3 replies to this topic

[caliban]

This is a recurring question, but as I am working on it right now, I would be interested to hear your views, even if you implicitly expressed them elsewhere.

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--> commentary by C. Ben Mitchell
(C. Ben Mitchell is Senior Fellow at The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity)

excerpts:
I:

I recall asking my aging grandmother if she would like to live forever. Her answer was an enthusiastic "no." She felt she had been here long enough, worked hard enough, and experienced enough of life’s troubles to bid a fond adieu to this world and its pains. And could you imagine how a Kosovar refugee might answer that question? Or a beggar in New Delhi? Or a dissident in communist China? Under those conditions one might want to see an end in sight that is nearer rather than farther away.

II:

There are some not-so-lovely selfish reasons why people want to live forever. Do we really want serial killers and drug lords to live twice the normal human lifespan? Should we extend human life merely so individuals can participate longer in a consumer-driven marketplace full of computer shopping networks and television psychics?

III:

The only legitimate reasons for wanting to live longer, it seems to me, would be if by so doing I could serve others better, reduce more suffering, and glorify God longer. Otherwise, my purpose for being here seems sadly self-serving and hollow.

[?] What do you think [?]

[Bruce Klein]

Invariable, I find the answer to your question in the coding of our DNA. It seems rather straightforward that our Cells are preprogrammed to shut down and kill us after a certain number of divisions. Our DNA has had millions of years to, in a sense, get it right... it has found that the optimum length to allow for procreation and the raising of young to be capped at about 120 yrs.. To our DNA there is no evolutionarily advantageous reason to keep us around and longer.

Now this brings up a couple of interesting questions. Why does our DNA in effect kill us? And Is there anything we can do to overcome senescence.

As you could imagine, I'm very optimistic that science is on the cusp of some seriously amazing breakthroughs in anti aging research. It's only a hunch, but i think we'll see biological repair and the cessation of all senescence within 20 years.

This is only biological immortality, so we'll still have the problem of being run over by a truck. I'm actually more interested at the moment in the goal of transhumanization. Although, I do think that technological advancements in medicine, biology and repair are important in getting us to the next level.

[Omnido]

Our DNA does not actively seek our destruction, it merely does nothing to prevent it.

Ive made this quote many, many times and it seems still to go unnoticed.

The human body, and all its cellular function, does not effect repair upon itself at the cellular level. All the functions of the cellular machine are designed around "replacement" and duplication.

If the human celluar system was designed to detect its own flaws and repair them instead of replacing them, then we would never age or die from the standard causes, because our cellular systems would in effect be combatting entropy. Since they do not do so, then we are subject to the initial conditions and states of entropy from our birth, onward towards our death. Our cellular systems do not reduce entropy, nor are they designed to do so. In effect, we merely waste away into nothingness due to flawed design.

Its not a question of IF, its a question of when.
The only system within the human body that constantly attempts to thwart entropic law is the human cerebral cognitive functions.
The human mind of an intelligent individual seeks to constantly affirm, integrate, and review all of its knowledge over time, as well as acquire more knowledge until the foundational desire for such is expunged, or the phyiscal deterioration of the human body with age acts as a prevention and obstruction for optimal mental function.
We are always looking for experiences and knowledge, insofar as those aspects are positive and promote a desire to continue the acqusition.
In effect, our minds are constantly battling entropic decree, and they appear to do so far better than the overall whole of the body.
Studies have shown that a healthy human mind is quite competant and active with little to no signs of physical disfunction well into the 6th decade of a humans life. It is only after we approach senisence that our minds begin to fade beyond our control. Even still, it has been noted that many individuals possess keen minds and active healthy mental interaction well into their 90's.