[extropy-chat] Re: FWD [forteana] 2020 vision

[Extropian Agroforestry Ventures Inc.]

 It would not be unreasonable to develop physiology that is adapted to more
radiation, better cellular repair, smaller in stature.  (LGM?)  As well the
billions of intestinal dwelling organisms we carry about with us as an
unseen ecosystem provide the basis for a bio-factory/ecosystem  capable of
converting low grade food inputs , including currently undigestible
materials into both basic nutrition plus a broad range of nutraceutical
products.  .

But, yes the idea of sending a few female 25 year old colonists one way to
say Mars  and 10 years  later sending engineered embryos to provide
offspring is a very efficient way to proceed.

The collateral benefit is that these improved offspring may represent   our
offspring as well.
If say the first generation of posthuman stock has both the base  lifespan
potential increased to 140 years and  reproductively viable  capacity
increased to 90 years, then reproductive generations and thus rate of
increase of  whole population turnover via  progeny can dramatically slow
down.  Combined with continual diversification of the new offspring a
controlled population decrease can occur.

Initially, I think  as well,  persons reaching age 65-80 should be offered
the opportunity to merge bodies in pairs.  Pooling the resources of 2 bodies
to create one rejuvenated body  allows for genetic enhancements to be
integrated as well as an initial 50% reduction in population numbers.

The challenge is that conventional economics may not be conducive to the
financing of this mega-project.  The present economic and resource energies
devoted to military and other non essential activities ideally may need to
be substantially re-allocated on a multi-lateral global basis. Given the
fundamental war-like nature of humans, this may be a formidable  task.    A
new currency based on life-extension units which can be interchanged for
conventional cash monetary instruments seems to be in order.

So the professional who devotes 20 years to being employed in life extension
projects might earn credits redeemable for  access to technology that offers
say a base lifespan extension value of 100 years.  The luxury feature is
that those without such credits or money equivalent might have to except
life extension as part of  the fusion of 2 individuals as noted above
population reduction plan.

This provides some kind of system of rewards.  Those with a high productive
value to society can maintain single individuality for several regenerations
while the lesser able or willing  must either die a natural death or survive
but share their personality with others in an irreversible fashion.

There will no doubt be a portion of humanity that would rather accept a
quiet death of old age than
become part of this new posthuman era.

This senario is somewhat influenced by the potential need to conserve
resources if the availability of
natural resources such as oil becomes restricted and technology is unable to
replace this shorfall for
some period.  Technological advances are hypothetical, conventional resource
depletion is certain.

The time when we can harvest the vast resources of Jupiter and Saturn  and
again vastly increase the
population may come much later on so we may have to deal sucessfully with a
period of scarcity in the interim.

...Morris

Spike wrote:

> > Terry W. Colvin...
> >
> > I hear physicist-philosopher-publicist Paul Davies is
> > advocating one way trips, an idea I have advocated and no doubt others
> have too. We are
> > all going to die anyway. No point hauling those ugly bags of mostly
> water all
> > the way back to Earth...
>
> Ja, this is a conclusion that any weights engineer will
> come to.  When I began looking at the Mars problem nearly
> 20 yrs ago I concluded that the way to do it is to make
> it a one way trip.
>
> > Yup, that is the future - pregnant midget females from high
> > altitudes...
>
> They wouldn't need to be pregnant when they left.  They
> would carry a number of frozen embryos in a lead-lined
> dewar, just in case things go better than I expect they
> will.  If they survive, it could very well be that these
> ladies will be the only two flesh-bags that would ever need
> to cross the vast interplanetary sea.  They could become
> the mothers of a new race: it all started with Eve and Eve.
> They have an awesome challenge ahead of them.
>
> spike
>
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