Re:Mass Extinction and the Structure of the Milky Way (2013)
by crowbahr on Monday May 08, 2017 @01:37PM
(#14293755)
Because there's no option other than just stopping and dying to super bugs? Biological immortality would have us push for the stars so much faster...
Re:Mass Extinction and the Structure of the Milky Way (2013)
by dvtv75 on Monday May 08, 2017 @07:18PM
(#14296486)
The probability of an accident (car accident, firearms accident, choking, tripping while carrying a knife, drowning, and so on) resulting in death would tend toward one, given a long enough life, so humans would still need to reproduce, we would just need to keep the rate quite low.
Re:Mass Extinction and the Structure of the Milky Way (2013)
by hx87 on Monday May 08, 2017 @05:07PM
(#14295616)
> lack of genetic diversity
> gene pool stops changing
The above two are incompatible. How can a gene pool decrease in genetic diversity if it never changes?
Re:Mass Extinction and the Structure of the Milky Way (2013)
by Houshalter on Monday May 08, 2017 @03:25PM
(#14294739)
You really think a civilization advanced enough to cure aging can't stop a pathogen? Evolution sure isn't going to save us. Evolution happens on a timescale of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. The plague will come and go long before evolution can do anything interesting.
You get lack of genetic diversity, which leads to death. If a species became immortal, it would have to stop reproducing, to prevent overpopulation. Without sex, the gene pool stops changing. Along comes some new infectious organism, and there are no individuals that can resist it. The species goes extinct.
Sex and death are both necessary.