[extropy-chat] On the Inevitability and Goodness of Superlongevity

[Mark Walker]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russell Wallace" < I think the argument is valid as far as it goes, 
but
> there are issues it doesn't address - for example, what if it turns
> out that a few hundred years is all anyone can sensibly use before
> getting permanently stuck in a rut? (I'm not claiming this _will_ be
> the case, just that we can't know it won't.) Therefore I argue (
> http://homepage.eircom.net/~russell12/dp.html ) that we should aim to
> have domains where each possibility (mortality and immortality) holds.
>
> - Russell

I'm not sure what you mean by 'stuck in a rut'. If you mean 'chronically 
unhappy' or 'sated with ennui' then I suspect that those individuals will 
bow out. And I suspect that this will follow a normal curve where some 
commit suicide even within our present mayfly lifetimes for these reasons; 
others may go on much longer, perhaps indefinitely. Certainly at some level 
this is an empirical question and dependent on other factors such as 
enhancing other features of our natures. I'll take a look at your paper. 
Thanks for the input.



Mark

Dr. Mark Walker
Department of Philosophy
University Hall 310
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1
Canada