Post: #1

"The whole experience of life is crazy and beautiful and precious. We need to protect and preserve that life, at all costs. The only rational way one can do that is with technology and science, which is exactly the principle the Transhumanist Party was formed upon. Transhumanists are a people defined specifically by their love of life.

What would you do if you became president?

We would take large amounts of the defense money and put it into the scientific and medical fields, and especially the life-extension fields. I think the biggest thing I'm running on is, if you voted me in, I would do my best to guarantee you an indefinite lifespan. I know that sounds a little crazy--"Vote for me and I'll give you eternal life!"--but it's true. We believe that with one trillion dollars, within 10 years we would come up with all sorts of anti-aging drugs, age-reversing procedures, and organ printing--because it's organ failure that usually causes death.

I’ve been lucky and grateful that so many people agree with me. Renowned gerontologist Aubrey de Grey has recently signed on as my Anti-aging Advisor. Natasha Vita-More, PhD, who is Chair atHumanity+, is my Transhumanism Advisor. Jose Cordeiro, PhD, faculty at Singularity University, is my Technology Advisor.

Over the last 30 years, science and technology have helped reduce infant mortality rates, given everyone longer lives, produced more jobs, lessened wars, improved general health, and made the world a better place. It makes sense then, to speed up the process of technological progress and embrace the transhumanist age, given how it improves lives."

Zoltan Istvan, United States presidential candidate 2016

http://www.businessinsider.com/futurist-...use-2015-7

Post: #2

Democratic campaign slogan in 2050: "We completely support indefinite lifespans. Vote for us, and you'll live to be 200 years old!"
Republican campaign slogan in 2050: "We're completely opposed to indefinite lifespans. Vote for us, and you'll live to be 195 years old!"

Post: #3

Organ failure, yes but what can they theoretically do if the organ that fails is the Brain?? There lies the flaw in their logic.

Post: #4

(07-27-2015 10:03 AM)Guitarman Wrote:  Organ failure, yes but what can they theoretically do if the organ that fails is the Brain?? There lies the flaw in their logic.

Brain can fail usually by stroke or by Alzheimer´s Disease, which is just a degenerative disease caused by aging.

If billions of dollars would be put to finance curing aging as a degenerative disease, Alzheimer´s Disease / dementia can be cured.

Post: #5

(07-27-2015 10:06 AM)lido Wrote:  If billions of dollars would be put to finance curing aging as a degenerative disease, Alzheimer´s Disease / dementia can be cured.

It's not that simple, unfortunately. Research will always be limited by the brains that engage in it. If you boosted research on something from $100M to $500M per year, you'd probably boost the research speed by a mere 50%.

(07-27-2015 09:50 AM)lido Wrote:  What would you do if you became president?

Probably be hated by the rest of the politicians for 4 years. I'd probably just veto everything because it was all crap, including money bills, so the government would shut down.

Post: #6

Presidential candidate "Zoltan"? that has to happen.

Post: #7

With a name like "Zoltan the transhumanist" I expect his message to be more like "We Come in Peace"

Post: #8

For me what matters are what values and principles he has.

I personally really like this part:

"We would take large amounts of the military money and put it into the scientific and medical fields, and especially the life-extension fields. I think the biggest thing I'm running on is, if you vote me,

I would do my best to guarantee you an indefinite lifespan.

I know that sounds a little crazy--"Vote for me and I'll give you eternal life!"--but it's true.

We believe that with one trillion dollars, within 10 years we would come up with all sorts of anti-aging drugs, age-reversing procedures, and organ printing--because it's organ failure that usually causes death. "

Post: #9

Worth the research for shits and giggles, but the last thing the world needs is our current generation living another hundred years.

Post: #10

Hehe, a Hungarian, who else...

In that case I am going to run as a candidate as well, and promise free pussy! It is time for government operated brothels!

Post: #11

"How to SERVE MAN"

I think I remember this from a Twilight Zone episode. The visiting aliens arrive with a book no one can translate. But by the end of the episode it turns out that the item in question is a cookbook on how to cook humans.

In other news, it seems the False Prophet is alive and well.

Post: #12

I remember reading somewhere that biological immortality is flawed because the longer you live, the likelihood of you getting cancer is higher, since your cells will probably have no limit on it's telomeres and will multiply indefinitely, increasing the chance that more cells will replicate a faulty one leading to cancer. Thoughts?

Post: #13

(07-27-2015 10:06 AM)lido Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 10:03 AM)Guitarman Wrote:  Organ failure, yes but what can they theoretically do if the organ that fails is the Brain?? There lies the flaw in their logic.

Brain can fail usually by stroke or by Alzheimer´s Disease, which is just a degenerative disease caused by aging.

If billions of dollars would be put to finance curing aging as a degenerative disease, Alzheimer´s Disease / dementia can be cured.

Billions of dollars is spent on this.

Bill Gates, Google, etc are all investors and followers of Transhumanist causes as well. Google recently bought Calico and employs Ray Kurzweil.

Transhumanism is more than curing alzheimers, its about AI and nanotech as well. Pretty cool stuff.

Post: #14

This quote is relevant to Zoltan's arrogant belief that he can simply flick fingers, and a trillion dollars later immortality will simply appear:

Alpha Centauri Wrote:Men in their arrogance claim to understand the nature of creation, and devise elaborate theories to describe its behavior. But always they discover in the end that God was quite a bit more clever than they thought.

Post: #15

Actually the curing of the degenerative disease of aging is near, it may take 10, it may take 50 years, it all depends on how much the social support of the society will be towards it:





Some of the pèople reading this will make it to the possibility of living idefinitely,
and others not (because this idea seems too new or too breakthrough for them)

Post: #16

(07-27-2015 12:13 PM)monster Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 10:06 AM)lido Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 10:03 AM)Guitarman Wrote:  Organ failure, yes but what can they theoretically do if the organ that fails is the Brain?? There lies the flaw in their logic.

Brain can fail usually by stroke or by Alzheimer´s Disease, which is just a degenerative disease caused by aging.

If billions of dollars would be put to finance curing aging as a degenerative disease, Alzheimer´s Disease / dementia can be cured.

Billions of dollars is spent on this.

Bill Gates, Google, etc are all investors and followers of Transhumanist causes as well. Google recently bought Calico and employs Ray Kurzweil.

Transhumanism is more than curing alzheimers, its about AI and nanotech as well. Pretty cool stuff.

Fighting death (eternal nothingness) should be the priority number 1 for
everyone actually, not only Mark Zuckerberg, Google, Peter Thiel, Paypal, etc

Post: #17

I would not be surprised if they invent the technology, then the human race and religious groups turn against it and destroy all those who practice it. It will not be a fun social transition...oh no indeedy, not at all. Could bring on the next Dark Ages. Then it would be 500 years before people embrace the concept again.

Post: #18

This could give rise to some solid advice in the future "Gaming Girls 200 Years Younger" thread.

Post: #19

http://moneymorning.com/2015/06/29/aubre...g-forever/

There's a new goal sweeping across Silicon Valley. Tech's biggest names want to fight death by figuring out how to look and feel young for decades.

They've already poured billions of dollars into new biotech ventures that focus on anti-aging research…

In March 2014, tech entrepreneurs Craig Venter and Peter Diamandis founded Human Longevity Inc. The biotech's goal is to create a database of 1 million human genome sequences, including from supercentenarians. The founders hope the data will shed light on how to stay young forever and live a healthier life.

Two years ago, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) announced the creation of subsidiary company Calico. Short for California Life Company, Calico hopes to increase the human life span by 100 years and "devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives."

But not far from Google headquarters, a man with a beard down to his chest has been leading the immortality revolution for more than a decade…

The Leading Mind Behind How to Stay Young Forever

how to stay young foreverFifty-two-year-old Aubrey de Grey is the chief scientific officer at his own charity, the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) Research Foundation. The nonprofit organization focuses on applying regenerative medicine to the aging process.

Post: #20

(08-01-2015 08:46 AM)lido Wrote:  Fighting death (eternal nothingness) should be the priority number 1 for everyone actually, not only Mark Zuckerberg, Google, Peter Thiel, Paypal, etc

What for? Much more misery is caused by people living destructive and unhappy lives than by the fact that these lives eventually end. Only after improving on that should we be trying to extend the human lifespan.

Post: #21

My intuition is that something approaching immortality is possible. At any rate, lifespans multiple times "three score and ten". Unlike "Hard" Artificial Intelligence, which I think is essentially impossible. Basically you need a way to regenerate cells, and by extension DNA, as new cells are formed.

I doubt much longer lifespans will result in an increase in destructive tendencies. If anything many destructive tendencies are the result of "fear of death" in one form or another. But I doubt that large institutional funding , whether by government or billionaires, can yield significant progress. I would expect progress to come from much smaller, ad-hoc projects.