Is Aging a Disease? If So, Can It Ever Be Cured?

RefusdClassification on 15/05/2024 - 16:41

I'm not sure whether the Health section is appropriate for this post. If it isn't, could a moderator move it into the "Everything Else" section?

I don't think anyone actually dies of "old age" but rather the consequences of old age, one of many possible degenerative diseases. As we get older, the probability of getting many illnesses (some of them fatal) dramatically increases. The higher our age, the more likely we are to develop a degenerative pathology in that particular year. These include, but aren't limited to: dementias (especially Alzheimer's), heart attacks, hypertension, stroke, endogenous depression, osteoarthritis, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, most of the carcinomas, osteoporosis leading to fractures, hearing loss, presbyopia, and cataracts. Our arteries narrow and harden, our lungs and skin lose their elasticity, we tire much more easily than a 20 year old. If a superbug caused all of those conditions, we would term it a disease.

In 19th century England, 75% of children died of infectious diseases (caused by "bugs") before reaching 10 years old. Now, even in "third world" countries, deaths from degenerative disease now outnumber deaths from infectious diseases.

Some old people are taking 10 different medications a day. The medications are postponing death and reducing the discomfort caused by the symptoms (eg opiates and pain diseases), but they don't cure degenerative diseases. If you stop taking a statin, your cholesterol levels soar into the abnormal range, for instance. Big pharma has a massive financial incentive to focus on symptom relief and suppression rather than curing you permanently. Compare this to syphilis, which was prevalent in 19th century Europe: "A single injection of long-acting Benzathine penicillin G can cure the early stages of syphilis."

OzBargain, what are your thoughs? Feel free to answer if you know nothing about biology, or have just high school biology, or are a medical professional. Death is a topic relevant to all of us. If I have made any mistakes above, calmly correct me.

Poll Options expired

  • 17
    Yes, aging is a disease, but humans will never beat it. The best we can do is to postpone death.
  • 51
    Yes, aging is a disease, but science will one do find a way to give us immortal youth.
  • 291
    No, aging isn't a disease, it is just part of a natural cycle. Humans must accept it.
  • 3
    Undecided / need more information
Health & Beauty

Comments

  • jv on 15/05/2024 - 16:45
    +43

    Is Aging a Disease?

    No

    If so, can it ever be cured?

    N/A

    Thread closed

    • Camelface on 16/05/2024 - 10:48
      +13

      Never thought JV had wisdom

    • ChemicalMan on 16/05/2024 - 13:00
      -1

      haha you sound like an unfit boomer

    • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 15:59
      +2

      Is Aging a Disease?

      Ageing is not a singular disease but it is a of series of cumulative pathology.

      can it ever be cured?

      Cured, unlikely. But slowed down, reversed and gene- edited out to some degree , sure.

      IF we were able to cure ageing, we would live forever. Life would go on and on and on. I cannot think of a worse fate than that. Let me bow out gracefully when my time is up and I will sleep for the rest of eternity.

      • jv on 16/05/2024 - 16:00

        Ageing is not a singular disease but it is a of series of cumulative pathology.

        Actually, it has more to do with time, not disease…

        • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 16:17
          +1

          Chronological age rarely equals biological age.

          Try taking up smoking, stop slapping on sunscreen, find a more stressful job.. etc then come back a year later to tell me that you still don't look a day over 70.

          • jv on 16/05/2024 - 16:55
            +1

            @Cat woman:

            Chronological age rarely equals biological age.

            They do corollate though…

            • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 18:37
              +1

              @jv: Living is a temporal experience. Of course everything about it is going to have a connection to time.

              As for ageing, it is inevitable but we can slow it down or hasten it. Here's a truck driver who hasn't worn sunscreen over 28 years. Same person over the same period of time but you can clearly see that the right side of his face is visibly more aged than the left side.

              Anyway, I grow bored of this conversation, Jules. You've changed. Your writing used to reflect such an optimistic view of science and technology. You even went so far as to write: "What one man can imagine, another will someday be able to achieve."

              What if it became true? What if ageing could be slowed down to the point that it feels like we can live forever. Would you (or anyone on here) sign up for a life of immortality?

              • jv on 16/05/2024 - 23:47

                @Cat woman:

                What if ageing could be slowed down

                It can, depending on the observer.
                Time is relative…

      • Succulent on 16/05/2024 - 21:15

        I will sleep for the rest of eternity.

        What if you dont sleep for eternity. What if you wake up to a life, after the death?

        • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 21:45

          Only if we can restart the sim and I get to be Gina Rinehart this time around. Or even Bezos. Prince W probably has a sweet life too.
          Actually, anyone at the apex of society will do. Being middle class is overrated.

          Otherwise, no bueno - I'm not reincarnating.

      • pharkurnell on 17/05/2024 - 10:23
        +1

        . Life would go on and on and on. I cannot think of a worse fate than that

        agree… once the body has failed who would want to be alive.

  • theHMASfriendship on 15/05/2024 - 16:48
    +10

    Nothing matters anyway existence is meaningless soon enough we will all turn back into space dust

    • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 16:01

      Life is but a walking shadow,
      A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more:
      It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

    • FezMonkey on 17/05/2024 - 08:18

      Existence may have no pre-determined purpose but we each give it our own meaning. We are able to appreciate the beauty of life. The Talos Principle 2 game does a great job at exploring this theme.

      Also I think it's amazing that we are from star dust and will return to that again.

  • AustriaBargain on 15/05/2024 - 16:48
    +9

    If it is a disease, then it's not going to be cured in our lifetime, because every billionaire ever has died. Their wealth maybe gives them a few extra years or decades even, but they all still die. Maybe before you die there will be people alive that will live youthful lives for thousands of years, but for us it's too late. You can't rebake us, we're done like dinner.

    • jv on 15/05/2024 - 16:56
      -5

      every billionaire ever has died

      Except Walt Disney. He was cryogenically preserved.

      • FireRunner on 15/05/2024 - 17:08
        +14

        Preserved but still dead

      • elgrande on 15/05/2024 - 17:23
        +1

        Also Elon Musk is still alive.

        • BOGOF on 15/05/2024 - 18:05
          +22

          Alive but still preserved

    • payless69 on 16/05/2024 - 12:50

      What health club is Gina using?

      • AustriaBargain on 16/05/2024 - 13:02
        +1

        She's a lifetime member of Club Fed.

    • diss on 18/05/2024 - 11:30

      Just because past billionaires have died doesn’t mean there couldn’t be breakthroughs in halting telomere degeneration etc in the next few decades… and “curing” aging doesn’t mean reverting to age 21. You can be cured of ailments but live on with scars.

  • mskeggs on 15/05/2024 - 16:51
    +7

    Telomeres shorten with age, so there are limits at a cellular level, not just a disease.
    I missed the penicillin in the 19th century, must have been suppressed by big pharma.
    I suspect much like the past century, we’ll continue to make progress, maybe not quite as fast as with the introduction of vaccines and other drugs that made massive jumps.

    But I doubt it will ever be the case that you will retain the vibrancy and healthfulness of youth forever.

    • AustriaBargain on 15/05/2024 - 17:00
      +2

      Plus after 60 years are you even the same person anymore? If you drank an immortality potion then after 300 years are you even the same person, is the person you were when you drank the potion effectively dead, literally just a memory in the head of "you" from 300 years later.

      In our horror books and movies most vampires and such hate that they can't die. Ghosts desperately want permanent relief. Maybe we all know that immortality isn't what it's cracked up to be. Or just sour grapes that it's not an option; I think most people would opt in if given a choice.

      • Forfiet on 15/05/2024 - 23:56

        With that common argument, the concept of a 'soul' is surprisingly more comforting than I would of originally thought…..

        You may regenerate 'bodily', but the 'you' inside ages with wisdom(of bargains!) and maybe a purity not otherwise witnessed….. Or some psycho-babble sh*t like that ;P

        • AustriaBargain on 16/05/2024 - 11:17

          Supernatural nonsense. But yeah, I can see why people would choose to believe a comforting fiction. An incorruptible and eternal soul, sounds nice.

      • Chandler on 16/05/2024 - 11:13

        Plus after 60 years are you even the same person anymore?

        CGP Grey - The Trouble with Transporters

        Wikipedia - Ship of Theseus

        • AustriaBargain on 16/05/2024 - 11:16
          +1

          Yeah you wouldn't ever catch me stepping into a transporter. But at the same time, what if when you fall asleep and wake up effectively the same thing is happening. Or moment to moment you're just a bunch of atoms and electricity bumping around, maybe you are only "you" for one fraction of a microsecond before that "you" dies and is replaced by another specific arrangement of atoms and electricity.

          • Chandler on 16/05/2024 - 11:59

            @AustriaBargain: Those are the concepts explored in the CGP Grey video. I found it quite interesting (I actually find most of his content very interesting).

    • addicted on 16/05/2024 - 11:48
      +2

      Telomere shortening as a cause of senescence is controversial. At birth, each telomere is about ten thousand base pairs long, but 25 percent
      shorter by age thirty-five and 65 percent shorter when you hit sixtyfive. Some studies associate shorter telomeres with higher risk of
      disease, but others do not. And while exercise helps telomeres become longer (via the action of an enzyme called telomerase), so too does
      cancer. See Haycock, P. C., et al. (2014), Leucocyte telomere length and risk of cardiovascular disease: Systematic review and metaanalysis,
      British Medical Journal 349:g4227; Mather, K. A., et al. (2011), Is telomere length a biomarker of aging? A review, Journals of
      Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 66:202–13; Ludlow, A. T., et al. (2008), Relationship between physical
      activity level, telomere length, and telomerase activity, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 40:1764–71.

      • Imnuts7 on 17/05/2024 - 20:54

        There's research on telomerase being done in Sydney. I'm in my second year of PhD and my project is on finding inhibitors.

    • cfuse on 16/05/2024 - 17:54
      +1

      We already have immortal cell lines for research. The most famous the being HeLa cell line.

      Cells can replicate forever. We call that cancer. The limits to replication exist for a reason, to tell the cell when to die before it can cause problems.

      • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 19:18
        +1

        The limits to replication exist for a reason,

        Without those mutating, blundering cells, 'we’d' never have made it out of the primordial soup…

    • Cat woman on 16/05/2024 - 18:59

      Telomeres shorten with age, so there are limits at a cellular level, not just a disease.

      Telomerase is an enzyme that can lengthen telomeres by adding repetitive DNA sequences to the ends of chromosomes. Telomerase activity is high in embryonic cells, stem cells, and certain types of cancer cells, allowing them to maintain telomere length despite repeated cell divisions.

    • Oofy Doofy on 17/05/2024 - 00:56
      +1

      19th century? You mean the 20th.

  • Gdsamp on 15/05/2024 - 16:52
    +47

    Life is short.
    Make sure you spend as much time as possible on the internet arguing with strangers

    • Forfiet on 15/05/2024 - 23:57
      +9

      Oi! what did you just say too me!?!

      • Chandler on 16/05/2024 - 11:52
        +9

        What the heck did you just flippin' say about me, you little noob? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in forum debates, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on discount deals on OzBargain, and I have over 300 confirmed purchases. I am trained in online warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire forum community. You are nothing to me but just another keyboard warrior. I will wipe you the heck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this forum, mark my flippin' words. You think you can get away with saying that stuff to me over the Internet? Think again, scrub. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of mods across the web and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your online presence. You're flippin' banned, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can pwn you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my bare mouse. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed trolling, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the forum emoticons and I will use them to their full extent to 🧻😖🍑📴😀🌐, you little jerk. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your flippin' tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you flippin' idiot. I will shizz fury all over you and you will drown in it. Your flippin' done, kiddo.

      • TerryJustTerry on 16/05/2024 - 11:59
        +1

        You heard what I said wimp! What are you going to do about it?!

  • scrimshaw on 15/05/2024 - 16:57

    We're still a very long way from fully understanding what causes aging. Current science thinks its the shortening of telomeres, and that's basically your embedded biological clock that's ticking down. At a certain point, all the cells in your body will no longer self replicate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkcXbx5rSzw

    The shortening of telomeres (aka aging) isn't really a disease, but a pre-programmed part of us (and other organisms) which you can't really avoid even with good lifestyle and an impeccable diet.

    Given enough time / money / resources we could probably come up with a way to 'hack' the body and update our firmware (DNA) to make us live longer. Think CRSPR genome editing and designer babies.

    But if you want to live longer? Cyborgification. Abandon the crude biomass you call a temple and serve the Omnissiah, for the Machine is immortal.

    • Camelface on 16/05/2024 - 15:48

      I thought birth is the cause of aging. The moment you produce something, it starts aging and decaying.

      • slackerman on 17/05/2024 - 10:09

        That's the way universe operates- from order to choas

  • Drakesy on 15/05/2024 - 17:19
    +1

    Have a read of Lifespan - David A. Sinclair.

    Incredible insight into the science behind aging and where we're poised to go in the future. They've had some pretty impressive study results that have prolonged life by 20-30%, although prolonging indefinitely is still out of the picture.

    A lot of the life extension comes from diet and fasting. But hey either have a short happy life or a long mundane life.

    Mod: Fixed link

  • Kail on 15/05/2024 - 17:30
    +6

    If you thought the housing crisis was bad now…

  • CodeXD on 15/05/2024 - 17:33
    +2

    🎵 I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain 🎵

  • foxmulder on 15/05/2024 - 17:39
    +1

    Wear and tear.

  • SBOB on 15/05/2024 - 17:56
    +2

    Big pharma has a massive financial incentive to focus on symptom relief and suppression rather than curing you permanently

    But if "big pharma" could cure your aging permanently, their target market goes from someone currently ill with a medicine that 'big pharma' company has for 'symptom relief' to 'every single person on the globe'.

  • ihbh on 15/05/2024 - 18:17

    The main aging pathways AMPK, IGF-1, mTOR, inflammation, oxidation, telomeres, etc., can be slowed down by reducing processed foods and animal proteins and increasing plant whole foods.

    It's unlikely Big Pharma can develop a pill for this.

    • idonotknowwhy on 16/05/2024 - 12:58

      The main aging pathways AMPK, IGF-1, mTOR, inflammation, oxidation, telomeres, etc., can be slowed down by reducing processed foods and animal proteins and increasing plant whole foods.

      This seems to be true from the reading I've done. Lower calories, lower body weight, avoiding mTOR.

      But it's a trade off, because mTOR helps increase muscle mass and helps avoid being frail when you're old.

      • ihbh on 16/05/2024 - 14:06

        You can get complete protein from plant foods (e.g. all in soy/quinoa, combined whole grains and other legumes) but in smaller quantities; we don't need as much as people consume today (order of magnitude more). It's the balance between repair and growth in our bodies.

        Resistance training will help; and if muscle mass declines in older age, occasionally add high quality animal protein such as Alaskan sockeye salmon to your diet.

        • idonotknowwhy on 16/05/2024 - 15:20

          It's the balance between repair and growth in our bodies.

          Agreed. Can't go extreme either way.

          Resistance training will help

          Yep, it's the best thing you can do to retain strength as you age imo.

  • mrdean on 15/05/2024 - 18:22
    -3

    The expectation that "aging" brings inevitable decline & disease is just another mind programming psychological operation to get your attention off of the real causes.

    Environmental toxicities galore thanks to the advent of the industrial revolution.

    You mention 19th century England & "bugs". Another misdirection. You know what the real products of the industrial revolution in England were? Toxic waste, the movement of people into cities in appalling conditions. And "bugs" were blamed. "Bugs" have always been with us, the "industrial revolution" & its effects nowhere near as long.

    Anyway, those cultures that sort of managed to remain somewhat intact & free from the fruits of the "industrial revolution" during period up to about 1950, had elders in good physical shape with hardly any "disease". And here's something else you might find interesting. Childbirth in a lot of isolated cultures was actually pain free for the women. They knew how to prepare themselves before getting pregnant & during pregnancy. It's fascinating & shows you how far we've fallen & been dumbed down.

    • Ughhh on 15/05/2024 - 18:59
      +5

      I wonder what the life expectancy and chance of survival for childbirth in uncontacted tribes who hasn't been exposed to our deadly food and industrial revolution? Probably 1000 by your explanation above with 0 disease?

      • SBOB on 15/05/2024 - 19:13
        +1

        Everyone knows average life expectancies have been continually trending downwards since the stone age right?

        • Ughhh on 15/05/2024 - 19:22

          And now with 5G! I'm surprised why some aren't going off the grid, and instead are basically committing sui*ide by exposing themselves to the toxins and mind controls by writing comments on the internet. Not sure if stupid, akin to stepping on a turd knowing there's a turd in front, or don't actually believe on what they preach. Hmmm

          • Kangal on 17/05/2024 - 15:58

            @Ughhh: Homo sapiens are supposed to live for 30 years long in the wild. So almost everyone on this forum is past their "best before" date.

            It's true, just like the better affair Brown Bears in the wild. Yet in captivity they're usually double that to about 50 years young.

            With the advent of civilization the figure for homo sapiens goes up rapidly to around 50 years old. Let's just call them people. And in the current age with advanced healthcare it is roughly 80 years. There are anomalies like some people hitting 120 years or so.

            But the solution is to find the problems, and eliminate them one by one. But that means getting rid of things like palm oil, corn syrup, and highly processed carbs. As well as eliminating microplastics, pfas, and airborne toxins. That doesn't meet the current economical model, which coincidentally also doesn't meet the political model. Which is why for the first time, we will have Millennials/GenZ have lower quality of life and overall life expectancy than Boomers/GenX. We don't know how it is looking for the current Gen-Alpha group as it's too early in the data, but that downward trend may go up, or we may salvage it or even reverse it, if we care and if we act.

            Thought Food: see discrepancy of commoners vs highborn during mediaeval period (height, strength, intelligence, etc etc).

  • solidussnake on 15/05/2024 - 18:36
    +1

    The only way on living forever is transfer your conscience to a robot or digital frontier, seen Tron/Westworld too many times

    • Kangal on 17/05/2024 - 15:44

      Yes, but it's sceptical to even call that "alive"

  • ForkSnorter on 15/05/2024 - 18:38

    Big pharma has a massive financial incentive to focus on symptom relief and suppression rather than curing you permanently.

    I feel this kind of reasoning is heading down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

    Cures are also financially beneficial, and I suspect any cure for aging would be the financial holy grail, so there is probably quite a bit of investment being put into it. But companies still have to remain profitable, because their workers have mortgages to pay, so research and development would be strategically allocated to products that are likely to keep the company afloat and competitive in the short term, as well as long-term projects that may eventually pay off.

    The reality is, many diseases do not have a cure as far as we know, so it is actually ethical for pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments to manage their symptoms.

    But there is still a lot of research going on to develop cures for certain viruses, and there is also continual refinement/improvement of procedures and devices that can treat or even effectively cure some diseases/disorders/injuries.

    In regard to the cure for aging, there are some animals that have some kind of non-aging mechanism such as cell-renewal, so I assume some research is focused on replicating that kind of continual rejuvenation. But I think even if we achieved it, there is still going to be a lot of wear and tear, or even uncorrectable breakage over time, so what we might end up creating is not immortal humans, but some kind of Frankenstein-like monster or vampire.

    • Chandler on 16/05/2024 - 15:54
      +2

      It's not that much of a conspiracy. Treat the cause = lost customer. Treat the symptoms = repeat customer.

      • ForkSnorter on 16/05/2024 - 19:13

        I think you’re talking about the healthcare industry as a whole. And I disagree, there is actually a big focus on treating causes.

        In regard to the “big pharma” narrative, in reality the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry is a diverse playing field, and the competition is absolutely fierce. If it is likely that a cure can be developed for a particular disease, competitors will be racing to get there first.

        If one company develops the cure and patents it, which would you prefer to purchase: the cure, or the medicine that alleviates some of the symptoms for a few hours?

        While patents don’t last forever, there is also a lot of prestige associated with developing a cure, and all the benefits that brings.

    • 900dollaridoos on 17/05/2024 - 08:27
      +1

      I feel this kind of reasoning is heading down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

      It's always a tinfoil conspiracy until its proven. Look at how the original Purdue victims were treated when they tried to speak up, until the story was finally exposed and popularized.

      You don't have to look far to find proven conspiracies that show the nature of the Pharmaceutical industry.

      There are specific examples of cover ups, for example, Vioxx was known to cause heart attacks and death. This was covered up until the conspiracy was shown to be true.

      There are proven track records of malpractice and lying for profits. In almost every case there was an element of lying about drug safety/efficacy. Note how recent and recognizable some of the brands are, you probably got a jab from them in recent years.

      And finally, there is a long and consistent history of them choosing the most profitable options for treatment, even at the expense of the customer/patient.

      • ForkSnorter on 17/05/2024 - 14:32
        -1

        And yet, you are talking about an industry with thousands and thousands of companies, and actually millions of employees.

        I would wager you can find unethical practices like this in any industry, and yet if you were able to look at the wider picture, you’d probably find that in the overwhelming majority of cases, these are just normal people going to work, doing the best they can, and abiding by regulations put in place by governments in an effort to protect their citizens.

        While in some cases the executives of a company may have behaved extremely unethically, in many cases they were probably just aiming to stay within the scope of the regulation while pushing it as far as possible to achieve payback for their investment and accidentally overstepped the bounds of the regulation. Government regulation of the pharmaceutical industry is extremely strict, and is constantly changing over time. Pharmaceutical companies pay an enormous amount of money to be able to operate within those regulations, and it can cost hundreds of millions, even billions to develop a new drug or invention, so they eventually have to find a way to pay for that. The penalties are there to encourage compliance with the regulations, and if you think about it, there is always going to be violations in such a large industry.

        I’m not defending unethical practices, I’m just pointing out that there are ethical pharmaceutical companies, and you are using a handful of over-represented examples to characterise an industry that employs millions of people.

        • mrdean on 17/05/2024 - 14:47

          regulations put in place by governments in an effort to protect their citizens.

          They're protecting corporations!

          accidentally overstepped the bounds of the regulations

          There are no accidents!

          Pharmaceutical companies pay an enormous amount of money to be able to operate within those regulations

          They write the regulations! That's why they pay the money! https://www.bitchute.com/video/rPtYxCFfZo70/

          The penalties are there to encourage compliance with the regulations

          It's called the "cost of doing business"! It's an expense write-off! https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/industry/pharmace…

          there are ethical pharmaceutical companies

          That's an oxymoron!

          and it can cost hundreds of millions, even billions to develop a new drug or invention, so they eventually have to find a way to pay for that.

          https://www.bitchute.com/video/lUJB0yYcFXaS/
          "it cost $96m to prove a drug is safe & efficacious….what drug company in its right mind would want to prove a herb can cure disease x if it's going to cost them $96m, & then you & I could grow this herb in our backyard….how do they get their $96m back? This is a big problem….."
          Lol! Now do you GET why natural health treatments are DELIBERATELY targeted! Probably not…..

          • Ughhh on 18/05/2024 - 09:23

            @mrdean:

            "it cost $96m to prove a drug is safe & efficacious….what drug company in its right mind would want to prove a herb can cure disease x if it's going to cost them $96m, & then you & I could grow this herb in our backyard….how do they get their $96m back?

            The natural therapy is a billions $$$ market. Tons of pharmaceutical companies making herbs for fake doctors to sell to you. Look at Alex Jones store lmao. Why pay the $96m when there are sheep who will buy anyway.

        • 900dollaridoos on 17/05/2024 - 18:16
          +1

          Sorry but that's garbage. You're making it sound like I'm cherry picking when in reality I just skimmed the surface of the worst civil settlements in US history.
          Of all the dodgy monopolies in a capitalist system, why is it always pharmaceuticals at the top?

          Also congrats. You're the first Aussie I've seen going in to bat for the big guys 😅

  • GordonD on 15/05/2024 - 19:03
    +7

    Beats me why anyone would want to live forever.

    The older you get the more you realise the world is full of idiots, and if no-one tells them they'll never know, because they all think they're so clever.

    Humankind was OK until we learned so much stuff about how everything works that we have the power to thoroughly stuff everything up. Now, we're just dangerous. We're just not smart enough to realise we're not smart enough to have the power we have. It can only end in tears. And the combination of curing death, living forever, and imposing as many more of us as we do on the planet every year can only bring the inevitable disaster on sooner. A cancer is the only thing that lives forever, until it kills what its living off by doing that.

    We have uniquely developed language, which allows up to pass on knowledge, and the power knowledge gives us. But that doesn't pass on wisdom, so that increases commensurately. We're only as smart and as wise as we were when we were running around Africa naked. We need to get smarter and wiser first, then figure out how to live forever.

    Personally, as a person who has gotten old, with everything that results in, I'd prefer at this point that they'd offer me an easy cure for life than a cure for death. I decided and prepared myself last year, then they told me they'd cured me. Then they did the same again this year, and they look at me disappointed when I don't tell them how clever they are.

    • ihbh on 15/05/2024 - 22:21

      Do you mind if I ask how old you are?

      • Nillionaire on 15/05/2024 - 22:46

        r/im14andthisisdeep

    • idonotknowwhy on 16/05/2024 - 13:05
      +1

      Humankind was OK until we learned so much stuff about how everything works

      This is objectively untrue. For the majority of the population, society was cruel, and average people were not free.

      But that doesn't pass on wisdom

      A cancer is the only thing that lives forever, until it kills what its living off by doing that.

      A cancer cell is just a cell. And as you pointed out, if it kills the organism sustaining it, then it doesn't live forever either.

      Beats me why anyone would want to live forever.

      It's not about living forever. Look at it the other way around. If you're healthy, pain free and surrounded by loved ones, you wouldn't suddenly look at the calendar and decide "Oh well, that's enough, I want to die now"

      and if no-one tells them they'll never know

      You could also accept their limitations, let them be, and avoid interacting with them if they're bothering you.

  • Ughhh on 15/05/2024 - 19:12

    We only know a small amount of science in this universe. Science is hella expensive. Unfortunately, some people only believe in backyard "science" with Kindy toys.

    Anyone who tells you they know everything is full of shit and is projecting insecurities.

  • aboabo on 15/05/2024 - 19:25

    Romans 6:23 KJV
    For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • Benoffie on 15/05/2024 - 19:25

    Aging isnt a disease in the sense of a foreign thing attacking us but it is a failure of our systems. Can that be halted? Absolutely. There's sufficient evidence now showing it can be done.

    However, what's the cost benefit? Who gets it? Why? What does it do to the planet and resources? Society and cultures? People attitudes and psychology in general?

    Humans shouldn't be immortal. Frankly, too many people already live too long and too well as it is. Few humans nowadays seem to want to age with grace and humility and in the service of others.

  • garetz on 15/05/2024 - 20:36

    Aging is a condition not a disease, there is no cure, however a condition can be alleviated by medicinal technology.

    Sooner or later humanity will probably live to 200-220 biologically, however only the rich will be able to afford it.

    • Bruceflix on 15/05/2024 - 21:21

      So long as your credit is good I'm sure you could get a loan for life extensions.

    • Forfiet on 16/05/2024 - 00:04

      The 100 year olds yearn for the mines!?!

  • Sal in SA on 15/05/2024 - 21:06

    We we can self heal/ replicate DNA like some immortal animals - they usually die from being unable to sustain themselves anymore - not from age as such.
    While may not be enteral life, would not be surprised after much much more research and $, extending life is possible - how far remains to be discovered.

  • foxmulder on 15/05/2024 - 22:47

    Netflix has this documentary on Live to 100.

  • DingoBilly on 16/05/2024 - 07:06
    -1

    Surprised most people don't think of it as disease. It should be reversible and it is just the body failing over time.

    You don't technically die from aging but from the organs failing, but that in of itself could be seen as a disease we all inherit.

  • payless69 on 16/05/2024 - 09:10

    Eugène Schueller was the person who made most money with chemicals covering up aging skin.

    So if people are stupid to believe in a "fountain of youth" so punish them and take their money!

  • Sinnerator on 16/05/2024 - 09:22

    aging is code written into the DNA, crack that code and…………….

  • LFO on 16/05/2024 - 09:30

    Have you heard a sick joke about the meaning of longevity?

    More time to be ill …

  • Alexxx on 16/05/2024 - 09:39

    We don't think of a car that starts using oil, having bad shocks, worn out interior, and bad handling at 300,000km as having a disease.
    Bodies are the same, you can do some things to mitigate it but in the end it's still going to happen.
    With a car you can replace bits and pieces but then it becomes the Ship of Theseus. We can't do that with our bodies yet.
    We can do quite a bit to prolong our lives, some people are worn out at 60 but others are in their 80s and cycling from Perth to the Gold Coast. Thats 20 extra years which isn't nothing.

  • ripesashimi on 16/05/2024 - 09:54

    This gives off strong vibe from that dude who spends 2 mil a year on supplements but still look as old as his age.

    • BluebirdV on 17/05/2024 - 17:05

      He started getting into living longer when he was 38. Left it a bit late but as the saying goes better late than never. I don't know if supplements are the way to go. Maybe try living with people in a Blue Zone.

  • Flying owl on 16/05/2024 - 09:59

    Not a disease,
    Simply because everyone has it, and there will never be a cure for it.

  • Cluster on 16/05/2024 - 11:20
    +1

    Eat well, don't smoke, consume little if any alcohol, have fun, fall in love if you can, try to make someone's day a little more pleasant.

    We're all here for a short time. Make the most of it.

    The number of people living healthy lives to 90 is still vanishingly small. I don't expect this to change any time soon.

  • superuser on 16/05/2024 - 11:29

    Nothing last forever!

    • quick-dry on 16/05/2024 - 11:46
      +2

      even cold November rain?

    • dust on 16/05/2024 - 13:36

      That's what I tell my wife!

  • Camelface on 16/05/2024 - 11:41

    I do know a cure for aging, but I can only tell it if you can name something that doesn't age.

    • idonotknowwhy on 16/05/2024 - 13:09

      Black holes - According to current scientific understanding, black holes do not age in the traditional sense, as time effectively stops at their event horizon.

      Now what's the cure?

      Edit: I'm not sure about this one, but from my understanding of relativity, photons in a vacum souldn't age either.
      The energy of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency. As long as a photon does not interact with matter, its frequency and, consequently, its energy remain constant. From the perspective of the photon, time would appear to be be still.

      • Camelface on 16/05/2024 - 15:41

        Please research hawking radiation.

        Research the same for proton decay in interstellar transmissions.

        • idonotknowwhy on 16/05/2024 - 22:53

          Hawking radiation is theoretical though

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