I want to live forever: New Scientist

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of living forever, particularly focusing on the implications of longevity on mental health and cognitive function. Participants explore the potential for indefinite physical regeneration while questioning the effects on mental flexibility and memory as one ages. The conversation touches on both theoretical and personal perspectives regarding aging and memory retention.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest there are fundamental mental restrictions on how long one can live, particularly regarding the ability to form new memories and connections as one ages.
  • One participant expresses concern that while physical regeneration might be possible, the mind could become stuck in the past, leading to a lack of new experiences.
  • Another participant humorously reflects on the challenges of aging, indicating that elderly individuals often recount past experiences rather than engage with the present or future.
  • There is a discussion about the potential for drugs to reverse mental rigidity, with a participant noting the ethical implications of such interventions.
  • Participants engage in a light-hearted exchange about the nuances of a French phrase related to youth and aging, with some correcting each other's interpretations and translations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the relationship between aging, memory, and the possibility of living forever. There is no consensus on whether mental flexibility can be maintained alongside physical longevity, and the discussion remains unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about the permanence of nerve connections and the effects of aging on mental processes are not substantiated with evidence, and the discussion reflects a variety of assumptions about cognitive aging.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those exploring topics in neuroscience, gerontology, and the philosophical implications of longevity and memory.

Ivan Seeking
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Cynthia Kenyon thinks we can have it all: health, wealth, hordes of children - and a long life. A very long life. She disagrees with prevailing ideas that we can only live longer by paying a high price in terms of reduced fertility or a sluggish metabolism. What made this professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, so sure? A little worm. James Kingsland was keen to discover the secret

http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp;jsessionid=HAKLOFHIJBEG?id=ns24171
 
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I think (i haven't looked for any evidence thus far) there are fundamental restrictions on how old we can live mentally.

Everyone knows as you grow older, your habits begin to cement in the mind, progressively harder and harder to shake off. Nerve connections become more and more permanent. When you listen to the elderly, they constantly recount the past. I think perhaps the biggest side effect of attempting to 'live forever' is that while your body could regenerate indefinitely - your mind would live only in the past.

Sure drugs could attempt to 'reverse' such effects to make the mind flexible again. Such drugs are also known as brain washing drugs. What a catch 22 :smile:
 
I think elderly live in the past, since it is hard to make new connection in order to live in the future.
 
I am 70, and I think these last two posts are hilarious. Si la jeunesse sauvait, si la viellesee pouvait.
 
haha, you are right, I was commenting on jinx.. we both are talking about dementia where short term memory is lost, as we all know, the brain has a certain number of neurons which won't be regenerated when lost. If we want to live forever, we'd have to make sure that nerve connections can be regenerated.

I am not sure what you said there, something like: safe your youth, if life let's you?
 
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Originally posted by selfAdjoint
Si la jeunesse sauvait, si la viellesee pouvait.

If youth knew, if elder could.

It should be "savait" not "sauvait". It is two different word but it sounds the same. :wink:
 
viellesee is elder? I was thinking la vie :P
 
vieillesse is from vieux and vieille which means old in the masculin and feminin respectively.