X-Message-Number: 354
From att!fernwood.mpk.ca.us!alc!alc.com!lovejoy Tue Jun 18 12:33:26 PDT 1991
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 91 12:33:26 PDT
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Subject: Re:  cryonics #352 - Branden, Esteem, Death

It may be true that "mortality is a given."  However, it is manifestly NOT true
that the human lifespan can not be significantly increased--either as a species
or on an individual basis.   This follows from first principles, and the burden
of proof falls on those who think otherwise.  What law or laws of nature 
prevent the extension of the human lifespan far beyond the currently observed
limits?  The only known limitations come from probability theory (the chance
of a sufficiently severe mishap over ever-longer periods of time), and the
"death" of the current space-time continuum.  Given that we can only guess
what the actual limits may be in practice, it is simply defeatism to assume
that they have already been reached.  Since evolution only cares about gene
replication--that is, individual lifespans are not a design goal of the
"genetic algorithm" being used to optimize biological replication--it is rather
unlikely that our current lifespans approximate the ultimate practical limits.

Immortalists (a better term than cryonicist, unless the particular method of
preserving life is relevant to the matter under discussion) tend to value
any increase in their lifespan, in spite of the probability that they can not
truly live "forever."  Immortality is a goal, not a requirement.

--alan ()

[ Another reason that immortality can be only a goal to strive toward rather
  than an actual accomplishment is that it literally takes forever to prove
  that you have achieved it. - KQB ]

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