avatarion]

A widow is fine, but I do not support cuckoldry or parasitism. Do not reward r-selected men by raising their offspring.

[@johnburt1172]

@@avatarion What's an "r-selected"? Never mind, it's irrelevant. I have a foolproof method of ensuring that I only raise my own children: if I raise them, then they are my children.

[@LucasDimoveo]

In my family people had kids really young. So my son still has a great-great grandmother still alive. It's crazy to think that this could be the norm again

[@allhumansarejusthuman.5776]

Its really cool in my opinion.

[@clash3583]

lol my family had kids really old, grandad on my dad's side was 101 when he died, great grandad on my mom's side was 97 and they died around the same time

[@gorilladisco9108]

It never a norm. Your family are freaks of nature.

[@marshmellowmoon7990]

seriously what is with everyone wanting kids, Issac keeps going under the assumption that if people live forever they will just keep having more and more kids. I feel to stop overpopulation and a whole mess of other problems you get 3 then you get sterilized.

[@gorilladisco9108]

@@marshmellowmoon7990 It's encoded to every life form in the gene. Those DNAs are selfish pricks and the want more copy of themselves.

[@owl5496]

Life extension is indeed the tech I crave the most. Hopefully we will achieve it in my lifetime. I'm 18 now.

[@quinnsmith8421]

I think rejuvenation biotechnologies will be created in the near future. Dr. Aubrey de Grey from the SENS Research Foundation thinks there's a 50/50 chance of people reaching longevity escape velocity by the year 2036.

[@senato_x9293]

Same- 16

[@joapercan6887]

Same. 16

[@felix2315]

Same. 35, and i start noticing that my body is breaking down slowly. It sucks hard.

[@dahatanovle3550]

Same - 21

[@JohnSmith-ch6pt]

This concept almost exclusively helped me quit smoking, I’m 20 and smoked from 14-19 and regret it enormously. Crossing my fingers for fools like myself and the older generation that life extension comes around soon

[@williammcghee863]

Congratulations. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things a person can do.

[@redalien75]

Congrats on being able to quit, that’s a very impressive feat on its own.

[@mr.wookiesack]

Good job! I am 37 and have smoked since i was 17. My parents smoke. It is a curse. I have tried and failed many times.

[@liberalrationalist8905]

Several billionaires are pouring money into a cryo preservation corporation (Forbes). I've known about cryo (Prospects of Immortality) since three years after my father died young of a heart attack. One year after his death, coronary by-pass surgery became the approved treatment for blocked arteries. It use to be that funerals of the top 1% were very public displays of wealth and accomplishment. When was the last public funeral of a billionaire???? BTW, Michael Haselstine (Human Genome Project), in a NYT article, predicted 2050 was when medical advances would add enough years that a person would survive until the next major advance. I'm 74. I'm screwed.

[@thesilencebehindsounds]

@@mr.wookiesack A lot of it boils down to the right strategy and mindset in my experience. I quit myself and helped a couple friends as well. It is hard but doable if you know nicotins' tricks

[@HalNordmann]

Living literally forever isn't even necessary - just living for a very long time in good health would be enough for me. To do all the things I always wanted to do and see, but never had the time to.

[@animo9050]

Nah, forever is the only way.

[@SeanKula]

@@animo9050 agreed

[@misterskeleton_yt7854]

@@animo9050 agreed

[@xXRealXx]

@@animo9050 screw you, the Heat Death of the Universe! I'm four parallel universes ahead of you!

[@majesticgothitelle1802]

@@animo9050 before we all live enough to see a supernova and lack any emotion to care anymore

[@ixiairisborne1695]

I can't view the notion of getting bored with massively longer lives or biological immortality as anything but a lack of thought on the issue. My favorite thing to ask when people imply they'd get bored is, "How many languages have become fluent in? How many mountains have you climbed? How many countries/cultures have you lived in long enough to be equivalent of 'native-born?' How many musical instruments have you mastered? How many novels have you written?" There's a tremendous amount of things to do just on this one little planet. If you'll live to see humanity spread through the stars, the list of things to do will rise exponentially. Personally, I suspect the healthy strategy for much longer lives will be to just make occasional big changes. For example: spend a century having and raising kids, then go be an architect for several decades, then a marine botanist for three centuries, then have some more kids, etc, each time going back to school to learn how to best walk your new path. Because, while I cannot imagine getting bored with life in general, I can definitely see getting bored with a specific career, even if that career's scope is eternally broadening due to improved technology. Further, I think this would increase the rate of technological and scientific development because that person that mastered child care, architecture, and marine botany is going to have a rather improved viewpoint on all three of those fields if they then spend a few decades teaching.

[@fluffysheap]

I think people who worry about getting bored with life are already bored with life. People whose lives are just about mundane things, with escape into entertainment, might get bored. Some people's lives are about curiosity and they would never get bored. But I'm not sure you can turn group A into group B, and I'm not sure you should try. Giving them biological immortality might result in mental health problems, risk taking and unnecessary conflicts. I think this is a risk with all utopian plans.

[@20firebird]

not to mention, look how much has happened on earth in the last 50 years alone. living centuries would put you in position to see countless political and technological developments. you might not be _happy_, mind, but you sure wouldn’t be bored.

[@caty863]

@@fluffysheap Do you the word mundane literally means "of this world"?? So, anyone's life is mundane; unless you're out of this world.

[@ianharrison5758]

@@caty863 they mean mundane in the sense that it’s the very common, non interesting things about life that fuel it. If you feel like you need to work to have meaning, and feel good doing it, you can logically say living longer is worse overall. I don’t have that starting view. I already have things im willing to be bored for a million years to see happen even just once. Life evolve into a space faring race with no input from an existing body already making interstellar change. I’d find something to keep me entertained and interested and curious. Anywhere life does exist I will end up either finding it or finding a spot it can be seen from in the distant past at some point. Where specifically? No idea. I could never find any in real time as I look but find the stories of siblings that never made it. The ones our fingers were just too short too reach. I might make a grand background plan of a long time frame to collect such records and any established life I do meet via ai or whatever will be able to access it. That way no matter what any other species knew, that someone somewhere was looking for them, simply to make sure as many as could be found would have their story told. If I could ever find the ancient homeworld Of a species I could watch how their lives played out over time. They could be long dead, but it’s like I knew them, or what could be known about them. Maybe it’s never enough to make any difference, but for me irs the attempt that matters

[@RealCodreX]

This misses the point that if you live a much longer lifespan you will procrastinate forever. Why should you do things in this century and not in the next? Without death as a constant reminder of our mortality, we will slowly rather than later enter a perpetual state of procrastination.

[@JJ-si4qh]

I'm in the process of applying to a biogerontology (aging) Ph.D. We need all the people we can. Apply your brain to this field!

[@nemonemo151]

Best advice ever, and good luck with your career in research ^^

[@nebroskitheraut6705]

I hope more people get into this field!

[@Ewr42]

What's your opinion on veritasium's video on reversing aging? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that

[@RandyKalff]

I have been wanting to get into a field of science more seriously on the side. Since the last thing I want is to die, that may very well become said field. I definitely have the brains to contribute my two cents, so I don't see why not.

[@ewanhassall7350]

I'm very knowledgeable with finance but terrible with biology. Here's the plan, I'll make the money and let you spend it on your research, best I can do to help.

[@spacedoutorca4550]

“Live forever or die trying” Ancient Chinese Emperors drinking their latest batch of mercury: *Nervous sweating*

[@MrNote-lz7lh]

They should've tested on animals first to see it's effects.

[@Janoha17]

The reverse of "the grass is greener on the other side" is the "sour grapes", where of you can't reach something, it must not be worth it.

[@kalakritistudios]

The grapes are greener on the other side. "Is that good?" Idk

[@jsbrads1]

Isn’t the other side of green grass, healthy dark brown soil?

[@Perserra]

Amen Brother Isaac! "Why do you want to live forever? What would you do?", people always ask. Whatever I want! Forever! That's the point! If, for some reason, immortality sucks, I'll let you know after I take it for a spin for a couple centuries.

[@PyrusFlameborn]

I could maybe even finish my videogame backlog!😂 There are so many books to read, movies and series to watch, games to play, things to learn, people to meet, places to visit, etc.

[@EliasMheart]

You can always just end it if you do manage to get bored after however long (or start hunting lions with a nerf bat lol.) And it is so arrogant to assume that everyone shares your perspective @naysayers. If you want to die after 80ys with a lot of pain, that is your choice, be my guest. But assuming that everyone else wants to do that is either incredibly shortsighted or very arrogant. Which is why I believe that giving everyone more options is by itself already something that should be done, and nothing can give more Options than more time.

[@EliasMheart]

@@PyrusFlameborn well.... Game developers would also be alive for long and hone their craft. And there's more of them than of you, I wouldn't count on it^^

[@annonymsurfer3189]

people that say that are usually sad people, unhealthy, with nothing going on in their lives. I haven't seen a happy, healthy human that has hobbies and things going on in their live suddenly wake up one day and say : " Welp, i guess this is it, i had enough, let's just quit while we are ahead".

[@EliasMheart]

@@annonymsurfer3189 without trying to judge the truth or untruth of your statement, I am immediately wondering to what end you said it. Is it meant as "Hey, if you think that, maybe you should come to the light side and we are also feeling fulfilled over here"? Or "People who don't think they want to live forever are beneath my current living situation and thus should be helped"? Or a different twist on the previous: "... And therefore are irrelevant/despicable beings"? Or are you trying to make yourself feel better about being among the "enlightened few"? Please don't take offense at this, I am truly not certain on how to understand your post or what your goals were when writing it. Have a good day :)

[@ALPHAGALACTICOMEGA]

I can imagine some where in the Human future of post scarcity and vast life extension where at least a small number of people act like "Highlander" and literally engage in a death matches with swords out of sheer boredom, especially if their bodies can be reanimated like in Altered Carbon. Maybe some sort of prize would actually be given once there was only one left.

[@jameskitner9368]

They could actually finish a game of Monopoly The games they play would be way different than todays.

[@sheldoniusRex]

God I wish that were me.

[@samlosco8441]

I can just imagine the gladiatorial games being re-ignited in all their glory. I imagine such a thing could happen even if re-animation was not possible, but instead centuries or millennia-old humans finally sick of life deciding to fight it out with each other and creatures of the galaxy. I guess to some that sounds sad, but I say go ahead! If you’ve lived for 800 years and decide “fuck it, I’ve seen enough” and you want to go out fighting a genetically engineered super tiger with 10 of your similarly tired-of-life buddies rather than be euthanised in some sterile health facility, that is your damn right. Wait, I’m getting way too passionate about a future scenario which hasn’t even happened…

[@thedukeoflegends1981]

@@samlosco8441 hmmm... or society is aware of the depression and decides to offer the option to back up your memories and erase a few centuries to you can feel refreshed and eager to live out new experiences 😊.

[@ianharrison5758]

@@thedukeoflegends1981 You could do that but if not letting anyone alter how long I think I’ve been alive. I could have done anything in that amount of time and never know it until it fucks be over. I’m good

[@radioactiveriver6718]

Living forever would allow humanity to enjoy Raycon to the fullest

[@chillax319]

And to experience full version of Star Citizen as well as live long enough to see the end of Berserk manga.

[@sterlinsilver]

Even then, I don't think humans will ever be able to comprehend the sheer godlike power which raycon possesses...

[@melvinklark4088]

@@chillax319 honestly I hope we can live longer enough

[@happykilljoyproductions]

@@chillax319 I need to live long enough for Berserk, I’ll will myself past my death bed lmao

[@CamKnoppMusic]

That and NordVPN

[@FunZies.]

While I am more partial to the idea of living longer, I would imagine there would have to be (fundemental) systems in place to actively promote healthy mentality and wellbeing. A longer life can mean you have time for great things, but it also means there's plenty of time for shit to hit the fan for you and for it to last longer. Depression doesn't care how old/young you are, how mature you are or how fit you are. Surely humans would have to undergo a huge shift in social interactions (and other areas) in order to stave off depression.

[@Edinburghdreams]

With you on this one Isaac, could live a very long time without getting bored.

[@cholten99]

Purpose in a post-scarcity society is the thing I've been asking about ever since I found this channel some years ago. Can't wait to see the next episode.

[@jibrankhalil4837]

To understand more. I think post-scarcity is relatively near, but to get to the point where we know all there is to know could take much much longer. We don't even need to to tinker our self as humankind has always been curious.

[@fluffysheap]

There's an episode on immortality and purpose already

[@barryon8706]

If there are people you really don't get along with who are inconsiderate enough not to die, I'd think the pressure to move to an O'Neil cylinder around another star would grow all the greater.

[@chrisurwin9310]

I have to give you mad props for continuing your excellent commentary, visual content and editing. I was skeptical at first, but I admit, I was wrong. Took me a year or so to go back to the beginning and watched them all. Thank You for your hard work!

[@namelessbeast4868]

I just wanna chill till the heat death of the universe

[@joshuarichardson6529]

Wouldn't it make more sense to chill after the heat death of the universe?

[@atashgallagher5139]

fuck entropy, well invent zero point energy and harvest the quantum foam or invent universe transportation gates or something, I am not letting some wimpy ass inexorable force of nature get in between me and my elder scrolls 1923^223

[@michaelpettersson4919]

@@atashgallagher5139 As usual you start as a prisoner...

[@InquisitorThomas]

@@michaelpettersson4919 and they’re still using a modified version of the Gamebryo engine.

[@69Kazeshini]

@@InquisitorThomas "it just works"

[@michaelspence2508]

This ties into my own personal Simulation Hypothesis. If you can live forever without want or need, then you'd probably lose a lot of potential motivation. But we have a similar problem today of not needing as much physical exercise. So what do we do? We get it "artificially" via gyms or other forms of "unnecessary" exertion, like jogging. So for an immortal society without want or need might create simulations in order to get "moral" exercise, to restore our desire to go out and pursue things, etc.

[@Low_commotion]

I've had the thought before that it might be extremely difficult to raise a good-natured child in a world without deprivation and want, since a child might need to see suffering in order to develop empathy with those affected by it. Hence, it's not unthinkable that children would be plunged into VR simulations and memory-blocked in order to facilitate ethical development and/or emotional discipline, in other words to avoid the child developing into a sociopath who is hedonistic to a antisocial extent.

[@younessbarki4290]

perhaps this has already happened and we live inside one of those simulations lol

[@michaelspence2508]

@@Low_commotion You wouldn't necessarily even need the memory block. Just have them born into the simulation. You could even have 90+% of the people in those simulations be non-conscious npcs to avoid the rather dubious ethical ramifications you'd otherwise have.

[@shorewall]

As soon as I can go into space I am gone. Hell, think about the places in this world I've never seen.

[@J_Stronsky]

Something I think you missed here is the effect longevity would have on our attitude towards death. If people live longer but can still die, then in general people will become very risk averse. I always thought this was why the trope of long living/stagnant societies works well. Also, if someone does die within a long living community, that would be a really big deal for people who are not as accustomed to loss as, say a community with high infant mortality/short life expectancy.

[@StarmashVT]

Something I think is a very underrated thought on extended or especially indefinite lifespans is a potential for significantly greater risk aversion over time as humans start to fully grasp what they have achieved. With death currently, its considered a lot more tragic if you die with a large fraction of your otherwise expected lifespan remaining, whereas it seems easier to come to terms with it if you estimate you only had, say, 10 years remaining. Now imagine that attitude applied to *indefinitely* long lifespans. Now the "stakes" have been raised *infinitely* higher, assuming that is how you look at life and death.

[@punchkitten874]

See: Tolkien

[@evanbittle1003]

Interesting video. The talk of multi-generational households really got me thinking. I feel like that could explain some of those fantasy tropes depending on the setting, such as with Elves. You might be busy taking care of your own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or likewise those of your siblings, before you reach "adulthood" and take on a career, including adventuring. That might explain their wildly different experiences compared to a human.

[@austin3600]

I think one of the most interesting things about life extension is how it would change the perception of history. Can you imagine having a chat with a veteran of the Revolutionary war about their service? Or a veteran of the 30 years war? Or reading about Ghengis Khan's opinion on current world affairs in his latest book? It would take so much longer for history to fade into obscurity. I find the notion that I could potentially be telling people about what life was like in the early 21st century in the late 26th century very inspiring.

[@jsbrads1]

We have their writings.

[@Netseer2000]

Decades ago on TV a discussion about what if medical science was able to make humans life-span infinite. A life insurance agent said he would expect the average lifespan to be 300 years due to accidental death.

[@Rarkal]

I don't care what you say, I wanna live forever! :-)

[@enricobianchi4499]

enjoy living forever when the universe dies haha

[@quinnsmith8421]

Dr. Aubrey de Grey from the SENS Research Foundation thinks there's a 50/50 chance of people reaching longevity escape velocity by the year 2036.

[@Machiavelli2pc]

@@enricobianchi4499 technology may be developed to travel between universes (multiverse) or dimensions. Again, this is in the far far future. Edit: technology could also be developed to create new universes or pocket dimensions as well, you could literally live forever.

[@jacobrussell3509]

Me too

[@Rarkal]

@@enricobianchi4499 To experience everything that's in the future though, decent trade :D

[@agalah408]

I noticed that nothing was said about the ability of human memory to retain details of their own life experience after a few centuries. In the Mars series you had people of long life forgetting entire marriages together maybe 60 70 years ago. Arguably, if a person lives for 600 years but only retains 80 years of memories at any moment, you may as well refer to them as being different people with a common genetic structure.

[@blak4001]

My grandfather, who died at 94, said that time goes faster and faster as you age.... Eventually (at 90) it feels like Christmas on Tuesday and then again at Thursday.... I guess that at age 200, it would be at 8AM and then again at 10AM :-)

[@jsbrads1]

That might be able to be adjusted too.

[@jessegauthier6985]

I like being alive tbh, it's pretty fun sometimes

[@jessegauthier6985]

@Leanja ya

[@389293912]

Isaac, you left out what I consider the most radical effect of very long lives: risk aversion. If the only thing that kills you is physical damage from an external source, you would never want to leave your "cocoon of safety". People would become terrified to take any risk where they could be hurt and potentially killed.

[@MrNote-lz7lh]

At least for real. I bet even thrill seekers will keep their thrill seeking to vr games. Where they may feel pain or even die but when they die they just wake up in the real world.

[@jotatsu]

For this topic, all the Lazarus Long novels are recommended.

[@MWhaleK]

Seconded.

[@timmymeredith7499]

Absolutely

[@pstrap1311]

Uh, maybe not the later ones, depending on your feelings about incest.

[@timmymeredith7499]

@@pstrap1311 doesn't really bother me unless it gets explicit

[@pstrap1311]

Oh it very much does. I'm thinking of *To Sail Beyond the Sunset* which is focused on Laz's mom. Very, very focused.

[@gilbertjones9157]

A few decades ago I was involved in the life insurance. Actuaries after WW2 looked at what is possible if no disease were affecting life span and found that it would be possible to reach 200+ but the size of world population increases the likelihood an accident will take you out, from slips to, shark attack to, lightning to, plane crashes the longer you live the higher the chance death rides on your shoulder.

[@RomitHeerani]

For the people who dislike the idea of living forever from the fear or worry of getting bored or losing purpose, it might be beneficial to see it as an option to choose your own lifespan, it does not have to be literally forever, it can be however long you want to live. Though of course that would require a very different discussion on euthanasia than what we currently have. This idea though, of choosing your own lifespan is one I have read about in mythology and also seen it associated with monks, where they extend their lives through various rituals and exercises but then decide to leave the mortal plane once they have achieved whatever goals they wanted to achieve.

[@jsbrads1]

Euthanasia may not be necessary, just DNR would mean, Do Not Rejuvenate.

[@RealCodreX]

The question that will then arise is whether the desire to die is “just a phase”, i.e. a bad day, and one is not allowed to die, even if one suffers from enormous pain for centuries (because what are millions of years in comparison to the entierty of time itself?). Just look how we think, handle and react to suicide today.

[@TheSheekeyScienceShow]

It's great to see videos like this being made. The more we can spread the word and educate on this topic the better prepared we will be to address potential problems so that the technology helps, not hinders us.

[@vonwux]

You know things are going well when the prospect of living hundreds or thousands of years seems like some sort of punishment.

[@HarryVoyager]

A couple of days ago, I realized that there is more good stories, more interesting and useful knowledge, more magnificent art and experiences being found and created every day, than I could likely take in in a lifetime. I realized that, the challenge of our future is not going to be figuring out what do do with our time, but rather, what to give up doing with our time. Even if we live forever, we will never be able to do it all.

[@HAL-oj4jb]

The alien race in my worldbuilding project lives in a post-scarcity civilization whose members tend to get 300 years old, and they deal with this by sectioning their lives into around a dozen different lives where they try out different careers, hobbies, and lifestyles. This way there is always a way to reach one's goals without having to spend 100 years in education or waiting for promotion. There are some people that are so passionate or ambitious to stay in the same place for a long time or until they die, but these are generally seen as strange, except when it happens in some very challenging field that require persistence and a lot of education or training, in which case they tend to be respected. Only spending one or two of these "lives" as a parent also prevents overpopulation.

[@linz8291]

If we wanna live 300 years old, it's necessary to reverse ages from current average 80-120 to 300 years. DNA techs and anti-aging are new area to improve development process to space level, in particular if you are traveling to the other extroplanets and back to the earth.

[@Lutrian]

A couple of things to consider. If fertility continues indefinitely, this might reduce population growth. People tend to procrastinate. Today, we deal with people, especially women, feeling that their clock it ticking, and they have to have kids. With biological immortality, and being able to have children, or not, whenever they want, a lot of people will put it off, and many might never get around to it. And people would still die. Hoverbus accidents, assaults, airlock accidents, orbital skydiving accidents, under-ice Europa scuba accidents, all that could kill a surprising number of permanently youthful people, possibly before they get around to having kids. The ones who go total VR, might never have kids, and just veg. Second, yeah, the economy would be way different. One scenario I've thought of, is that retirement would be temporary, like a few decades. You'd work, build up retirement, then take a couple of decades off to live it up, than resume. In fact, some might even go back to school, and go into a completely new field and career path. This would play into the possibility that interest bearing accounts and investments might be a thing of the past, due to life extension.

[@mikestanmore2614]

I have often considered that beings with lifespans orders of magnitude longer than our own would not consider slower than light travel to be a prohibition on interstellar travel - but perhaps they would be more averse to the dangers.

[@joegrows4209]

That 1 dislike is your biggest fan , he must be subbed with notifications turned on , gets here quickly and leaves without learning anything new 😂😂

[@beckycartel]

I often wonder how many dislikes are from accidentally touching your phone screen without noticing. Sometimes, when I'm driving, I'll notice my leg accidentally disliked the video. And theres no "dislikes" playlist so I cant go check all the videos I might have done that to :(

[@chrisfloyd9901]

I have several times found videos I had accidentally disliked because I listen to the videos in my pocket.

[@cortos_9733]

I use KZbin Vanced for background playback and no ads. I have Nebula too so I'll watch Thursday episodes on Wednesday but their app sucks.

[@dannytourigny9403]

@@beckycartel We totally should have a dislikes playlist. That's a great idea!

[@beckycartel]

@@dannytourigny9403 I've always wondered why there wasn't one already!

[@lukasmakarios4998]

The Jubilee year is an idea that really needs to be brought back.

[@mrs7195]

I can imagine hundreds of years old individuals sort of "rebooting" themselves every few centuries - archiving their old memories and personalities in the cloud and then growing an entirely new personality, skill sets and memories, rinse and repeat. There would be an ever-growing "meta-self" of themselves in the cloud storage, and their later incarnations could probably peruse that meta-self like a vast, centuries-old museum complex and see what they once were like.

[@LoopcrateAudio]

This is the only channel where I’ve watched every video and religiously come to watch each episode right when it airs. Honestly the best channel on KZbin. Just hope that we make progress on life extension before I die so I can experience all the cool technology and concepts you discuss for myself :p

[@horrificpleasantry9474]

Personally I'm looking forward to building orbital rings and doing star lifting in eternity. There'll be plenty of time for the elect.

[@stefanr8232]

@@horrificpleasantry9474 You are looking forward to transportation infrastructure and extraction industry? Surely there must be more to life than this.

[@horrificpleasantry9474]

@@stefanr8232 some people like to build things. You realize everything that is *made* is built? The main reason we don't have as much high tech robotics for cheap as we could have is because rare earth metals are not readily available, but if they can be easily harvested by star lifting, then we could all have 7G with 1 Tbps transfer speeds, sub-millisecond load times for devices, universal ping under 0.1 ms, voice recognition/control to 'smart' everything, cars that go 2,000 miles per gallon, etc etc etc. Development is like crack, many people are listless in life because they don't get to do things, held down by lack of opportunity. Post-scarcity of various things creates more opportunity. Check out Isaac's "Jobs of the Future" video

[@unholy7324]

This channel, and crash course is all I need in life

[@nebroskitheraut6705]

Glad to see another music producer here! Good to see you bro

[@stevoplex]

For someone with chronic pain, depression and disability, life extension is a nightmare.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Generally speaking the sorts of regenerative technologies that can extend life would tend to be able to fix most types of chronic pain, but fundamentally if someone isn't wanting to live longer they need not take any life extended treatments, it shouldn't factor into whether anyone else should have access to them though.

[@MG-er6dm]

"Live forever or die trying" - Yep, death sucks!!! N.B I just thank God the best is yet to come.

[@MG-er6dm]

@Penny Bee Hi Perry. Where's that inclusivity? I enjoy this channel like anyone else. And like anyone else l have an opinion.

[@quinnsmith8421]

You're right. Death and suffering suck. Living indefinitely as a side effect of medicine enabling perfect health is what's important.

[@MG-er6dm]

@@quinnsmith8421 Hey Quinn. I'm now into my 17th year of dialysis and have been kept alive by medical advancement for near 50 years! I just don't know what to make of it all. I often feel guilty, when so many have gone without.

[@MG-er6dm]

@@Reiman33 Umm?! 🤔 *Feel "Free" to share more about that. N.B I may be lacking some object-"ivity"'?!.

[@AtlasReburdened]

Only taking away 2% to account for inflation? Thats... optimistic.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Infinite lifespans are, of necessity, counter-productive. I'm all for extended lifespans, but would be satisfied with the Biblical antediluvian range. Those were quite long (think of Methuselah) but only because they counted in lunar, not annual cycles. If indeed we could make those numbers up in years, WOW! I would love to live 12.369 times longer! And yes, I would spend a lot of time perfecting my profession, or a handful of them, doing serious philosophical introspection and speculation, and traveling to the planets and nearer stars. Such lifetimes are made for long term endeavors. But I would feel deep sorrow for the next generation, who must wait for their inheritance, and those who would try to write biographies about their heroes and celebrities. As for the age of majority, I could imagine that one might become a "respected adult" at the proverbial "three score and ten" that we plan for as a reasonable whole lifetime now... and anyone who doesn't make it well into their sixth or seventh century would seem to have died young. For myself, I would be superbly pleased to live reasonably healthy until I reach 81 years old, or 1000 months. 🙏😀👌

[@adilsongoliveira]

The Minbari live longer than humans but not by much. They commonly live more than 100 years but their record is 120.

[@duo496]

More time to watch Isaacs Arthur videos!

[@honeyspiderii]

I imagine that with the kind of bio-modding that extreme life extension implies, that several people may want to pursue a strategy of multiple identity resets, similar to the way "seasons" or "campaigns" are implemented in some video games. E.g. Okay, I spent the last 100 years living out a certain life trajectory and got about as far as I could before getting bored with the particular career, friend group, family, reputation, etc. that set of choices let to, and now I want to go back to college with this completely different 20-year-old-looking cyborg body I've just 3D printed, with a new name and new identity, pick a totally different major and career path, meet a totally different set of people, make a totally different set of choices and see where this totally different approach to life takes me.

[@cortos_9733]

Sounds very cool. It's been touched on in some scifi but nothing that stands out to me as a large point. It would be awesome to be an expert in several languages, instruments, or subjects.

[@jameskitner9368]

So you would ask some one is this your first time through life? And expect an honest reply. Or you could say it as an insult lol

[@dinvision2410]

Came from Longevity Subreddit 😀

[@quinnsmith8421]

Thanks to the folks at r/Longevity who spread awareness of rejuvenation research.

[@oimate4248]

Can u imagine how cruel it would be to say lose a loved one right before the immortality peak was reached

[@nebroskitheraut6705]

This was what I was thinking.

[@eldo4rent]

The true problem people have with age gaps in dating is the power gap. Typically in our society older people hold seniority. If 2 people can have an age gap but not a power gap in their relationship, then there is nothing wrong with it. Most of us see a power gap when we see an age gap, if it exists or not, and that drives our displeasure at seeing these relationships. Whether we know it or not. IMHO

[@quinnsmith8421]

I recommend reading Lifespan IO's "Concerns and Implications of Increased Longevity"; it features different articles addressing different misconceptions. The reality is there will only be positives about good medicine for the elderly.

[@fluffysheap]

Certainly true. But if everyone is biologically youthful for a long time, it won't be possible to tell at first glance if there's an age gap. It won't be possible to have this stigma any more. It will also lead to further disruption to gender roles. Men are typically attracted to youth, but if a woman that looks 23 is actually 300 years old with six PhDs, 25 year old men will still be attracted to her and the assumption that the man is always older and more powerful just won't be viable any more.

[@eldo4rent]

@@fluffysheap Imagine it would be rare to run into someone young. You might not know at first glance but you can't tell peoples relationship at first glance either. Is this a cougar situation or an older friend/aunt? I bet over time people get good at guessing each others age even without the physical aging. It may come down to mannerisms, style of hair, style of dress, and even slang/dialect. Currently you can often tell when people have a large age gap because of the different uses of language. I bet those skills get much sharper when aging is removed. But you are probably mostly right. Without seeing the wrinkled billionaire on oxy with the young model it would be hard to know there was an 80 year age gap to be grossed out by.

[@AlanRPaine]

In Arthur C. Clarke's very far sighted 'The City and the Stars' published in 1956 people live for 1000 years. At the end of this period they edit their memories and return to the 'Memory Banks.' They are then artificially reincarnated in the 'Hall of Creation' after many years and go through the cycle again.

[@AlanRPaine]

@@thotslayer9914 It's a story. Peoples' memories are preserved in a way not described in the book and then put into new bodies again by a process that Clarke makes no attempt to elucidate. You'll have to read the book.

[@mikeellery3336]

The few years that we have extended our lifespan has already seen a dramatic increase in the length of childhood. It didn't used to be uncommon to see a 14 or 15 year old girl married starting a family. Now children live in their mommy and daddy's home until they're thirty something

[@virutech32]

just because some people were married off earlier doesn't mean much since in those cases it was for the most part outside the control of those young women and when looking at ancient cultures where both parties more or less had the right to choose their partners you generally see marriages/childbirth between 19-25. which makes sense since the earlier you have a kid the higher the chance of either u or ur baby dying during birth. those sort of really early marriages are actually pretty uncommon throught history. or rather early arranged marriages were common but actual conception that early isnt. more often than not the older partner basically finished raising their partner before the shenanigannery began. actually some good parallels with incest where people have the impression that it was somehow super common in the past but it wasnt. it was mostly royalty/nobility that engaged in that and it was pretty damn uncommon with the eest of genpop because...well ew. just ew. and thats a pretty natural reaction engrained, at least in the majority of genpop, genetically in the same way thw vast majority of people are not attracted to children. evolution does not promote strategies that actively harm a population or reduce the chances of reproduction.

[@mikeellery3336]

@@virutech32 I'm not sure what you consider ancient oh, I'm in my late 50s and my grandmother was married at 14. And that was not uncommon

[@jefferywise1906]

I’m with you. Long life and always learning and exploring life and knowledge. I always look to see not only what’s going on but also what’s coming next. We can try to imagine human civilization ten thousand years or more away, but living it that’s something an order of magnitude greater.

[@artificerdrachen6908]

With my body seeming to disappoint me on many fronts, I'm getting a bit impatient waiting for bionics to reach my minimum standards.

[@Garreousbear]

Peter F. Hamilton's Common Wealth Saga does a great job of this, giant dynastic powers and the idea of putting your head down and working for 70 years to get ahead.

[@SS369]

I'm so deep into life extension technologies! Really excited about stuff like David Sinclair's or Michael Levin's work on longevity and bioelectric cell group computation, respectively.

[@agapeten]

So am I.

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

Human lifespan has not been increasing, instead what we are seeing is fewer people dying before they reach their maximum lifespan. (If we ever do get significant life-extension it will become even more critical to have a society with minimal hierarchy.)

[@X3h0n]

Imagine dictators who will live forever. CEOs and Board Members who never have to resign. Political dynasties being replaced by the same people getting recycled every election for centuries. Wealthy individuals who can just keep getting wealthier ad nauseum, that wealth never really reaching newer generations except when the wealthy are in the mood to grace them with it. Yeah, immortality sounds fun

[@quinnsmith8421]

@@X3h0n I recommend reading Lifespan IO's "Concerns and Implications of Increased Longevity"; it features different articles addressing different misconceptions. The reality is there will only be positives about good medicine for the elderly.

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

@@X3h0n That is why an immortal society has to have a very minimal hierarchy. The ossified immortals can be happy that they provide society with stability, but it has to be the sort of stability that enables the non-ossified immortals to innovate and change - even if all practical ways of living have been fully explored over the last several million years.

[@thedude5294]

@@qwertyuiopgarth Heirarchies are a deeply ingrained component of social animals, the only great apes without it are male Orangutans and that is because they live solitary lives. If you look at history you see that technology and abundance of resources simply widend the heirarchocal gaps, it never shrinks them. We'll never minimize heirarchy.

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

@@thedude5294 You give up too soon.

[@adrianburchell8075]

there was a series on science fiction ideas hosted by Gillian Anderson, i think, if i got my series straight, that covered longer lifespans, one scenario depicting a man in his twenties/thirties who starts dating a woman four hundred years older than him because he couldnt find a woman of his own age, appearances lasting longer. I think the ideal longer lifespans is to stop aging after 20 and only age older in the last thirty years of expected lifespan.

[@thedude5294]

Men usually look their best in their 40s, assuming they don't let themselves go. I don't want to be stuck looking like a little boy.

[@triularity]

It takes awhile for dragons to eat enough peasants and their livestock to store up enough reserves to lay an egg.

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

Imo life extension is one of those technologies that would necessitate any civilization to grow in power consumption to the point that it would need to harness the total energy output of its host star.

[@a.f.9782]

It definitely would change how I see life right now. For me it has become kind of a race of which the objective is get a family and a house and enjoy once done. It's a race because it become harder to do children after our 30ies, for biological reasons and because you want to get a house as soon as you can to enjoy it, finish paying it and then passing it on to your heir

[@jwadaow]

Not only are interest rates low, governments have created enormous amounts of money that is entering the real economy. They have also disabled the workforce at the same time.

[@Jacob-pu4zj]

Hello, friend.

[@DerekJones1081962]

A lot depends on one's perspective. For those of us who are simply surviving day to day, long life is a nightmare. I have already outlived my usefulness several times over. I know too much, and I am getting fairly bored in a world with few if any mysteries left to discover at only 60. One question my therapist asked a while back was, "Do I fear never finding happiness again? And, frankly, I do. I have a moderately good life with my present wife, but I live in fear that the cruel hand of fate will once again take away what I enjoy today. So, as you can see, for some life extensions for some will be great, while some have to continue living on the sidelines.

[@unnamedx2]

I disagree that a "golden age" type of setting wouldn't be interesting

[@ClassicMagicMan]

Kind of what I'm going for in my book. An "overlord" civilization in its golden age is going around the galaxy uplifting races they wish to become allies with, humanity being especially of interest to them.

[@InfinitEthanAnimations]

As an immortality supporter, I’m really excited to see infinite life extension technology in the near-future and I personally it should be anyone who wants it, especially our family and pets. Keep up the great work Isaac and thank you for enhancing my optimism with your optimism

[@dillonsookram7988]

I absolutely love this episode today on my 29th birthday.

[@sueda9591]

Happy birthday :)

[@dillonsookram7988]

@@sueda9591 thank you

[@lukejavor4739]

HBD

[@nicynodle2]

Fun fact, the eldar from 40,000 whilst they do have longer lives 1) their entire species is manafactured by a near godlike race to be bioweapons and 2) they use whodo voodoo space magic to artificially expand their lives making the most powerful dumbledoors near or even fully immortal.

[@MarkusAldawn]

The "Happy Arthursday" folks don't know what to do

[@AugustusBohn0]

happy Arthunday?

[@horrificpleasantry9474]

monthursday?

[@a-blivvy-yus]

The Deathworlders web novel manages to have a galaxy full of alien races centuries ahead of us in technology, focus on humans, and still tell interesting stories revolving around humans. It is, of course, the exception that proves the rule, being in a very niche style of sci-fi story.

[@MrLeafeater]

The opposite of "The grass is always greener..." is "Sour grapes". I love your work. Thanks for a great video!

[@daneeisen8566]

Hello Isaac! Love your channel and so much has got me thinking. Given the geopolitics of the day, would love to see an episode on comprehensive development of power generation and other technologies for the next 20 years?

[@tadghsmith1457]

Rejuvenation technologies might be just around the corner. Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard has done work where he managed to reverse the biological age of retinal cells in the eyes of mice from an aged and diseased state to a healthy and youthful state. He discusses it in KZbin interviews and in his book "Lifespan: Why We Age - and Why We Don’t Have To". He's the real deal. Well worth checking out for anyone interested in this stuff.

[@Erowens98]

I tend to think we will begin having fewer and fewer children, as even today, many 25-30 year olds feel they're "too young for kids", when at least from a biological standpoint the early/mid 20's seem to be the ideal range for it. I can imagine a future in which people "feel too young" well into their thousands of years. Though this would probably happen after a few hundred/thousand years of initial population explosion. If I where more of a pessimist, I could also see a future like the one portrayed in Stargate with the Ashen/Human alliance, where governments intentionally sterilize a large portion of their own populations to limit population growth.

[@petrifiedpossom]

I have great hope for life extension tech continuing to be positive for are lives but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit worried about it creating a virtually immortal wealthy class that can lord over generations of us mere mortals forever.

[@aidans4464]

One thing that I'm afraid about the possibility of life extensions is the possibility that it will result in a state of gerontocracy: The old use the fact that they are the most experienced people around to prevent younger people from rising through the ranks of power. They might even use rhetoric comparable to Confucianism to justify the creation of authoritarian states under their control. Thus, each successive generation gets less and less influence over the government, until eventually a conflict between the old elites and disenfranchised young people breaks out.

[@stephenpointon]

this just made my Sunday and may I have many many more to come

[@urulai]

Honestly I can dig the notion of living forever, or as long as possible at least because life is not just the same old game all the time and there are an infinite number of games to play and even some not yet created.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

Going to watch (imdb) "a man from earth" again after this... Synopsis seems boring but the whole thing is very fascinating "scifi" (only forest cabin). My motto's been (from when I was two, just found out) "Too weary to be" ~ rought translation to English.

[@AtlasReburdened]

That's a great movie.

[@ravenkeefer3143]

The best example I remember of long lived humanity was normal youth aging that hit the brakes at around two years after physical maturation. This allowed minimum rearing years, maximum productivity and advantages of tweens through late middle age, and the individual had the choice of when they chose to again speed up aging process and embrace the transition of death. However, 800-3000 years was a personal choice not a socialized norm. The story allowed unlimited exploration because these were interstellar travelers. Some chose a home life, others careers in various ways and stages, and social norm was push to be one of the explorer class with various options for development and usefulness. Boredom....that was the antagonist of the story. Created psychopaths, sociopaths, and insane heinous effects. Dystopian society for some and exponentially increased elitism of others. Equity was extremely confused with equality almost to the extent of Bradbury short fiction where limitations were artificially placed to lower the advancement of "lower classes". Personally, I would enjoy the several centuries if it were completely outside of the institutional systems imposed today. Open knowledge, exploration, and ecologically sound development to actually better the system, for life and planet rather than playing it for perceived gains? I could do twenty or thirty centuries in a system of that kind.

[@OldGamerNoob]

Live forever or die trying -Isaac Arthur

[@Highlyskeptical]

There will be 2 groups of people, those that use technology to live forever, and those that will move on to a better place, never to be seen again.

[@V3ritas1989]

Bloomberg quicktakes just made a video about mRNA anti-cancer tech. Suggesting that the first anti-cancer mRNA "drug" might get approval in the next two years which might even be personalized. This could be a big step towards this.

[@cameronscott8891]

Great video, as usual. I'm honored to have contributed to the graphics of this channel, even in such a small way. Can't wait for the next one!

[@bobsaggat]

"Anything short of immortality is a complete waste of time" Think I got the quote right

[@styxdragoncharon4003]

Spring, I have never seen the season. In the two places, I have lived there were either seasons that alternated between rainy and dry or winter and summer with a few weeks of soggy transition.

[@JDX-]

Anyone know what book he was referring to with the ‘if I had to date someone my own age I’d be looking in the National history museum’?

[@ddwkc]

Some insects have very slow maturation (like cicadas and dragonflies), but adult form doesn't last that long in comparison. Imagine an intelligent insect life with a larval stage lasting half a century or more to just mature and have 1 year to reproduce. Most of the society being run by the larval population and having their biggest festival being an orgy for the ones who reach "adulthood".

[@psychosocialeben]

Its a pity that you didn't spoke about the alterd carbon series, Great show i enjoyed it.

[@sabrinaperes2746]

I love these episodes. That said, I would suggest that one way toward longevity of a species is selection for that trait. At the most basic level, selection would be breeding that promotes the trait. Thus, if a race is hardy and not readily facing "early death", then those that are capable of reproducing at older age would be producing children as a result = selection. Currently, our biology selects against later/mature adult reproduction. The older we produce, the greater the genetic defects. This occurs both from male and female, though the female side seems of greater consequence in this vulnerability. That is, the female gametes are produced in utero and thus age and/or a shelf life begins. However, if sexual maturation and development of gametes occurred later/older and there was selection for later reproduction then there might be selection for longevity.

[@NielsBlok567]

Maybe it's time to revisit the SENS foundation? A state-of-the-art episode would be very interesting!

[@IkeReviews]

They just got 20 million

[@aserta]

2:48 Stargate (the movie) piramid ships with Mass Effect architecture and a Men in Black UFO? Magical.

[@riggersHDFTW]

everyone's motto should be live forever or die trying.

[@umarabdullah5510]

Extended youth would be nice but who would want to be elderly for a long time?

[@marcopohl4875]

if you get life extension in your lifetime, you get everything else in your lifetime too, just saying

[@halo3soap114]

Man I love waking up to an isaac arthur episode.

[@robertmiller9735]

I'm ambivalent about it. Imagine a world in which certain... prominent figures won't ever die of old age. That's hell.

[@stefanr8232]

Or we could have both freedom and security. Those who can provide both could be made more prominent. Politics could be made much less significant. Very few people become globally prominent. It would be harder to start a career as a famous composer but as a consumer it would be great to hear what Mozart would have done with access to 21st century instruments. The drudgery of farming, manufacturing, or logistics is the daily reality for most people today.

[@anne4922]

I am also a bit worried about the rise of immortal autocrats. But I think that there is a high probability that the light speed limit will provide an absolute limitation to empires expansions while the sheer vastness of the reachable universe will provide for near infinite places to escape their grasp. Ultimately the abundance of space and resources should dissolve all motive for armed conflicts except for (human/intelligent/sentient)-being rights. This leading to a general outbound pressure towards individual liberties. Also the dynamics of centralized power being based on controlled distribution of resources to the state actors. Such dynamics might also dissolve in a technological post scarcity era. A super autocrat would have to control all resources/money, knowledge, production capacity, and space travel/habitats while voluntarily maintaining relative poverty. Sadly, this is not impossible, power hungry people have been at if from the dawn of time and will keep trying, but it is certainly very unlikely to succeed.

[@asdfasdfasdf1218]

That's a moot point because if you die, then all that is irrelevant to you in the first place. Same for all other concerns.

[@dannytourigny9403]

@@anne4922 You live in the same light cone with those immortal autocrats. If they are limited by the speed of light then you have to think that you are also subject to the same limitation in escaping them.

[@malcolm_in_the_middle]

You have a very different idea of hell than most people I think. If my worst enemy, or most hated public figure, could live forever, I wouldn't care, as long as I could also live forever.

[@kenshy10]

Using technology to extend your life is just buying time in the hopes you can find better ways to buy more time. I'm in!