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 From: Message-Id: <> To: 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 ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=354