tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post2278123097035038236..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: Double your life span: Walker on Singer on extended longevityRussell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-67885771077959484512007-02-06T10:59:00.000+11:002007-02-06T10:59:00.000+11:00Although it's not relevant to my argument in the o...Although it's not relevant to my argument in the original post, I wonder about the "freshness" factor. I've often heard versions of this claim made, and it's true that everything is fresh for the first, say, 25 years - we are on such a steep learning curve getting ready for our (yes, ho hum) responsible adult lives.<br /><br />But that doesn't necessarily make life better during those early years. There's a lot to be said in favour of being a bit older and knowing what you are doing. There's also a huge range of experiences still available. <br /><br />In the original post, I didn't draw on my own experience - individual experiences vary too much to prove anything. But, to me, the problems of early middle age, around 40, seem to be that that's just when you are likely to be ground down with a very heavy weight of responsibilities and not much chance to get out and enjoy yourself. If you can rearrange your life with a certain amount of freedom, as I've now managed to do, it gets much better (but unfortunately this has to be financed somehow).<br /><br />That missile-equipped wheelchair could be a useful device. Maybe you should take out a patent on it.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-92173086741969438132007-02-06T07:52:00.000+11:002007-02-06T07:52:00.000+11:00It seems irrational to tie the "level of health ex...It seems irrational to tie the "level of health experienced" directly to my quality of life. I could, for example, spend my extra seventy years meditating in a Japanese garden. This is not an occupation which requires an extreme level of medical health, but tending flowers and spiderwebs does not seem like an entirely wasted life. I can see many people wishing to pursue such a vocation, and if I had already led an accomplished life of several decades, I might enjoy the opportunity myself.<br /><br />I could <i>live</i> with the health problems of old age, particularly if technology can continue to provide glasses, hearing aids, dentures and other useful items which ameliorate this or that aspect of physical deterioration. It is reasonable to presume, also, that more sophisticated devices of this genre will be developed (wheelchairs with heat-seeking missiles for keeping the whippersnappers out of my garden).<br /><br />And I'm not even going <i>near</i> the idea that if I live seventy years longer, I might be able to upload myself into — nope, not going near <i>that</i> idea!<br /><br />I guess I just don't see it reasonable to predict an entire "quality of life" based only on the properties of that extended life which we can deduce from our hypothetical drug.Blake Staceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13977394981287067289noreply@blogger.com