tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post5221872947775995227..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: What if... #4Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50642482158319911092008-12-14T05:10:00.000-05:002008-12-14T05:10:00.000-05:00we would have died now( none is dead means none is...we would have died now<BR/>( none is dead means none is safe<BR/>pollution increases<BR/>resource exploitation would have boasted )dukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01143839911895462015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82107201524664659082008-12-12T21:52:00.000-05:002008-12-12T21:52:00.000-05:00Garrett: "I used to think that if I lived long eno...Garrett: "I used to think that if I lived long enough, I'd get to see Sundance post a comment on the internet."<BR/><BR/>Oh, very droll, Garrett! :-) Clearly the true measure of longevity is living to see me start my own blog ;-)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08877321829971281923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14619457581477278882008-12-09T02:11:00.000-05:002008-12-09T02:11:00.000-05:00I used to think that if I lived long enough, I'd g...I used to think that if I lived long enough, I'd get to see Sundance post a comment on the internet.<BR/><BR/>Now that's actually happened... I don't know anymore. But, yes, I guess I'll still be first in line for life extension. I'm having too much fun to be in a hurry to leave.<BR/><BR/>I don't see a big ethics dilemma here. Senescence and death totally suck. Finding more space is a solvable Garretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03136765358626033631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78228992718346487272008-12-06T18:28:00.000-05:002008-12-06T18:28:00.000-05:00oh to live forever,but hold on camn we live longer...oh to live forever,<BR/>but hold on camn we live longer than the universe<BR/>would the drug get us thru the sun going supernova?QUASAR9https://www.blogger.com/profile/00593390598251093182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-72221938726752442132008-12-06T13:08:00.000-05:002008-12-06T13:08:00.000-05:00Immortality: The speed of light would no longer be...Immortality: The speed of light would no longer be a barrier to interstellar travel! So much to explore; so little time to do it in.:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24833226902884911902008-12-05T20:08:00.000-05:002008-12-05T20:08:00.000-05:00Immortality would be like any other tool - a boon ...Immortality would be like any other tool - a boon or a burden depending on how you use it. Assuming it was generally available, some people would probably choose not to live forever due to religious reasons or eventual boredom, others would engage in extreme sports or centuries-long gang wars with each other for the "thrill" of pitting their immortality against the chance of annihilation (as per Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08877321829971281923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-83242360593148793672008-12-05T18:39:00.000-05:002008-12-05T18:39:00.000-05:00Well, this is science fiction. I've no idea if it ...Well, this is science fiction. I've no idea if it will ever be practical, but there are no laws of physics saying I can't fly to Beta Pictoris or whatever and reproduce away to my heart's content once I get there. Living a long time would be quite convenient if the fastest I can go is .1 c or something.<BR/><BR/>Also science-fictionally, if we can do drugs to live 800 years, maybe we can do drugsMichael Goginshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07300917064580760923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-85841481734498096202008-12-05T18:01:00.000-05:002008-12-05T18:01:00.000-05:00Hi Michael,good point! I have been practicing pian...Hi Michael,<BR/><BR/>good point! <BR/><BR/><I>I have been practicing piano now for 800 years and am beginning to get a feel for this Bach guy.</I><BR/><BR/>The cool aspect is, of course, that one could meet Bach and all kinds of other famous people in person. On the other hand, as the total number of humans to ever live had to be smaller, there would also be a smaller number of highly creative stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-5769059524690278522008-12-05T17:08:00.000-05:002008-12-05T17:08:00.000-05:00I assume that "immortality" is not literal, but ra...I assume that "immortality" is not literal, but rather that medicine greatly extends the span of both life and vitality. So, e.g., instead of living to 85 as my father did, I might live to 850 before a truck runs over me or I get some kind of cancer that can't be cured.<BR/><BR/>I notice that some commenters think immortality would be bad. They wouldn't think it was bad if they could have it Michael Goginshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07300917064580760923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78628214186389711612008-12-05T16:56:00.000-05:002008-12-05T16:56:00.000-05:00We'd be stuck with the Baby Boomers. FOREVER. Th...We'd be stuck with the Baby Boomers. FOREVER. Think about that, people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-49494043193382006672008-12-05T13:26:00.000-05:002008-12-05T13:26:00.000-05:00Hi Bee and Stefan,Turning humans into cyborgs will...Hi Bee and Stefan,<BR/><BR/>Turning humans into cyborgs will probably happen before any such medication is found.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07643919214761722345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-54491714303465180522008-12-05T06:55:00.000-05:002008-12-05T06:55:00.000-05:00Hi Plato,"what if there was no time.....?:)”In as ...Hi Plato,<BR/><BR/>"what if there was no time.....?:)”<BR/><BR/>In as space and time are in many ways indistinguishable it would be more appropriate to ask what would it be like having one less dimension? I would say then perhaps a little less complicated:-)<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>PhilPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35399798922618098512008-12-05T06:39:00.000-05:002008-12-05T06:39:00.000-05:00Hi Bee,It depends what we call as being eternal. T...Hi Bee,<BR/><BR/>It depends what we call as being eternal. That is from the space-time perspective with having this pill we would expand to occupy more of it, along with whatever that has been occupied as being a place. Therefore, if we live for Eons or only a nanosecond what is to say those places will not continue be real as to exist. Eternity in some sense is merely a perspective which Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-22217897890175156612008-12-04T23:38:00.000-05:002008-12-04T23:38:00.000-05:00Actuarially speaking, your life expectancy would b...Actuarially speaking, your life expectancy would be in the range of 1000 years, due to death by accident, as Dr Who said. So you would isolate yourself in a bomb-shelter deep underground, and never leave it lest some tree fall on your head or some car run you down.Bemused in Torontohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181929060448185152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-74143036187162753592008-12-04T21:18:00.000-05:002008-12-04T21:18:00.000-05:00Arun said: "Physics seminars would be scheduled fo...Arun said: "Physics seminars would be scheduled for eight hours a talk?"<BR/><BR/>They are already. At least it feels that way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-34973200798340212412008-12-04T21:17:00.000-05:002008-12-04T21:17:00.000-05:00The only reason you dare to cross the street is th...The only reason you dare to cross the street is that you know that you are going to die eventually anyway; subconsciously you assess the probability of being killed by a car as "negligible" *relative* to the fact that you will be dead 100 years from now in any case. <BR/><BR/>So logically, if you expected to live for [say] a million years, your assessment of risks would change drastically. You Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-92056309670904500782008-12-04T16:06:00.000-05:002008-12-04T16:06:00.000-05:00Effective anti-aging drugs probably couldn't preve...Effective anti-aging drugs probably couldn't prevent death by heart attack, stroke, or other other causes where minor "mechanical" problems of the metabolism (sticking blood cells an the like) develop fatal consequences? <BR/><BR/>And indeed, there better wouldn't be new people born, because otherwise the death rate by acts of violence would probably increase until some steady state is reached?<stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17418125567375828532008-12-04T15:00:00.000-05:002008-12-04T15:00:00.000-05:001) Immortality plus perpetual youth. Less the lat...1) Immortality plus perpetual youth. Less the latter, visit any nursing home - the elderly living dead. Horrible.<BR/><BR/>2) Heinlein's Lazarus Long. To what would you look forward?<BR/><BR/>3) If each immortal life required termination of an ordinary life, <I>Babylon 5</I>'s Deathwalker.<BR/><BR/>Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is an accomplished engineer. Iran is bursting with economically Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-26905583076550068882008-12-04T13:36:00.000-05:002008-12-04T13:36:00.000-05:00Science fiction has dealt with the theme of immort...Science fiction has dealt with the theme of immortality. In Peter Hamilton's "Pandora's Star" and "Judas Unchained", there is a form of immortality such that a person could attend its own murder trial. There's other fun stuff there too, some scientifically plausible and some not at all.Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-62465363845040929552008-12-04T10:48:00.000-05:002008-12-04T10:48:00.000-05:00The drug would likely be very expensive so livetim...The drug would likely be very expensive so livetime would become a matter of wealth.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35240484054722713022008-12-04T10:28:00.000-05:002008-12-04T10:28:00.000-05:00.....and ya, a suggestion "what if there was no ti........and ya, a suggestion "what if there was no time.....?:)PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-677508469332869262008-12-04T10:25:00.000-05:002008-12-04T10:25:00.000-05:00I guess they would no longer need to sleep either ...I guess they would no longer need to sleep either and the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm" REL="nofollow" TITLE="Zeitgeber-no longer uses light">Circadian Rhythm</A> would no longer need to be <A HREF="http://www.humancalendar.com/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="Human Calendar">time sensitive</A>?PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6584755745981671762008-12-04T10:11:00.000-05:002008-12-04T10:11:00.000-05:00I couldn't think of anything clever for the pink C...I couldn't think of anything clever for the pink CO2 question yesterday, and today isn't much better. But I think the side-effects of the immortality drug would have to be pretty bad. Just look at all the ads for current drugs and their lists of side effects sound much worse than the condition they're meant to treat. Sometimes life is great, but I can't imagine actually wanting to live foreverRae Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10239791074376508016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-74310664127399677942008-12-04T09:41:00.000-05:002008-12-04T09:41:00.000-05:00Very few will actually carry on with their lives f...Very few will actually carry on with their lives forever. Many would get "tired" of living and would decide to voluntary die. Thus the drug would only effectively enlarge the time span of people around. But I wouldn't dare to say how much longer someone would live until they decide they have lived enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-86982755529009528102008-12-04T08:35:00.000-05:002008-12-04T08:35:00.000-05:00My thought was it would cause an enourmous amount ...My thought was it would cause an enourmous amount of social problems. You can't allow people who are immortal to reproduce, so what do you do?Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com