News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells behind aging. Parent comment

Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by mustacheemperor on Sunday December 12, 2021 @04:53PM (#29534027)
>Economically and ethically, we should prioritize this research above most else.

This research and all similar research (and sentiments like yours, which I strongly agree with) remind me of the classic Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant.[0] It feels as though we are finally on the cusp of learning the shape of the armaments that will one day slay the dragon. And I wish the world could band together the way we attacked COVID to attack this problem.

>the king answered in a broken voice: “Yes, we did it, we killed the dragon today. But damn, why did we start so late? This could have been done five, maybe ten years ago! Millions of people wouldn’t have had to die.”

[0]https://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by khazhoux on Sunday December 12, 2021 @06:52PM (#29534948)
Ugh, that was a slog to read.

TLDR: a big dragon (represents aging) kills tens of thousands of people every day, until the people invest in technology to defeat it, and then vaguely wish they'd started the research sooner.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by Tmpod on Sunday December 12, 2021 @07:14PM (#29535134)
CGP Grey has a video with him reading the short over some neat drawings, which is more enjoyable I suppose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYNADOHhVY
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by renewiltord on Sunday December 12, 2021 @07:25PM (#29535191)
Surely could have been much shorter! An enjoyable parable but clearly written by a philosopher.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by khazhoux on Sunday December 12, 2021 @09:56PM (#29536071)
I'm actually in awe of how long he was able to stretch such a simple concept, with no payoff at the end.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by rewq4321 on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @12:40AM (#29548615)
The video by CPG Grey is better, as someone else already mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYNADOHhVY
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japanese scientists develop vaccine to eliminate cells be... by 8bitsrule on Monday December 13, 2021 @03:09AM (#29537710)
As opposed to that terse and highly popular Tall-Hammam paper, perhaps?
[ Parent | on HN ]