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Demographics and longevity are fascinating. It's quite possible that the number of centenarians will continue to grow at the same time that the average life span will decline. Obesity and lack of exercise are killing us in the aggregate but not all of us are obese and not all of us fail to exercise. Therefore the subset of the population that lives in healthy ways may continue to live longer, while the subset that doesn't will die sooner. It will be interesting to see to which side the overall numbers will tip us in the coming decades.
It is speculative whether exposure to toxins in the environment will have an increasing cumulative effect, as stated by one or two posters in this thread. To me they sound like Chicken Little. Just to take the example of lead: It was quite a few years ago that lead was banned as an additive in gasoline and also in paint. (Too lazy to look up the date of each). And how about DDT? Wasn't that banned in the 1960's? The worst period of time for toxic exposures among the general population may have passed decades ago.
There are still toxins, pollutants in the air. Asthma rates have increased significantly in the past decades. We still don't know why the rates of Alzhemiers and Autism continue to increase, however pesticides and environmental toxins are one possibility (there is now a link between ADD and pesticides as well). As the EPA and environmental regulations continue to decline, expect more of the same and worse. There are factories spewing chemicals into the air and water every day.
I think I'll pass. That's a boat I don't want to be on. When I'm dead it's all over for me.
I wish that were true but don't believe it to be. You will be resurrected to live in one of two places.
The most important thing here on earth is to tell the truth to people so they have the chance to choose.
To live in truth even if it isn't what they want to hear.
But your version of the afterlife, if it was to be that way, isn't too shabby
100 years from now everyone who is on earth now will be dead.
Well, we're (the West, the US) getting closer & closer to techniques & methodology to upload data from biologicals to electronic storage. Whether that would be considered life or not, depends on your POV, I suppose. It certainly wouldn't be an exact duplicate of life in the flesh - but if you're an astronomer or geologist or planetologist, planetary ecologist or would-be terraformer, or any of the other disciplines that deal in long timelines, you'd be able to work for a very long time, & actually see some projects come to fruition.
It might be an exciting time to be alive, so to speak.
Of course, there would some details to work out - but that's kinda the thrill of it all, yes?
If you consider a data upload to a computer as being 'alive', I feel kind of bad for you.
No, we won't. Dead to the physical Earth but very much alive in the spiritual. The body dies. The souls moves to the afterlife. Whichever one that may be, Heaven or Hell, according to one's choice.
No, we won't. Dead to the physical Earth but very much alive in the spiritual. The body dies. The souls moves to the afterlife. Whichever one that may be, Heaven or Hell, according to one's choice.
You really think so? I mean... what Earthly (heh) reason would there be for making every human spend dozens of years 'alive', going through a random existence that might be pleasant, might be privileged, or not. Or racked from go with disease, poverty... abuse... only to 'die' and then... ... it doesn't make sense. It simply makes no sense! And what about my cat, Ernest? What about dogs? Horses? Ferrets? Budgerigars? Only humans get to cavort around in Eternity because you can't face Death like a mature adult? An Afterlife is a panacea for people that are WASTING the only life they are ever going to have denying themselves "earthly pleasures". Don't do that. Live dammit, live!
I'm going to still be alive through the species, so long as the species is still around. I already basically die every few seconds. I'll be a different person in the future than I am now. The rest of society will just be a little farther down the spectrum of that which I call I than the I that I refer to as the younger me, and the future older me.
I think that's kind of neat to think about. If I'm gone, but another human being exists who still sees the world similarly to how I see it exists, I'm basically still alive, in a sense
There is a case to be made that a child born today will live 1,000 years or more.
It goes like this: By the time that child reaches the age of 50, science will have progressed far enough that the diseases common to man will by and large be curable, extending that 50 to, perhaps 100 and healthy. In that second 50 years, science will have advanced apace and that child's life will be extended to perhaps 200 years. And then to 800 years, and so on, to what is essentially immortality.
Is it not, in a broadly logical sense, possible?
There is a case to be made that a child born today will live 1,000 years or more.
It goes like this: By the time that child reaches the age of 50, science will have progressed far enough that the diseases common to man will by and large be curable, extending that 50 to, perhaps 100 and healthy. In that second 50 years, science will have advanced apace and that child's life will be extended to perhaps 200 years. And then to 800 years, and so on, to what is essentially immortality.
Is it not, in a broadly logical sense, possible?
Well, maybe. When I asked if it is possible in a 'broadly logical' sense - I think it is.
Would it be a good thing? I'm doubtful. There would be unforeseen consequences for sure; and what would a human DO with all those extra years? Would there be a flourishing of humanity, once the dreaded pall of mortality was lifted? Or would this forced 'evolution' just extend the lives and manner of life that we currently have?
What would YOU - whoever you are - do differently if you were given an 800 year lifespan?
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