Will it be a blessing or a curse if science finds a way to stop ageing?

The other day I was watching a film and in that movie medical science had solved the ageing problem. That made me wonder about a few things....

First of all...what impact would this have on the world and society when thinking about economy, energy, space and food. Must we first solve the economic and all those other related topics first before we en masse prolong our lives?

Will it be a blessing or a curse if science finds a way to stop ageing?

What are your thoughts about this?

More people would have to start practicing birth control, unless we advanced out onto other planets. Without aging, and the diseases that go along with the breakdown of the body, Population would grow too fast.

People get crazy with overcrowding and limits on resources.

Economically, there isn't enough balance now, with a very few overly wealthy people, and a whole bunch starving.

Maybe along with all the Earth like planets they've been finding it could all work out well.

Length of life really isn't hugely important - what you do with it and how you yourself view it is.

Be it a lifespan of 10 years or 10 thousand years...the blessing or the curse of it comes down to the person in the mirror.

*okay, so thats pretty rudimentary, as perhaps a 10 year old isn't as functional, adaptable and resourced as an adult is able to be...but you get what I'm saying hopefully....

[edit on 30-7-2010 by alien]

We age every moment. Going from experience, I think they'd have to start the anti-aging before 30 but sometime after 20. At thirty, I had already noticed signs of aging. Now if they could reverse aging, that could possibly cure many of the diseases that come with aging. I'm 57 and to be honest, I really wouldn't want to live forever in this body.

But you are correct in that it would put a tremendous strain on our resources.

Anti-aging technology is available exclusively to the ruling class. That's how the feudal system has worked since the days of Arthur. That's how feudalism works today.

I don't think the government would allow such a thing to happen...

Like they want people on social security for the rest of time... haha

Well, in my opinion right now, it would definitely not be a blessing. Of course population growth would be one of the major problems. And also, I think there are so many more things we should be focusing on rather than stopping of the age process that seems so vain to me.

Maybe we can get a little older in the future, maybe not.

The problem with finding a cure that prevents you to age... ? I'd say that aging is one of the most important things in life. Our whole way of living is based on it.

Everything in the body splits and dies ,splits and dies if this didn't happen we would eventually grow to massive proportions. The same happens with the population when no one dies.

it would not be cool

since a lot of people with money would not age and they would want to stay in power and get more $$

the poor would age, it may create a revolt or whatever, it would not be pretty

but I agree that in a near future we will be able to slow down or even stop the aging process for sure!

reply to post by snowspirit


Can you imagine a world where it has become so very crowded that it is forbidden to have children. There are too many people roaming the Earth and nobody dies.

There is a lot to consider if people live longer. However on a personal note I would find it more to my advantage to have a quality pain free life than a longer life.

We already live longer than the generations before us. 40 used to be considered old age.

It would be a curse. Why would anyone want to live forever? You can't measure forever. People want to live forever in my opinion for selfish reasons.

The planet wouldn't be able to sustain that many people esp with the way this world procreates.

Originally posted by zatara
reply to post by snowspirit

 

Can you imagine a world where it has become so very crowded that it is forbidden to have children. There are too many people roaming the Earth and nobody dies.

That's why we need to move out into space, onto one of the earthlike planets they might find We just have to get it right next time, and not pollute the new planet.

I'm personally looking forward to this step on our way to becoming Human 2.0. In order to make life extension therapy actually feasible we'll need nanobots, at which point most of the problems raised in this topic obsolete. While massive overpopulation is a concern, one must take into account that as life expectancy increases, birth rate decreases.

I'd love to live to see the end of the Earth as the sun incinerates it. I'd undergo sterilization to be able to live long enough to see the end of the world and maybe even the way the universe ends.

What leads you to believe that people will start having a bunch more children all of a sudden? People have 2 or 3 children now. So, in order for the population to explode people will have to start having 4 or 5 children. I believe you are mistaken about the population exploding.

A longer life means more wealth, and more wealth means a lower birth rate. Therefore, indefinite lifespans mean a dramatic reduction in the growth of population. While its true people stop dying so often, its also true that even if everyone in the past 2,000 years had never died we wouldn't even double the current population, but due to the increase in wealth due to a more healthy population there would be a dramatically lower birth rate.


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An older population = mature/wiser population.

Humans never learn from histories mistakes.
Humans always feel too much stress because time is running out, and they must do this and that before they get too old.

Imagine a world with many humans who remember histories mistakes from experience, no more repeating the same mistakes over and over and over.

Imagine how much more humanity could give if they have more time to live, e.g what could Einstein have accomplished with a longer lifespan?

Those are just some of the positives.
I welcome such a change, I mean we aren't doing very well now as humanity, so why not give it a shot? To become a older, wiser humanity.


Whatever your opinion is on this subject, I think it's fair to say that it is an inevitable future no matter what. Humans will evolve with technology.
We are already part machine now in a way, with all our mobile phones and communication etc And we will continue to evolve more and more with technology and become one, the next step in humanity.


[edit on 30-7-2010 by _Phoenix_]

A CURSE

your dating this hot young chick and then you find out she's over a hundred

www.youtube.com...


"Xanadu" by Rush
one hell of a good tune,
captures my sentiments on the OP exactly.
"spend my days as a mad immortal man"
SandF

ps
poor people die on avaerage ten years younger than rich people in Britain.
PPS
cancer is unregulated growth with out death in cells
[edit on 30-7-2010 by Danbones]

[edit on 30-7-2010 by Danbones]

Originally posted by IndianaOps
A CURSE

your dating this hot young chick and then you find out she's over a hundred

And why would that be bad?

[edit on 30-7-2010 by _Phoenix_]