a moment

[Guest Cantousent]

Take for granted for a second that every human being is born with a certain maximum amount of time during which his body will last. Biologically, our body, at some point, knows that it should stop creating new cells to replace old ones. bones weaken... skin sags... muscles deteriorate.

 

We have a certain number of moments to live, ordained by something beyond our control. It is science to some, God to others, but it is inevitable in either case.

 

Let's also take for granted that we could, theoretically, keep every moment of our lives if we adhered to the perfect diet, kept the perfect exercise regimen, and otherwise carefully followed every procedure meant to keep us alive to the last possible moment. Even then, we would eventually die. Of course, it would not be practical to keep such an unforgiving program in the first place. After all, there is no complete consensus as to what constitutes the "perfect diet

[Judge Hades]

Isn't the value of a human life worth about $2 to $3 US if you break it down to its component chemicals?

[LoneWolf16]

Well, I'll pose a few questions...if only for the sake of argument.

 

Why waste the moments we've got with pointless attempts to lengthen the time we have here on earth? Why eat "right", get the "required" amount of sleep, and avoid long walks in the rain? (Personally, I love doing the latter)

 

Why spend our lives angry, and bitter because we can only eat asparagus for a month? Why not gorge ourselves? Why not enjoy every moment we have instead of enduring self-imposed starvation?

 

Why not be happy with the time we have...use it to its fullest?

 

 

 

 

In moderation of course....have a bit of self-control, you know.

[Tigranes]

philosophically, your points are easier to agree with: logically, if, say, 'investing' a certain amount of moments to 'live healthy' yields a greater number of 'moments' by which your lifespan is extended, then sure, a degree of that 'investment' would be worth it. If not, there is, of course, no point: but that is rather improbable, unless you want to die at 27.

 

'tis all moderation.

[Atreides]

I'd wouldn't really rate those extra years when I'm in my 80s higher than current gratification - old age isn't exacty highly enjoyable from a biological perspective. The quality of life when you're in you're 20s is probably higher than when you're 70+.

 

Of course, there are external variables like wanting to live together with your family/friends in the future which would tilt things back. From a purely biological perspective I don't think it's that worth it.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I suppose the ideal path would be to teach yourself to enjoy doing the things that keep you alive longest. Asparagus is an acquired taste.

 

I know the feeling of having a really long lie-in on Sunday mornings and thinking that when I'm 70 I'll regret not having used my time more productively. However, I suspect this is nothing more than my genes driving me to get out and have more sex in order to reproduce. I will not live as a slave either to my genes or to my fear of death.

[><FISH'>]

I hate the fact that i'll grow old some day. I don't eat very healthy..I have atleast 3-5 sweets or chocolates a day, and i hardly ever eat vegetables.

 

I know im pretty lucky because i hardly even gain a pound :D I ask people if i look fat, and they say im very skinny.

 

So the moral of my half-arsed anecdote is: It doesn't matter how you feel on the inside, as long as you look fabulous on the outside.

[Judge Hades]

Die young, leave behind a good looking corpse. Is that it?

[WITHTEETH]

If the moment came, for what would you render back the balance of your moments? 

Edited October 17, 2005 by WITHTEETH

[><FISH'>]

Die young, leave behind a good looking corpse.  Is that it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well...Something like that. Except i'd like to die at 65 and still be a sexy looking mofo.

[Rosbjerg]

I tend not to think about it .. I just live, take risks when I feel (important word) it's necessary .. I live my life on instincts and intuition! and I don't give a **** about what others sees as healthy .. and it seems to be working cause I'm in good pshycal condition!

 

I travel when I feel like it.. work with things I like for as long as I like them and do what I wanna do, as long as my intuition tells me I'm doing good.. the only thing holding me back is economy, which makes me hate money .. I would love to be able to do everything I want whenever I want to .. but that's just not possible.. and I accept that fact and try to live my life regardless. with what I have..

 

I'm pretty sure I'll die relatively young (under 60).. but I'm also sure I'll be ready for it when it comes!

Edited October 17, 2005 by Rosbjerg

[><FISH'>]

I live in England where all of the kids my age (and even younger) drink on a daily basis ( around 2 pints a day) so im guessing im going to outlive most of my school friends.

 

P.S how is everyone?

[metadigital]

Take for granted for a second that every human being is born with a certain maximum amount of time during which his body will last.  Biologically, our body, at some point, knows that it should stop creating new cells to replace old ones.  bones weaken... skin sags... muscles deteriorate.

...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kobayashi Maru

 

It is entirely possible that eternal life is within a generation of practical application to humans (as predicted by Arthur C Clarke in his Profiles of the Future sixties prognostication). To explain: the ageing process, where the Hayflick Limit is directly associated with the underlying telomerase genetic end sequence chromosomal "cap", that is evetually used up until the actual genetic material is lost in the process of cell reproduction. Currently, some forms of living tissue are indeed eternally rejuvenating. (You may have heard of them, they are collectively known as cancer.)

 

For further reading, you might like to research something called the Singularity (which is not the quantum phenomenon, but the point at which humans transcend biology), as first postulated by Stanislaw Ulam (whist referring to a discussion with John von Neumann, the father of information theory) in 1958 and publicized by Vernor Vinge in a 1983 article for Omni, his follow-up presentation to NASA in 1993 predicting that "within 30 years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended." See also the recent article in New Scientist, 24 September, pp32-37.

 

So I do not hold with your proposition.

 

I have a counter-proposition, though.

 

What if, instead a limited amount of time, humans had a limited amount of good deads? "Only the good die young," and the rampant selfishness of the "me generation" seem to give some credence to this ...

 

The Force confides that every being will do their duty ...

[Calax]

Die young, leave behind a good looking corpse.  Is that it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

after about 65 i'm going to stop asking to be revived.... thats about when the family has it's looks go bye bye..

[Hurlshort]

I try not to enjoy unhealthy things. I don't love drinking, I hate smoking, eating is cool but overeating sucks...

 

I enjoy healthy stuff like sex and hockey...and I do them as often as I can. Not together...the ice is kind of cold.

[Guest Cantousent]

The defining aspects of a person are not comprised of his component parts. Any argument to the contrary is simply a form of mental gymnastics. I don

[Gabrielle]

Sex, drugs and alcohol. Live fast and die young.

[Calax]

Sex= :toung lolling out of mouth, eyes rolled back in head out of pleasure:

I get chemically dependant on everything too quickly

[Darque]

Everything is fixable, even aging and death... we just haven't figured out how yet.

 

But we're getting there

[Guest Cantousent]

If our life-spans are infinite, are our resources then the same? ...And does that reality that you foresee extend into the past? Are we, then, able to expect the immortality of our bodies?

 

The point is, we will die, whether future generations will achieve immortality or not. Indeed, I don't believe that humanity has the capability to achieve true immortality, but I'll take for granted that it will as the need arises in this thread. I appreciate an upbeat and optimistic outlook, Darque. I really do.

 

However, for the sake of argument, let's take for granted that we, in this thread, have a limited number of moments, then what is worth the balance of your moments? Anything?

 

Indeed, let's assume that you had a supply of moments only limited by your willingness to release all of your remaining moments. Faced with immortality only limited by your own willingness to die, for what would you trade the remainder of your moments? I was hoping to keep the truly speculative component confined to our actions, but I see that folks would like to broaden the discussion. I cannot but comply.

[Darque]

They're already on the verge of true regeneration.

 

In fact there was an article on how a group of scientists have discovered by accident how to regenerate mice. (everything except the brain so far)

 

you may be prepared to die, but science says I most likely wont

[Craigboy2]

Isn't the value of a human life worth about $2 to $3 US if you break it down to its component chemicals?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep pretty much.

[Guest Cantousent]

...And you truly believe that you will, by the powers of science live forever? Not just thousands of years, or millions of years, but truly for eternity? That this isn't a clever sort of statement to make in a thread that concerns itself mostly with the realities as they exist today?

 

I have no doubt that the creator of any particular thread has ownership over it. I'm glad to change the discussion, but it seems strange that you honestly believe that the experiments that scientists perform on mice today will make you impervious to death. Not just some group in the future, but you, personally.

 

I ask that without rancor because, as it seems to me, no-one was willing to answer my original question. Since that's the case, we might as well explore the idea that humans of today will be immortal.

[LoneWolf16]

It doesn't matter whether or not we eventually have the capability to become "immortal", if such a thing is even possible, but if we should do it in the first place.

 

I don't really know how to explain this clearly, but I'm willing to give it a go.

 

What really matters is if we will have the means or resources to infinitely keep several billion people alive. That includes food, water, shelter...hell, we'd most likely have to find another planet or two suitable for human colonization. We've already got population problems, and there are millions starving daily...

 

Do we really want to sustain all these people indefinitely, if we were even capable? The way I see it, we're meant to die for a reason, and it may seem like a neat thing to live forever, but the consequences......they're very real.

 

Just thinking about it, wouldn't we have to impose laws regarding children? If you can even have any or not? ...Personally, I like the idea of having a child or two one day...

Edited October 18, 2005 by LoneWolf16

[Cantousent]

If, as a species, we cannot have children, are we then considered "alive" in the first place?