hypothetically: If you do not age

[pgp_protector]

Wait.. are we to suppose you just looked 22 but had a normal life span? Or that you just became immortal (more or less) and going to remain at 22 years old and that you would still accumulate knowledge?

Anyone who lives for 200 years with a 22 year old body and brain would eventually rule the entire world. The accumulated knowledge and wisdom would easily out-wit all stock markets..

That's a good question, Do we just Stop Aging, but can still die due to accidents/foul play? Or will we regenerate / repair any damage our body gets?

Also while the first 100-1000 years might be fun. After a while you'll start to stick out more & more.
If the average human height / hair color or whatever evolution throws the population, the Population will be changing, but you'll still be stuck in the same body.

Lets say you're 5'11, but in 5,000 the average height is now 7'2 People will start to wonder what's wrong with you, why are you so short, and why are aren't your eyes further apart, and what's that funny "nose" thing sticking out of your round face.

 

[Chany]

Yes, accumulate knowledge. Pretty sure, by the age of 100, you'd be the most qualified person to lead the entire world, providing you are not corrupt and of good moral standing.

The role is absolutely UNappealing. You'll certainly have to face socio-political issues of unprecedented scale now that everyone can live anywhere they want and other people wanting to preserve their culture and resisting diversity. But probably, you'd be the only person to have the nerves of steel to handle such highly sensitive issues.

There are people who are 100 now; they appear no more or less qualified than anyone else. Also, we know that the brain eliminates old information it does not use. We do not endlessly store all the information that comes to us. Therefore, we would eventually lose information.

 

[pgp_protector]

Isn't that illegal?

Faking one's death to avoid stuff, yes, but if you have it provisioned correctly so you've left no outstanding bills, ect nothing unethical about it.
Getting a new identity, depends on where you're living. Some countries I doubt track that info all that much.

 

[timewerx]

It's an involved but extremely easy process to get a new identity if you know how to game and play the system. I'd get a new identity every 20 years or so.

Is that illegal? I don't see how can it be "extremely easy", else, a lot of people would be doing it. Take for instance the many people in 3rd world countries who would like to get to USA or Europe by any means possible. Securing a fake identity would be one such ticket to a better life.

As you said, it is an "involved" and let me assume, it entails risks. I'd prefer the least risky way, as you don't want to be on the run if things go wrong. Or should I assume, you have no choice for the world is not made for extremely long-lived people.

 

[Sophrosyne]

Sounds like a bad Highlander movie to me.

 

[pgp_protector]

Is that illegal? I don't see how can it be "extremely easy", else, a lot of people would be doing it. Take for instance the many people in 3rd world countries who would like to get to USA or Europe by any means possible. Securing a fake identity would be one such ticket to a better life.

As you said, it is an "involved" and let me assume, it entails risks. I'd prefer the least risky way, as you don't want to be on the run if things go wrong. Or should I assume, you have no choice for the world is not made for extremely long-lived people.

This is running also under the assumption that you only want to live in the United States, is that a requirement of this OP?

 

[timewerx]

This is running also under the assumption that you only want to live in the United States, is that a requirement of this OP?

I'm presuming in any country, including countries with incredibly good systems for managing the personal database of its citizens.

 

[timewerx]

That's a good question, Do we just Stop Aging, but can still die due to accidents/foul play? Or will we regenerate / repair any damage our body gets?

In my hypothesis, you could still die of accidents, disease, etc. However, it's possible to presume such person will have a smarter immune system and is better able to resist disease than anyone else.

Also while the first 100-1000 years might be fun. After a while you'll start to stick out more & more.
If the average human height / hair color or whatever evolution throws the population, the Population will be changing, but you'll still be stuck in the same body.

Lets say you're 5'11, but in 5,000 the average height is now 7'2 People will start to wonder what's wrong with you, why are you so short, and why are aren't your eyes further apart, and what's that funny "nose" thing sticking out of your round face.

Interesting theory. My experience living in different countries for long periods at a time. The body seems to assimilate the features of the local populace. Maybe it's an adaptive feature of the body but helps to integrate with the local populace.

There was a statistical study done about it. It would mean it is still possible for an "immortal" to evolve with the local populace purely through mutational adaptation.

 

[timewerx]

There are people who are 100 now; they appear no more or less qualified than anyone else. Also, we know that the brain eliminates old information it does not use. We do not endlessly store all the information that comes to us. Therefore, we would eventually lose information.

But we don't lose all of the them. Our logical processing is also infamously quite known for automatically extrapolating, even repairing lost information. It's like having another separate computer in our brain which does all the back end stuff.

So it's possible even lost memories could be rebuilt by the mind's backend processes.

The more you know, the more components the backend brain could build with. The more diverse information you know, the more realistic the rebuilt information could be. Truthful knowledge is in fact, a real food to the brain.

So even if you are losing memories, you are actually getting wiser as time goes by assuming no degradation to the brain.


People will reach their highest intellect at the time of death because this is the time the brain would be frantically be doing everything it could give to leave a permanent mark for all time for all it desires is to exist forever.

 

[Chany]

But we don't lose all of the them. Our logical processing is also infamously quite known for automatically extrapolating, even repairing lost information. It's like having another separate computer in our brain which does all the back end stuff.

So it's possible even lost memories could be rebuilt by the mind's backend processes.

The more you know, the more components the backend brain could build with. The more diverse information you know, the more realistic the rebuilt information could be. Truthful knowledge is in fact, a real food to the brain.

So even if you are losing memories, you are actually getting wiser as time goes by assuming no degradation to the brain.


People will reach their highest intellect at the time of death because this is the time the brain would be frantically be doing everything it could give to leave a permanent mark for all time for all it desires is to exist forever.

Even if what you are saying is true, there is only so much a brain can handle without eliminating something. If the brain is like a computer, there is only so much the brain can store on it's hard drive, so to speak. Eventually, something has to be "deleted" in order to allow for new information to be stored. Also, I don't like speculative brain science without a professional psychologist/nueroscientist present to discuss what we know and don't know. I have no reason to believe what you on your claims about the human brain.

What I'm saying is that you are simply assuming that this person will become some superhuman beyond the fact that they do not age. This assumption is unfounded. We have no reason to believe our immune system can handle disease any better than a normal human being's; the only thing is that you might have is a wider range of virus/bacteria strains one is immune to, but diseases mutate, so it's kind of moot point. A person who is incapable as a leader can still be an incapable leader even if you give them a bunch more facts or a lot more experience. We have no reason to believe we will be able to recall, utilize, and make sense of the information we learn. In other words, we have no reason to believe being an eternally youthful 22 year old would be any different besides having a different outlook on life. And even that is questionable, at least to the extremes often described in literature.

 

[pgp_protector]

Fun read.
http://www.cracked.com/article_18708_5-reasons-immortality-would-be-worse-than-death.html

 

[keith99]

Let us say by some miracle, God stopped the ticking clock of your body for undetermined purpose and you stopped ageing at 22 years of age.

And now, you are 45, but you still looked like 22 and still hasn't settled in life. How could you possibly go on with life normally??

How is it possible to deal with job applications, legal stuff, applications/registrations, relationships with people your age, etc.??

At the age of 60 and still hasn't aged since 22, what now?? Who's gonna believe you?? How is it possible to still assume an identity??

How would you deal with religious people who might think you are being possessed by an evil spirit? And for superstitious people who might think you are a vampire??

You go out and try to find the Howard Families, spend some time in theater learning how to age your looks, oh and you cringe every time an itinerant southern preacher gains a following especially if they have a Biblical name!

 

[timewerx]

Fun read.
http://www.cracked.com/article_18708_5-reasons-immortality-would-be-worse-than-death.html

Scary read...

But I doubt #5. We are increasingly getting more and more dependent on automation and technology. Pretty soon we will have artificial intelligence which will do all the thinking for us. Without challenges, there would be no reason for the brain to adapt. In such scenario, humans intellectually might devolve if evolution is real.

 

[Cearbhall]

How would you deal with religious people who might think you are being possessed by an evil spirit? And for superstitious people who might think you are a vampire??

How would you know that you aren't one of these things?

 

[Eudaimonist]

How would you deal with religious people who might think you are being possessed by an evil spirit? And for superstitious people who might think you are a vampire??

Hey, if it hasn't been a problem for the past three thousand years, why should it be a problem now?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[grasping the after wind]

If you stopped aging at 22 your brain would never fully develop and you would continue to make stupid decisions. The age of 25 (when the brain has fully developed) would be a much better point at which to stop aging, to be allowed to vote, to be allowed to drive and to be allowed to enter military service.

 

[Cearbhall]

If you stopped aging at 22 your brain would never fully develop and you would continue to make stupid decisions. The age of 25 (when the brain has fully developed) would be a much better point at which to stop aging, to be allowed to vote, to be allowed to drive and to be allowed to enter military service.

Ok, while this is true, it's not as if the brain has that much maturing left to do at the age of 22. Just the finishing touches as the process rapidly slows. You don't go from being a dunderhead to being the cream of humanity's crop in 3 years. Let's not overstate it.

 

[keith99]

Ok, while this is true, it's not as if the brain has that much maturing left to do at the age of 22. You don't go from being a dunderhead to being the cream of humanity's crop in 3 years. Let's not overstate it.

By 25 I was losing my math skills. I was over the hill!

 

[WretchedGoat]

Is that illegal? I don't see how can it be "extremely easy", else, a lot of people would be doing it. Take for instance the many people in 3rd world countries who would like to get to USA or Europe by any means possible. Securing a fake identity would be one such ticket to a better life.

As you said, it is an "involved" and let me assume, it entails risks. I'd prefer the least risky way, as you don't want to be on the run if things go wrong. Or should I assume, you have no choice for the world is not made for extremely long-lived people.

Yes, it's highly illegal. It's easy in that there are so many loopholes in the current system that it's not difficult to file for this or that and give a false reason for needing it, and bingo. The reason "everybody" doesn't do it is that not many people know how to do it without getting caught, and if you get caught, at least in the US, it is a Federal Penitentiary stay for a minimum of 10-15 years.

I won't say how I know how to assume a new identity, but I do, and I suspect that someday very soon that knowledge will come in very useful to me.

 

[timewerx]

Ok, while this is true, it's not as if the brain has that much maturing left to do at the age of 22. Just the finishing touches as the process rapidly slows. You don't go from being a dunderhead to being the cream of humanity's crop in 3 years. Let's not overstate it.

I think I read somewhere that on average, peak intellect is reached in the early adulthood so it's certainly in the twenties.

Of course, if someone is immune to the effects of ageing. I would expect there would be adaptations relevant to the intellect also.

It is something I read again, somewhere (I read a lot).... Biological adaptations for longer lived specimens tend to be more complex than shorter lived ones. Like having stronger immune system (superior healing qualities). Even wild mutations which results to increased lifespan has also improved the mutant's immune system.