Continuous renewal of humans plays an extremely important role in our society, it's a huge blessing. Get rid of it and it's all fucked.
> It's like saying that famine is a separate concern from drought.
If wishes were fishes there'd be no room for water.
Luckily there is in fact a procedure that allows to reset BOTH the body and the mind into a clean healthy state. It's called "having kids".
You must have not met many parents because this procedure you speak of isn't guaranteed at all to do this reset you speak of. One could even argue that this outcome is the outlier. Go work as a teacher at a secondary school and tell us the percentage of parents whose mind and body is in a "clean healthy state".
I think you're underestimating how many of your thoughts, inclinations, moods and attitude are driven by the body (hormones, energy, etc). The mind is not separate from the body, they are one system. If you rejuvenate the body, the mind is also changed. I agree neuroplasticity is something that needs care as well, but it's simply not the case that it's a separate thing.
If you think either group would have let the other live forever after the civil war I have a stone that grants you immortality to sell you.
And I mean certainly I'm not constantly aware I'm in my 40s. And the healthy 80 and 90 year olds I've known don't seem "over it" - and the unhealthy ones aren't ready to give up either, they're usually just frustrated their body can't keep up.
It helped, I kept being like "wtf is wrong with me" but actually, no, I was just noticing the first little tiny signs of aging.
Now the trajectory has kept up, and I have to squint to read things that I could once read easily. Both my parents used reading glasses, and in 5 years I'm going to need them myself.
Because it never happened. What person is 90 and looks 20?
> assuming I have a body and brain capable of it.
> as healthy as you want
If we are playing thought experiments it is fine but right now there is no reason to think that is possible. This is what people are telling you. They do not lack imagination, they say it does not seem likely. It is fun to fantasize about as a science-fiction topic though.
when seeing someone like Larry Ellison speak and move, it is very clear that dedicated optimization has major benefits and productive results.
Show a recent interview of Ellison to a random person and ask them how old the guy is - the responses I often get from people are estimates in the 40-50's range.
While obviously this is not '20', it is still almost a halving in how old one is perceived (if you didn't know his temporal age, go watch a few minutes of a recent interview, then guess how old he is, then look up his actual age). Though this comment may bias one to guess on the older side, that's why we can blind the experiment by asking someone else you know.
So, plastic surgery, and hair dye?
there's not even a switch that turns _on_ ageing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_ageing)
im beginning to think its all in the mind (your cohort forces you to age as you watch them think they should age)
my results at least confirm my hypothesis for a sample of one, try it out and lmk :)
there are people who by following fitness/diet routine have good physique in 60-70 (face is aging, but body looks young). I am waiting to see how that generation will push limits in 80-90.
There are a lot of factors, but there's a lot we can do to make that more likely for ourselves. Never guaranteed, but most of the diseases of the elderly are not simply caused by old age, there are contributing factors from lifestyle.
I don't want or expect to live forever but I want to have a sharp mind, good memory, and be as mobile as I can be right up to near the end, if I'm lucky, hopefully in my 90s or 100s.
imo this is not correct example. That guy just survivor who was not hit by many other health risks from leaving in rural area and climbing to roofs.
Good example would be someone who has good life basics (work/life balance, income covering all his basic needs, healthcare and safety), following good balanced fitness protocol (e.g. running + compound movements + rest + good split program) and healthy diet (fiber, protein, healthy-fats, micro-nutritions, reasonable calories).
I believe if we would have some A/B trial, we would see that this cohort would be healthier and more active by like factor 10x compared to avg Joe when reaching 70yo age.
But this assumes that you'd stay with all these problems. Why would this be the case? You seem to connect that one has to be old and frail. I don't see the connection.
> Second of all, we adapt. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but getting to live for as long as you want, as healthy as you want, is worth the grief.
You think this is a good trade-off? To me it does not appear to be a good trade-off at all. I fail to see why health-related issues related to aging components would be anything good.
Also, not everyone makes it to a long life anyway; some people may die early due to a heart attack.
Sounds like mental hellscape of too much reflection( and early death).
Happiest ppl i know just go with flow and dont worry too much. My own parents are on two extreme ends. My dad worried all his life about all sorts of stuff, was healthnut did yoga for 50 plus years every single day, ran 5k 4 times a week, did hard gardening all that stuff. My mom on other hand just let life happen to her and enjoy whats happening along the way. Guess which one died an early death from cancer and who is alive playing with grandchildren.
ive met people who didnt see the point of life at 20; ive also met 80+ year olds begging for just one more day
its not the years, its what you do with what you got
Which might even be due to anatomy, who knows.
But hey, being mentally 25 would also be quite more fun and careless I guess
Even if you’re able to preserve a healthy body, the increased lifespan will strain society resources, require people to have longer and longer careers, more income, less opportunity for next generations, etc.
Human lifespan has increased markedly since say the middle ages, but has done so on a slower timeline. I am actually pretty nervous about a rapid transition to life spans dramatically increasing. I don’t think that will be a fun point in history.
A comment from age 77: the single thing I am most grateful to have retained at the same intensity it was in my youth is my curiosity.
Most people, even technical people, can't imagine being 90 years old and being indistinguishable visually and in terms of mental capacity from a 20-year-old. They imagine decades of suffering with bone aches, diseases and dementia... even technical people who should know better that when you optimize a system that's full of technical debt, it's almost all upside.
I'll have plenty to do and plenty to think about when I'm 100 years old, assuming I have a body and brain capable of it.
"Yes, but what about all the people you'll have lost by then?"
First of all, if I get to live a long and healthy life they probably do too.
Second of all, we adapt. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but getting to live for as long as you want, as healthy as you want, is worth the grief.