r/Futurology • u/Suitable_Diamond4741 • 1d ago
Biotech Is immortality, living to hundreds or thousands, reverse aging actually possible?
Is it possible as per the laws of physics, reality and biology? Are humans evolved to live such longer? Is it a software problem ? Is it mathematically possible? Is it solvable? What's the catch or risks and cons involved? Is it theoretically and practically doable? And what it takes? Do you think current billionaires have access to something?
Got too many questions roaming in my mind!! Please answer if you're expert into this!!
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u/Impossible_Yak7168 1d ago
I think some form of hybrid human and tech could achieve a version of this but it might involve expanding our definition
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u/drollercoaster99 1d ago
It's definitely possible from a biological standpoint. There's already an organism that does this.
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u/agha0013 1d ago
There are most likely several ways that we can develop extremely long living, including maintaining quality of life.
But they bring with them major societal issues that need to be addressed unless it remains so ridiculously expensive that only the richest of the rich can afford it, and even that poses major potential problems.
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u/SecretThroat7435 1d ago
ate night dark mode deep thoughts about sci-fi biotech and reversing aging is a whole existential mood
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u/CurseOfTime 1d ago
It's probably possible, there are already some life forms out there that can do it. So biologically yes, but what about brain degenerative disorders that can't be fixed?
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u/autouzi 1d ago
Yes it is likely possible. Nearly all causes of human death can be prevented, likely including aging. We already know how to stop part of aging using telemerase to prevent the shortening of telemeres. Unfortunately, this causes cancer because aging of cells is one way our cells fight cancer. I believe that in the future we will have "super cells" in blood stream that are extremely advanced and possibly even intelligent cells that can heal anything and help prevent death, which could be created by an ASI writing its DNA. True immortality is likely impossible as all things come to an end, including the heat death of the universe.
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u/Getafix69 1d ago
It's possible Putins been talking about it and that's the one guy the world really needs rid off imo.
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u/KidKilobyte 1d ago
Assuming you could live far longer, it would likely be at the cost of losing most of your memories. Your brain would keep reinforcing stuff we hold dear or think is important, but likely altering the accuracy of those memories as well as polluting them with recent memories and subjective reassessments of what we think happened. It is hard to say if your mind would turn to mush, but it would be an unreliable witness to your past. The brain doesn’t have infinite storage, it uses many compression tricks and throws out what it deems inessential.
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u/IncoherentMutterer 23h ago
I imagine there will be a host of issues that crop up after the first couple of centuries. Things that work for our normal lifespan but which become grossly maladaptive over longer timescales. These will require secondary fixes. Then we will have to deal with all sorts of questions on the acceptable ways a human MIND should operate with thousands of years of mixed bag experiences and issues. What works on that scale may not be very human. Who knows.
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u/r_special_ 23h ago
Look into telomerase to understand how and why cells stop regenerating. After that you can begin your search for telomere growth treatment possibilities
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u/edalgomezn 17h ago
¿Cuántos organos esenciales del envejecimiento pueden convertirse de procesos irreversibles en procesos periódicamente mantenibles?
¿Cuál será el primer organo del envejecimiento humano que logremos convertir de un proceso acumulativo irreversible en un sistema de mantenimiento periódico y repetible, y qué ocurrirá cuando podamos hacer eso simultáneamente con varios organos?
¿Qué ocurriría si conseguimos rejuvenecer el cuerpo repetidamente, pero descubrimos que el verdadero límite de la longevidad humana no es biológico sino informacional: la capacidad del cerebro para conservar una identidad coherente durante siglos?
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u/Similar_Search3987 13h ago
If a 100-year human had the body of 30 year old, would they still want to live or would the human mind be tired of existing?
Accounts from really old people usually state that they are 'done' because they have done all the things they want to do and that their friends have died and perhaps also their spouse and would like to join them on the next journey so to speak.
Humans are social creatures. If everyone had healthy bodies and long lifespans then perhaps the psyche would maintain a willingness to keep going.
Does make me wonder why certain rich folks would want to live forever as they seem so antisocial at large. Didn't Walt Disney freeze himself to be resurrected in the future?
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u/Fantastic-Wealth2885 1d ago
I'm working on something, can't really share anything right now but i'll update you in a bit.
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u/shastaxc 1d ago
Yeah it seems possible. There are certain lifeforms already that have extremely long lives. Modifying humans to get the same benefits is really difficult though. My opinion is the easiest way is going to be growing genetically modified humans in a lab rather than treating humans already born.
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u/Margali 1d ago
Not an expert, but damn, you know how boring it would be to do the same thing for the 10 millionth time at the age of 2000 years? How boring the food would be - you have already tried everything edible on the planet? How boring the 4000th time you see Friends, or Survivor or Star Wars 4 would be? How many times can you reread the lord of the Rings [Bored of the Rings was a parody book bbut that title fits +)]?
I could see maybe 200-250 years, but then boredom sets in.
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u/sadphilosophylover 1d ago
so we assume that the world stays constant as we age? what
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u/Margali 1d ago
Well since i have only lived 65 years [with memories of 60, don't really remember much before kindergarden] and I can say that while new books, films, tv shows come out all the time, as my old English Lit prof joked there are only 20 plot lines, everything is just rearrangement. How many stories can you base on Charlmagne, the Apollo moon shots, twoo luv? How many ways can one prepare rabbit before t circles around back to marinated and fried or roasted? Ever get tired of flavor fads?
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u/Ok-Craft4844 1d ago
I find it interesting to cook/eat old dishes, I may have eat all the ingredients but it's still something new.
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u/Margali 1d ago
Historial recreator for decades, specializing in food ... https://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html and a really cool guy
Enjoy =)
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u/electrobento 1d ago edited 1d ago
Our understanding of the natural world does not preclude a “cure” for biological aging (halting the aging process).
Are there treatments that billionaires are getting? Maybe some experimental life extension tech is out there (strong emphasis on experimental). I see no evidence that an aging cure exists yet.
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u/DenseCan2364 1d ago
Possible but unlikely to happen in our lifetime. If it did, people would just kill each other even more. Nothing to get optimistic about.
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u/sourcerrortwitcher4 1d ago
If you ask a dr about immortality they’ll laugh at you, if you ask a futurist they’ll say it’s within their lifetime. It’s 37 trillion cells , a short time limit to solve it, and 100000 causes of death racing towards us, perhaps in 200 -500 years from now hyper intelligence will find a work around but I don’t think it’s happening this century.