(When) Do you think the human race will defeat the aging process?

[absolute hardgainer]

Ok, consider this. Humans in the Western world now live about 2 1/2 times longer than our original human ancestors. Advances in medicine are continuing to increase our life expectancy constantly. There is now limited but considerable research going on to defeat/halt or even reverse the aging process in humans. When do you think this will be achieved to the degree that human beings would no longer die of old age. In that way those humans would be immortal in the sense that they need not die of old age as now, but not invincible to death by accident, disease, etc.

hardgainer (!)

 

[LeviathanX]

Well, it is hard to say. My mom is a Ph.D. who is doing research on something called "Program Cell Death". Basically, what happens is everytime your cells split to form new cells a tiny bit of DNA is lost in the division. Eventually, enough information is lost so that your cells cannot replicate anymore and you are "hard-wired" to die. Research is being done to reduce the loss of DNA in these divisions.

With stem cell research, and new technologies I think we will definitely be able to extend human life, but I don't think we can ever conquer death.

If we could, I think 5,000 years or even more would probably be the best assumption. You have to realize that there have been many de-evolutions in mankinds history (i.e. roman empire ---> middle ages) that could get in the way of progress. Even assuming these problems did not occur, the body is a machine - it wears down. What happens when the brain wears down? Can we even record the information stored in one's brain and transfer it to another one?

There are too many questions to answer this even with an educational guess right now, IMO.

There's my 2 cents.

 

[booger]

Comment

I hear you LeviathonX. The telomere(sp) loss is the latest buzz. It's probably just part of the puzzle.

Can we even record the information stored in one's brain and transfer it to another one?

What information? I've decided that it's time to come up with an alternate theory for information storage. It is: "Human memory is stored in space and time at the point where it occurs". Don't ask me what it means. That's for PHD's to figure out.

 

[LeviathanX]

We discussed this topic in psychology and philosophy classes, and basically the difference between computer memory and human memory is that computer memory is stored sequentially (in series); whereas, human memory is stored in parallel. In other words, humans use sensory cues to recall multiple pieces of information at once to form a thought (i.e. those optical illusion puzzles that look like something when you stare at them).

The problem is, it is hard to tell if everyone recalls in the same way using the same neural pathways. If they don't, then there can never be a standard way of "recording" one's thoughts.

 

[BackDoc]

This is fascinating stuff to me. If programmed cell death can be delayed, then that would at least give the individual time to make decisions regarding life expectancy in conjunction with lifelong goals. It seems like overpopulation is going to be a real issue in the near future (perhaps for our children). If we have longer lifespans then food shortages, etc. might be more realistic. To combat that (as well as to possibly extend the lifespan perhaps) it might be interesting to find out the hormone cascade responsible for mammal hibernation...that way we could all live in an overpopulated world yet still be able to maintain food supplies etc.

Maybe it's too much sci-fi though

 

[thefameinmyname]

This is fascinating stuff to me. If programmed cell death can be delayed, then that would at least give the individual time to make decisions regarding life expectancy in conjunction with lifelong goals. It seems like overpopulation is going to be a real issue in the near future (perhaps for our children). If we have longer lifespans then food shortages, etc. might be more realistic. To combat that (as well as to possibly extend the lifespan perhaps) it might be interesting to find out the hormone cascade responsible for mammal hibernation...that way we could all live in an overpopulated world yet still be able to maintain food supplies etc.

Maybe it's too much sci-fi though

Too much sci-fi NEVER!!! hehe I think you have a great idea.... Also I am sure for food shortage we will come up with a crazy way of generating food... like in Star Treck... Talk into this little mic and *PUFF* you have yourself a nice juicy steak

 

[BackDoc]

Hehehe! If I had one of those little mikes that gives you whatever food you speak I'd never have a problem with bulking! But then again, I'd never rip up either...

 

[LeviathanX]

Honestly, I think overpopulation will not be a major problem within 200-300 years because governments will start regulating how many children parents will be allowed to have. Most likely 2 children per family, because that will lead to 0 population growth.

I believe this to be an inevitable result of improvements in health science and life expectancies, but at the same time this is not a new political strategy of dealing with overpopulation. It is being used all around the world a this time in many countries with "overflowing" populations.

Mammal hibernation would be interesting to research, but probably not very productive. The reason mammals that hibernate are able to survive on so little food is because their body function slow to a "snail's pace". It would be very unproductive to have human's hibernate, and this is probably the only method from a biological perspective to allow humans to survive on so little.

At the same time, many humans gain enjoyment from food so this would only have a use in a military or space exploration sense.

As far as Star Trek replicators (I know... I'm a nerd who actually remembers the name of the things) are concerned, the only method I can envision this being accomplished is by converting energy to matter, and then rearranging the matter. It would be extremely hard to store a large amount of diverse matter molecules. This can be accomplished (essentially the opposite effect of the atom bomb), but it is very unstable.

I would like to see the invention of transporter pods, that would change the face of the world, and every economy in a very short amount of time.

 

[booger]

Sleepy Bears

Someone mentioned hibernation? Here's an informative site.

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Biology/Courses/anphys/2000/Marks/lisa12.htm

 

[booger]

Bears Again (Hopefully)

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Biology/Courses/anphys/2000/Marks/lisa12.htm