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Immortality in our lifetimes ?
- Thread starter mike
- Start date
Free episodes:
David Biedny
Paranormal Adept
Nope. Next question...
dB
dB
where theres a will theres a way...........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula
The hydrozoan Turritopsis nutricula has evolved a remarkable variation on this theme, and in so doing appears to have achieved immortality. The solitary medusa of this species can revert to its polyp stage after becoming sexually mature (Bavestrello et al., 1992; Piraino et al., 1996). In the laboratory, 100% of these medusae regularly undergo this change. Thus, it is possible that organismic death does not occur in this species!
http://8e.devbio.com/preview_article.php?ch=2&id=6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula
The hydrozoan Turritopsis nutricula has evolved a remarkable variation on this theme, and in so doing appears to have achieved immortality. The solitary medusa of this species can revert to its polyp stage after becoming sexually mature (Bavestrello et al., 1992; Piraino et al., 1996). In the laboratory, 100% of these medusae regularly undergo this change. Thus, it is possible that organismic death does not occur in this species!
http://8e.devbio.com/preview_article.php?ch=2&id=6
Graphimancer
Skilled Investigator
Hope not. It would be one more tool of the wealthy elite to accumulate wealth forever, while the other 95% of society lives and dies on cue. Only the superrich would benefit.
bud hopkins mentions a fluorescent rabbit in one of his talks.
50 years ago the very idea would have been seen as a joke
a glowing rabbit ?
http://www.wi.mit.edu/news/archives/2004/wi_0915.html
In a jellyfish, that source is the aequorin protein, which transfers its blue light to GFP by a quantum process that some scientists compare to mind-reading—unlike sound waves, energy moves from one molecule to the other in the absence of any medium.
50 years ago the very idea would have been seen as a joke
a glowing rabbit ?
http://www.wi.mit.edu/news/archives/2004/wi_0915.html
In a jellyfish, that source is the aequorin protein, which transfers its blue light to GFP by a quantum process that some scientists compare to mind-reading—unlike sound waves, energy moves from one molecule to the other in the absence of any medium.
A
ArizonaWill
Guest
Ann Rice, the famous Vampire author, brought out some of the long term issues of immortality in her fictional stories. I recall there were very ancient Vampires who were veritably stone-like, their minds not capable of century after century of accumulated memories. How much capacity does the human mind have? Was it "built" for immortality or would it wear out like an old CPU, while the rest of the body lived on? I am 55 and always took excellent care of my teeth, yet I still have 6 crowns. Evidently, human teeth are not meant to last forever, at least with the diet we have nowadays.
In other words, it may be one thing to live forever, but what quality of life would that provide? Seems to me that each body system would have its own unique problems due to aging beyond the norm, or what nature intended.
An example of this is ALS patients. These are the people with Lou Gehrigs disease. This fatal disease causes all muscle groups to eventually fail, resulting in paralysis and death. Now one way to cheat death (which usually comes when the lungs no longer pump air due to degenerated muscles) is to go on a ventilator. With this, some ALS patients can live for many years. BUT!! What doctors are finding is that with this increase in years, many new complications set in. For example, ALS never affected the human brain's ability to think, nor did it ever affect the eyes. Yet with some people living extremely long times with ALS, NOW doctors are finding that the disease can manifest sinister additional traits, such as making the person senile and destroying the eyes, so that what you end up with with is a living vegetable.
Will immortality come? I think it would take a lot more effort than most sci-fi presentations on the topic consider. If you live 1000 years, where do all the memories go? Do you download the first 800 years to an external drive unit, and have no memory of them otherwise? Do you then in effect become a series of different people through time, having amnesia with more age so that what you may have gained is lost to you? So many questions.
I agree that if all the kinks were worked out, this would be the secret of the very rich, because society and the planet cannot afford to have everyone be immortal, unless everyone were at the same time sterilized. We cannot as a species be immortal and yet breeding like rabbits. So it would set up a permanent Republican Elite in the US - imagine Bush in the White House forever. Imagine Nancy Reagon for 10,000 years just telling us to "just say no" to natural urges. Imagine Pat Robertson telling us that heaven is just for us sinners while he rambles on century after century - resembling Jabba the Hut with each advancing year.
I hope I do not live to see such a day.
In other words, it may be one thing to live forever, but what quality of life would that provide? Seems to me that each body system would have its own unique problems due to aging beyond the norm, or what nature intended.
An example of this is ALS patients. These are the people with Lou Gehrigs disease. This fatal disease causes all muscle groups to eventually fail, resulting in paralysis and death. Now one way to cheat death (which usually comes when the lungs no longer pump air due to degenerated muscles) is to go on a ventilator. With this, some ALS patients can live for many years. BUT!! What doctors are finding is that with this increase in years, many new complications set in. For example, ALS never affected the human brain's ability to think, nor did it ever affect the eyes. Yet with some people living extremely long times with ALS, NOW doctors are finding that the disease can manifest sinister additional traits, such as making the person senile and destroying the eyes, so that what you end up with with is a living vegetable.
Will immortality come? I think it would take a lot more effort than most sci-fi presentations on the topic consider. If you live 1000 years, where do all the memories go? Do you download the first 800 years to an external drive unit, and have no memory of them otherwise? Do you then in effect become a series of different people through time, having amnesia with more age so that what you may have gained is lost to you? So many questions.
I agree that if all the kinks were worked out, this would be the secret of the very rich, because society and the planet cannot afford to have everyone be immortal, unless everyone were at the same time sterilized. We cannot as a species be immortal and yet breeding like rabbits. So it would set up a permanent Republican Elite in the US - imagine Bush in the White House forever. Imagine Nancy Reagon for 10,000 years just telling us to "just say no" to natural urges. Imagine Pat Robertson telling us that heaven is just for us sinners while he rambles on century after century - resembling Jabba the Hut with each advancing year.
I hope I do not live to see such a day.
Ron Collins
Curiously Confused
I'm not sure I would want to live forever. I'm sure that I will have a different opinion on my death bed, but right now it doesnt sound that appealing. Life is about the things you do and the lives you affect before you die. What meaning would life have to the ordinary person if it was suddenly everlasting. To what end would your daily lives be moving towards.
It just sounds sad to me.
It just sounds sad to me.
A
ArizonaWill
Guest
RonCollins said:
Actually, most people confront their eminent death (i.e., the death bed) with a sense of calm and peace rather than grasping for just another 10 minutes of life. Whether this is a chemical and/or spiritual transition is debatable, but I've witnessed this many times in my work, and often times if the person is conscious, there is almost a sense of the sublime and letting go. So don't be afraid of your death bed.
DamnDirtyApe
Skilled Investigator
ArizonaWill said:
Yea, no rich DEMOCRAT would ever want to live forever or extend their wealth and influence, right? All wealthy republican elites got that way through corruption and greed, while similar democrats achieved their wealth and power through benevolent and virtuous means, right?
And FYI, modern nations are not breeding like rabbits. In fact just the opposite is true. Advanced nations are dying out.
The total fertility rate in all first world developed countries is at or BELOW replacements levels. America tops out the list at a stable 2.1 due to illegal immigrants. Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain etc. have rates in the 1.2 to 1.3 range. Only when you look at poor, developing second and third world nations (mostly Muslim) do you find fertility rates above 2.1 And as those those nations become advanced, their populations begin to decline as well.
A
ArizonaWill
Guest
Well, I have it on good authority from another website that the Democrats do not need immortality because they have signed contracts with the devil. In fact, Hillary goes from looking haggard and worn to looking vibrant and youthful overnight because she performs the profane ceremonies of blood sacrifice required to regain vitality and youth from occult practices. Likewise, Democrats have already attained the higher occult practices that make them minions of Satan! Well, that's what the FOX NEWS website says, or was it some fundamentalist religious website? I forget.
Happy Easter, all you heathen hordes. After church, I shall be celebrating the rites of spring with youthful virgins from the Isle of Lesbos and Satyrs from the Black Forest of Germany. You have to watch out for those Satyrs because they tend to raise their leg and mark their territory. It is very hard to get that urine odor out of a chintz couch!
Oh, I meant overall on the planet, we have to stop breeding if immortality became common. Not sure what your point was, that advanced countries aren't making enough babies? That the Muslins are going to breed us Westerners into extinction? A couple billion Chinese might have something to say on that issue too.
Well, time to don my druidic robes. The virgins await.
Happy Easter, all you heathen hordes. After church, I shall be celebrating the rites of spring with youthful virgins from the Isle of Lesbos and Satyrs from the Black Forest of Germany. You have to watch out for those Satyrs because they tend to raise their leg and mark their territory. It is very hard to get that urine odor out of a chintz couch!
Oh, I meant overall on the planet, we have to stop breeding if immortality became common. Not sure what your point was, that advanced countries aren't making enough babies? That the Muslins are going to breed us Westerners into extinction? A couple billion Chinese might have something to say on that issue too.
Well, time to don my druidic robes. The virgins await.
ArizonaWill said:
last time i went to the beach the water wasnt overflowing with Turritopsis nutricula , i guess they have predators to keep the numbers down despite being "immortal"
i imagine that if an immortality or rejuvenation treatment did cause crowding wed have a war to thin the numbers as per usual
David Biedny said:
Hope not. Anyone who wants this clearly does not understand the damage such a thing would do now. Our global population problem would be much worse. Wars would break out for possession of such thing. The worst thing anyone could do to the human race would be to halt aging and cure all diseases. Such a thing should not come until AFTER we can leave this planet and colonize other worlds. Discovering this before that would be a disaster for us.
Aaron LeClair
Paranormal Maven
No. I doubt I'll live long enough to see it.
Then there is the need to get off this planet, before a asteroid hits, sun explodes etc. Controling aging isn't a free ticket to living forever. Then you have to deal with galaxies colliding and the possible collapse of the universe. Some of which may very well be possible someday, but dealing with a collapse? Hmm. Maybe if we learn to pop into other dimensions. Maybe these little grey guys are us once we learned immortality, among other things eh?
I reason we do live forever. Just not in the same bodies. Then again, my body of today is different than that of yesterday.
I liked what I read in Seth books, and later heard Carlin express.
Life is a continuous process.
Then there is the need to get off this planet, before a asteroid hits, sun explodes etc. Controling aging isn't a free ticket to living forever. Then you have to deal with galaxies colliding and the possible collapse of the universe. Some of which may very well be possible someday, but dealing with a collapse? Hmm. Maybe if we learn to pop into other dimensions. Maybe these little grey guys are us once we learned immortality, among other things eh?
I reason we do live forever. Just not in the same bodies. Then again, my body of today is different than that of yesterday.
I liked what I read in Seth books, and later heard Carlin express.
Life is a continuous process.
Kieran
Paranormal Adept
Cant happen and will never happen because we are biological entities that die ,..... if we were made up of machinery parts maybe we could live longer,.....or perhaps changeing or DNA by some type of genetic Engineering....anyways this are not valid comments based on logic i think
dusty
Skilled Investigator
As far as the quest for immortality goes,
Personally I feel the whole concept is so much a part of the ego, and by that I mean
the side of us that often acts like a child throwing it's toys from the pram, all because it cant have everthing it's own way.
Hope that wasn't too obscure.
The best thing to concentrate on, at least in my opinion would be to improve the general quality of life for all, not the quantity.
Unfortunately it seems to me though that this world is becoming more and more obsessed with truly hollow empty crap , at times I despair for the future.
However that's not what I wanted to talk about . And here is where you can all call me a hypocrite.
Some years ago and for many years, I was it could be said, addicted to body building.
To cut a long story short I read a lot, not only about training regimes but also stuff about nutrition and supplements. This brings me to the point that I wanted to bring up.
There is an enzyme I came across, which some of you may have heard of called
"Superoxide dysmutase" which combats the effects of dangerous free radicals within our bodies, also it was found to be helpful with tissue repair and especially good for athletes who ultimately strive to maintain an Anabolic state rather than Catabolic.
As I understand it, this compound is produced naturally within our bodies and it was being heralded as a great new supplement for the dedicated athlete because of it's aid to things like tissue repair. To the extent that it seemed to slow the apparent effects of ageing.
I used this stuff in tablet form for some time, along with lots of other vitamins and minerals and a pretty strict training regime.
All I can say is that after many years of training, and now many years of not
training at all. I am in remarkably good shape. Though how much can really be attributed to "SOD", or maybe "GOD" who can say. I would however encourage everyone to do more exercise though, as that seems to me at least to be the best kind of insurance for a long and healthy life.
Peace,
Mark
Personally I feel the whole concept is so much a part of the ego, and by that I mean
the side of us that often acts like a child throwing it's toys from the pram, all because it cant have everthing it's own way.
Hope that wasn't too obscure.
The best thing to concentrate on, at least in my opinion would be to improve the general quality of life for all, not the quantity.
Unfortunately it seems to me though that this world is becoming more and more obsessed with truly hollow empty crap , at times I despair for the future.
However that's not what I wanted to talk about . And here is where you can all call me a hypocrite.
Some years ago and for many years, I was it could be said, addicted to body building.
To cut a long story short I read a lot, not only about training regimes but also stuff about nutrition and supplements. This brings me to the point that I wanted to bring up.
There is an enzyme I came across, which some of you may have heard of called
"Superoxide dysmutase" which combats the effects of dangerous free radicals within our bodies, also it was found to be helpful with tissue repair and especially good for athletes who ultimately strive to maintain an Anabolic state rather than Catabolic.
As I understand it, this compound is produced naturally within our bodies and it was being heralded as a great new supplement for the dedicated athlete because of it's aid to things like tissue repair. To the extent that it seemed to slow the apparent effects of ageing.
I used this stuff in tablet form for some time, along with lots of other vitamins and minerals and a pretty strict training regime.
All I can say is that after many years of training, and now many years of not
training at all. I am in remarkably good shape. Though how much can really be attributed to "SOD", or maybe "GOD" who can say. I would however encourage everyone to do more exercise though, as that seems to me at least to be the best kind of insurance for a long and healthy life.
Peace,
Mark
Kieran
Paranormal Adept
i was always told mark the best way to have a good live is 1 get plenty of sleep 2 have lots of sex 3 always eat healthy4 ... Get lots of exercise three out of four aint bad:donly messing by the way i get loads:d
dusty
Skilled Investigator
Also natural yoghurt i'm told is an absolute must ha ha.
Hey David, I guess chocolate would be on your list, and I would have to agree.
Come to think of it.
How about a chocolate, yoghurt filled "Steely Dan", that plays Hendrix, for those
special occasions at bed time.
One thing I can definitely say is Rock and Roll will keep you young, but poor.
Mark
Hey David, I guess chocolate would be on your list, and I would have to agree.
Come to think of it.
How about a chocolate, yoghurt filled "Steely Dan", that plays Hendrix, for those
special occasions at bed time.
One thing I can definitely say is Rock and Roll will keep you young, but poor.
Mark