A POLL FOR THE AGES

[Shack]

When asking my friends this, I was surprised by their responses, so I have decided to come to the forums to get a bigger sample.

If a scientist came up to you today and offered you a pill that was GUARANTEED to stop your body from aging at the age of 30 (or current age if older), would you take it? You would function normally, never seeing signs of aging mentally or physically, until you die from an inevitable alternate cause. Nothing is changed except for the fact you will not grow old...

[Sephus]

easy yes. i think steve martin took one of these when he was 34 actually.

[FortunaMaximus]

Probably.

Inevitable alternate cause? Falling piano? Supernova?

[deleteduser]

A follow up question if you answered yes how would you like to die?

[LuckOfTheDraw]

[ QUOTE ]
A follow up question if you answered yes how would you like to die?

[/ QUOTE ]

Without suffering.

[FortunaMaximus]

I'll stick to the falling piano. It'll be funny for a week and then fade.

[madnak]

Frankly, I don't see how this is controversial. I guess it has something to do with "we shouldn't tamper with life?"

[Shack]

[ QUOTE ]
Frankly, I don't see how this is controversial.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree, but for some reason I went 3 for 3 on friends saying no. I expected it to be an easy yes. I have since got two of those to convert to yes. They backed up their "no" response with statements like "What's the point" or "Its not natural" or scared of being the only one living forever and leaving family and friends behind to die.

Even knowing that the last example was going to be the case, I would say yes.

[pocketse7ens]

easy yes, want to conserve my handsome looks.

[FortunaMaximus]

The leading cause of death (and possibly the only one) among postmortals would be suicide.

Ever had an utterly boring evening? Try centuries.

What you're proposing here isn't a de Leon fountain inasomuch as opening a door to a trillion-year existence.

Considering these scales, I'd stick to probably. Postmortal but certainly not indestructible. Throw yourself into the sun. Damn. Didn't work. Million-year sunburn. Extreme example but I think that illustrates my point as well as anything.

I'd settle for better sensation management wetware and some rejuvenation and leave it at that.

[hmkpoker]

Although I'd say no in a real-life scenario because I'd be worried about the HORRIBLE side effects, I said yes assuming there are none in this scenario.

[LadyWrestler]

[ QUOTE ]
When asking my friends this, I was surprised by their responses, so I have decided to come to the forums to get a bigger sample.

If a scientist came up to you today and offered you a pill that was GUARANTEED to stop your body from aging at the age of 30 (or current age if older), would you take it? You would function normally, never seeing signs of aging mentally or physically, until you die from an inevitable alternate cause. Nothing is changed except for the fact you will not grow old...

[/ QUOTE ]

I am in my prime now, so yes! BTW: Where is this scientist? He/she does not have to come up to me; I will go to him/her. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[vhawk01]

Who here thinks this 'pill' is something that will be a reality w/in 100 yrs? 50?

[madnak]

I thought the original poll was clearly for anti-aging, not invulnerability. You'd probably die within a few hundred years due to an accident.

[bunny]

[ QUOTE ]
Who here thinks this 'pill' is something that will be a reality w/in 100 yrs? 50?

[/ QUOTE ]
Not within either.

[FortunaMaximus]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought the original poll was clearly for anti-aging, not invulnerability. You'd probably die within a few hundred years due to an accident.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite. However, in an organism where the aging mechanism is retarded or effectively stopped, the only barrier to immortality is likely to be cellular entropy. Most people already live their full lifespans without having an accident. Yes, I'm aware the probability of an accident approaches 100% over a resonably long span. If this Dick Clark pill is feasible, at that stage, how far are we realistically from redundant self-defense systems then?

<shrugs> I dunno. I like aging. I like that life has a reasonably logical arc. From womb to tomb, outta the Pampers, into the Pampers, pretty much. Granted, I'm not quite 30 yet, so I might be a bit biased.

[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought the original poll was clearly for anti-aging, not invulnerability. You'd probably die within a few hundred years due to an accident.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite. However, in an organism where the aging mechanism is retarded or effectively stopped, the only barrier to immortality is likely to be cellular entropy. Most people already live their full lifespans without having an accident. Yes, I'm aware the probability of an accident approaches 100% over a resonably long span. If this Dick Clark pill is feasible, at that stage, how far are we realistically from redundant self-defense systems then?

<shrugs> I dunno. I like aging. I like that life has a reasonably logical arc. From womb to tomb, outta the Pampers, into the Pampers, pretty much. Granted, I'm not quite 30 yet, so I might be a bit biased.

[/ QUOTE ]

And its also possible that your opinion on this matter is influenced pretty heavily by the inevitability of death itself. Since we are all painfully aware that death will come eventually no matter what we do, we've done a pretty decent job of mentally preparing ourselves for it, and rationalizing it. This is one of the major uses of religion, in fact. I don't know that anyone would actually choose to die, if it was an option throughout their entire life.

[FortunaMaximus]

Given a choice, I'd opt for eternal life in a instant.

Do I want it in a pill? No. That's too pop culture pharma for me.

Death's inevitability does not mean there's an ending to existence. I tend to see both as different concepts, and distinguish between the mind and body. None of that vague pointing at souls. Mind's a quantum process. And quantum concepts aren't necessarily biologically-dependent, just observer dependent. But I don't want to stray the thread, as it were.

It's just an opinion.