Researchers in Germany gradually reversed human cells’ ages by decades. By doing so, they could track the de-aging process in a way previous rejuvenation experiments could not.
There’s a type of cynical thinking that I’ve sometimes seen when the topic of medical research comes up, especially with research into aging and longevity but I’ve also seen it with things like cancer research, that goes something like “this kind of research is bad actually, because any results will just be reserved for the billionaires and denied to everyone else, making them live a long time without helping common people”.
I have long detested this line of thought. What will happen when the current generation of evil billionaires dies? Their wealth passes to their kids and we get a new generation of evil billionaires. Their lifespan is effectively irrelevant to the power of their class, because that power does not really come from the work of the billionaires as individuals, but from the greater structure of society that concentrates wealth into existing piles of wealth.
If you want to deal with billionaires, “wait for them to die” is not a solution, and as such their individual lifespan is irrelevant to that, there must be changes to the economic and social systems that lead to wealth compounding wealth. And if those changes were made, then the problem of "immortal billionaires is irrelevant due to there being no billionaires, so, whether or not they are dealt with, their individual lifespan isn’t the source of any problem beyond what we already have.
Meanwhile, historically speaking, medical advances have not generally been kept exclusive to the ultra rich as a class. The medical care available to the average human today is more sophisticated than what was available to the average human before much of our current medical technology was invented, and at no point in that period did we solve the problem of " rich people hoard resources and power". Even before capitalism itself existed, equivalent types of people, like kings and feudal nobility, existed, and it isn’t like the descendants of such people are the only ones to have access to current medicine. Based on that, I see no reason to conclude that any given line of medical research that eventually results in something useful, will not help people broadly.
Sorry for ranting, I’m just so tired of reading about somebody’s work to improve people’s lives being met with some equivalent to “eugh, but that will improve the bad people’s lives”, and something the most convenient way to deal with that kind of frustration is to put the thoughts to words.
No, of course my criticism was pointed at the existence of the inequality, not at the importance of medical research. Realistically however this is exactly how it goes down: billionaires will hoard the new cures, partly because they will be expensive, partly as a status symbol. For the latter, they will actively prevent it from reaching the masses, as long as they can, otherwise it stops being a status symbol.
I can’t, and it will sound like conteo, but Trump likely suffered a couple of strokes and he’s brought back to a reasonably active state every time. I don’t know what happened to Mitch McConnell, but it is probably very close to necromancy. Treatment like this doesn’t really exist for the regular population. If you get a stroke, you’re out of action for at least several months, probably never to come back as you were before, ever.
You’re suggesting that the medical research community around the entire world, most of whom hate Trump’s guts, are hiding information about new treatments just to benefit him. Instead of cashing in on the knowledge.
The experience of the last decade or so has been that in a lot of cases where there was smoke there was fire. I remember laughing at nutjobs who claimed the rich and powerful are participating in pedophiliac orgies. That a surveillance state is being built out. That insider trading is frequent. That oil companies suppress climate research. Etcetera.
My own runs along the lines of who’s going to win, Billionaires, or Governments who want to get people off retirement and back to being taxpayers? Effective rejuvenation will be nationalized somewhere and then all the Governments will have to follow suit to keep up.
Initially that means longer wage slavery, but I have hope it will cause a change in mindset towards longer term thinking which will be to the world and humanities benefit.
There’s a type of cynical thinking that I’ve sometimes seen when the topic of medical research comes up, especially with research into aging and longevity but I’ve also seen it with things like cancer research, that goes something like “this kind of research is bad actually, because any results will just be reserved for the billionaires and denied to everyone else, making them live a long time without helping common people”.
I have long detested this line of thought. What will happen when the current generation of evil billionaires dies? Their wealth passes to their kids and we get a new generation of evil billionaires. Their lifespan is effectively irrelevant to the power of their class, because that power does not really come from the work of the billionaires as individuals, but from the greater structure of society that concentrates wealth into existing piles of wealth.
If you want to deal with billionaires, “wait for them to die” is not a solution, and as such their individual lifespan is irrelevant to that, there must be changes to the economic and social systems that lead to wealth compounding wealth. And if those changes were made, then the problem of "immortal billionaires is irrelevant due to there being no billionaires, so, whether or not they are dealt with, their individual lifespan isn’t the source of any problem beyond what we already have.
Meanwhile, historically speaking, medical advances have not generally been kept exclusive to the ultra rich as a class. The medical care available to the average human today is more sophisticated than what was available to the average human before much of our current medical technology was invented, and at no point in that period did we solve the problem of " rich people hoard resources and power". Even before capitalism itself existed, equivalent types of people, like kings and feudal nobility, existed, and it isn’t like the descendants of such people are the only ones to have access to current medicine. Based on that, I see no reason to conclude that any given line of medical research that eventually results in something useful, will not help people broadly.
Sorry for ranting, I’m just so tired of reading about somebody’s work to improve people’s lives being met with some equivalent to “eugh, but that will improve the bad people’s lives”, and something the most convenient way to deal with that kind of frustration is to put the thoughts to words.
No, of course my criticism was pointed at the existence of the inequality, not at the importance of medical research. Realistically however this is exactly how it goes down: billionaires will hoard the new cures, partly because they will be expensive, partly as a status symbol. For the latter, they will actively prevent it from reaching the masses, as long as they can, otherwise it stops being a status symbol.
Point to a single medical advance that is being hoarded by the billionaires (outside of the US, because the US health system is a shit show).
I can’t, and it will sound like conteo, but Trump likely suffered a couple of strokes and he’s brought back to a reasonably active state every time. I don’t know what happened to Mitch McConnell, but it is probably very close to necromancy. Treatment like this doesn’t really exist for the regular population. If you get a stroke, you’re out of action for at least several months, probably never to come back as you were before, ever.
You’re suggesting that the medical research community around the entire world, most of whom hate Trump’s guts, are hiding information about new treatments just to benefit him. Instead of cashing in on the knowledge.
Yes. Military research is outside (and above) civilian research.
Ok, now you’ve just veered into Hollywood conspiracy territory.
The experience of the last decade or so has been that in a lot of cases where there was smoke there was fire. I remember laughing at nutjobs who claimed the rich and powerful are participating in pedophiliac orgies. That a surveillance state is being built out. That insider trading is frequent. That oil companies suppress climate research. Etcetera.
Fair line of reasoning.
My own runs along the lines of who’s going to win, Billionaires, or Governments who want to get people off retirement and back to being taxpayers? Effective rejuvenation will be nationalized somewhere and then all the Governments will have to follow suit to keep up.
Initially that means longer wage slavery, but I have hope it will cause a change in mindset towards longer term thinking which will be to the world and humanities benefit.