Fascinating column, Barry. It makes me consider whether or not I want to live into my 100's or longer. For me, the underlying question has to do with our natural tendency to discount things as they move further away in time or place - or character (race, ethnicity, religion, wealth). An example might be this: Two hundred thousand-plus Iraqi casualties in the Second Gulf War are less significant to me than 3000 Americans killed on 9/11, and they are less significant than the death of my mother. Will my 'discount rate' move closer to zero, if I know I'm going to be around for another century or two? It might with regards to time, but I will still have the problem of discounting that which is further away in place or character. In other words, we still have the problem of discounting "the other" which is the source of so much conflict in human history. How does living longer solve that?
I find that human memory eliminates discounting. I can remember important-to-me moments from decades ago immediately and intensely. Memory is magic. And I would be very happy living for another century without boredom; I have my eye on a lagoon I visited once in Bora Bora...
“When we get to the 2030s, nanobots will connect our brains to the cloud. Just the way your phone does, it expands intelligence, a million fold by 2045,”
This is all well and good... however, increasing himan intelligence exponentially without ensuring that human wisdom develops even faster seems to be begging for trouble.
I genuinely appreciate your optimism, Barry, Keep up the great work!
Fascinating column, Barry. It makes me consider whether or not I want to live into my 100's or longer. For me, the underlying question has to do with our natural tendency to discount things as they move further away in time or place - or character (race, ethnicity, religion, wealth). An example might be this: Two hundred thousand-plus Iraqi casualties in the Second Gulf War are less significant to me than 3000 Americans killed on 9/11, and they are less significant than the death of my mother. Will my 'discount rate' move closer to zero, if I know I'm going to be around for another century or two? It might with regards to time, but I will still have the problem of discounting that which is further away in place or character. In other words, we still have the problem of discounting "the other" which is the source of so much conflict in human history. How does living longer solve that?
I find that human memory eliminates discounting. I can remember important-to-me moments from decades ago immediately and intensely. Memory is magic. And I would be very happy living for another century without boredom; I have my eye on a lagoon I visited once in Bora Bora...
“When we get to the 2030s, nanobots will connect our brains to the cloud. Just the way your phone does, it expands intelligence, a million fold by 2045,”
This is all well and good... however, increasing himan intelligence exponentially without ensuring that human wisdom develops even faster seems to be begging for trouble.
I genuinely appreciate your optimism, Barry, Keep up the great work!
Thank you Richard! Yes, you have a good point about the "wisdom" component... No easy fix there!