[extropy-chat] GQ Magazine Interview - Biggest Hope for Immortality

[Robert J. Bradbury]

On Fri, 2 Jan 2004, natashavita at earthlink.net wrote:

> 1. "What is the biggest problem about achieving immortality?"

Boredom.  In the *first* place immortality is probably impossible
unless one can assert that protons do not decay -- and in the
current standard model of physics they probably do decay
(though this takes a *very* long time and has yet to be proven
experimentally to the best of my knowledge).

So you have a terminology problem with the question as stated.

The boredom problem will probably lead to people taking increasing
risks (extreme extreme sports -- e.g. Fear Factor with no safeties)
or perhaps committing suicide after a few hundred years.

Population growth is not a problem in "achieving" immortality.
Its a moral problem as to whether one devotes more resources
towards helping many people live better -- but shorter, non-immortal
lives or whether one devotes the resources towards helping fewer
people live longer lives (which will eventually help everyone still
alive live longer lives).

Its also true that if the singularity arguments hold -- then the
population growth ("Club of Rome") arguments are all ca-ca.
We *know* that nanotech -- and extremely advanced biotech
(significantly changing the food and energy equations) are
going to be available before 2050 (the standard point where
everyone says everything from famine to global warming are
going to start destroying humanity).

> 2. "What is the biggest chance, the biggest hope for immortality?"

I'd tend to agree with the stem cells perspective.  After that
I'd say "whole genome engineering".  After that I'd say organogenesis
based on synthetic genomes.  After that I'd say nanorobotic
enhancment from respirocytes to vasculoid systems.

Robert