/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.1692114]

sup /sci/

Significant life extension technology via gene manipulation, tissue and organ replication/regeneration/transplantation or merge between humans and technology.

Possible within the next 100 years? I'm 22 now, any chance I will experience any groundbreaking discoveries? Even on myself? It would hurt to be born just 50 years too early and miss the chance of experiencing the true human potential in science.

Yes, I still do have faith in humanity and believe that we are totally capable of inventing such technology instead of living in an idiocracy or bombing ourselves back into the stone-age before we are able to do so.

[Anonymous No.1692128]

It might not happen in the next 100 years, but medical science might prevent your death for long enough for you to reap the benefits of those technologies. You might have been born at just the right time, but you can't know until we get there.

Keep healthy. It'd be even worse if we found cures to aging, but you were a fat bastard and died of a heart attack before you could reap the benefits.

[Anonymous No.1692138]

>>1692128
Exactly my thoughts. I live pretty healthy, I eat right and do sports a lot. And judging from my privilege of being born in a 1st world country, my chance of having good education and therefore a decent job increases my chance of actually continuing my life in a few decades as a cyborg, traveling through galaxies.

That might sound exaggerated, but you get my point.

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692140]

Both.
Also Manhattan Beach project and Aubrey de Grey's SENS plan.

I'm expecting you to be on the journey to Sirius.

[Anonymous No.1692143]

I'd like go point this out:
>bombing ourselves back into the stone-age before we are able to do so.

Mutually Assured Destruction was what essentially, above all other factors, kept the cold war cold. Due to MAD we have finally entered an era of sustainable peace. Now we fight wars with passive aggressiveness, commandos, and trade regulations. So I don't see us blowing each other up soon.

>>1692128
Seconded.

[Anonymous No.1692144]

I'd be happy if I experience immense virtual reality that lets me have sex with 4 beautiful women all day just by wearing glasses. Dream low, bro.

[Anonymous No.1692211]

bump

[Anonymous No.1692296]

>>1692114
Not unless you help bring it about OP
Medicine is in decline because pseudoscience.

[Anonymous No.1692306]

Most predicted advancements from sci-fi in the past haven't been made because business has found consumer technology to be more lucrative, rather than large-scale projects. Apple makes more money off iPods than a space mission. People from the past would be disappointed, we've focused on the trivial rather than our potential for greatness. How do we turn this around, /sci/?

[Anonymous No.1692330]

>>1692306
popularize science and actually do science, thats the only way you twat. although I would settle for you morons learning to ignore trolls

[Anonymous No.1692336]

>>1692330
>>1692330
It's not that simple. You can't just go "Hey everyone, science is awesome!" and have the general public reply "By George, he's right!" Even someone as awesome as Sagan didn't seem to do much to advance the popularity of science in the scheme of things. Something that I think, and you'll all hate me for this, is that most people hate school. They despise it. And when they associate school with doing science, they begin to hate that too. Perhaps the trick isn't heaps of education. Perhaps the trick is making science something you do with your friends after school. Instead of joining a football team, you join a rocketry club. See where I'm getting at? If you can get people to associate science with positive memories it will do a lot more to advance it than anything else.

[Anonymous No.1692341]

>>1692306
That's because people are stupid. And they are sheep. Not only the average hipster at Starbucks who has been brainwashed by Apple's marketing into purchasing pseudo-technology in a shiny case, but also really important people in the government. We literally invest TRILLIONS of dollars into "national defense" nobody needs anyway while NASA doesn't even get 1% of all tax incomes. We are such an intelligent race with so much potential, why waste all our power on shooting each other and buying worthless shiny iPod shit? And it's not like life extension isn't in the interest of people, especially rich ones. I facepalm so hard when I see that projects like the Manhattan Beach project or SENS actually have fund-issues. Why do the super-rich people build ski-slopes amidst the desert? Why do we spend millions and millions of dollars every minute on war machinery if it would do so much more good for science? It's sad, really.

[Anonymous No.1692348]

>>1692341
Because people assume anything really awesome is too good to be true. It's really hard to strike the balance between "realistic" and worthwhile investing in.

[Anonymous No.1692354]

>>1692336
>give kids sodium
>tell them to throw it in the pond at the park
SCIENCE!

[Anonymous No.1692548]

epic

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692557]

>>1692336
>Something that I think, and you'll all hate me for this, is that most people hate school. They despise it. And when they associate school with doing science, they begin to hate that too.

Oh god this
This
I'm fucking serious this anon just said the most true statement on /sci/ in months

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692562]

>>1692341
5 star post right there fucker.

[Anonymous No.1692581]

>>1692354
YAY! BLIND KIDS!

[Anonymous No.1692606]

>>1692557

I fucking despise school work. Yet am in awe of science. What gives?

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692613]

>>1692606
The simple thing is school is not meant to enrich the mind, but create malleable workers with little specialization until they reach the higher levels of high school. No critical thinking, at least in the schools I've been in.

I've heard Finland have some strange schooling system that is working pretty well for them.

[Anonymous No.1692612]

>>1692114
Has OP been watching 'Visions of the Future'?

[Anonymous No.1692610]

>>1692341
i agree with you, but t the credit of defence spending, DARPA seems to be one of the most creative science research instiutions these days. It helps to have a goal such as saving soldiers lives. Hence the artificial blood project (~75% done from what I've read), the fly-sized recon aircraft, exoskeleton, and all the other shit I'm forgetting. The NSF is pouring billions into energy research, and I think good will come of it. check www.technologyreview.com regularly, they keep me updated on these things.

Mind you these do only represent a tiny fraction of national (US) spending. half the budget is interest payments on the debt and regular defense spending....soldiers, fuel for ships and planes, etc.

Well at least I try to live a humble life, avoid purchasing large amounts of useless shit. And study/work in science. I can say that if more people were like me...a hell of a lot more science would be getting done, and the world would be a better place. If you can say that too, kudos to you. Be the change you want to see in the world.

[sage No.1692616]

>>1692128

>You might have been born at just the right time, but you can't know until we get there.

simulation argument for the fucking win

[Anonymous No.1692658]

>will life extension take off and humans become immortal, or will we bomb ourselves back into the stone age?

Look at the world around you, which of these seems more likely? The only thing life extension is likely to do is give you a much higher chance of living to see this whole bitch burn to the ground.

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692665]

>>1692658
America =/= world

[Anonymous No.1692678]

>>1692665
I think you misspelled Jesusland.

[Anonymous No.1692690]

At least one person thinks that there is someone alive today who will live to be 200 years old, and he makes a good argument for it.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html

[Anonymous No.1692713]

>>1692690
I love this guy.

[Anonymous No.1692726]

>>1692341
Unfortunately you are correct. However, the winds are changing and we are on the midst of an explosion in research and technology as the world becomes more global and technologies cheaper. As the internet starts informing people, I'd be willing to bet scientists will start to be viewed to a higher standard and be more popular. As the world becomes more educated and the realization that we can defeat aging in the near future will begin dramatic investments into these information technology areas. There are also other cultures (more focused and valuing science) that are emerging such as China and Japan that have been experiencing ridiculous progress with strategic government funding to thrust research forward.

[Anonymous No.1692737]

>>1692690
Aubrey de grey for the motherfucking win.

He gives talks constantly to try and bring attention to aging and how we should focus on it. I think in a few years this idea will become common knowledge. Once humanity realizes it can defeat aging, everything will change. People won't want to die anymore, security will be ridiculous, and investments into regenerative medicine will skyrocket.

[Anonymous No.1692739]

>>1692713

He also has the most epic beard of all time.

[Anonymous No.1692740]

>>1692690
Science IS magic, and this guy is fucking Merlin.

[Inurdaes !lololSGJBw No.1692743]

>>1692713
>>1692690
>>1692737
Aubrey is fucking badass.

[Anonymous No.1692753]

>>1692740
and what is magic?

[Anonymous No.1692767]

>>1692753
Here's how I think about it. Magic is harnessing the universe's powers to do something extraordinary. 1000 years ago the technology we have today would be magic to them, and in a way it is. It's science that gives us the capability to do those extraordinary things, although it seems less extraordinary when you know how it works.

[Anonymous No.1692790]

>>1692767

>Here's how I think about it. Magic is harnessing the universe's powers to do something extraordinary. 1000 years ago the technology we have today would be magic to them, and in a way it is. It's science that gives us the capability to do those extraordinary things, although it seems less extraordinary when you know how it works.

c-.
long and convoluted

correct answer was
sufficiently advanced technology

[Anonymous No.1692959]

The problem with interest in science is decadence; losing interest in exploration and advancement in favor of excessive self indulgence. It's a societal condition characterized by the deterioration of a sense of adventure and risk taking; basically due to not having the need to do any of these things because life is already grand - everyone in the middle class already has the american dream.. so why bother with science? A major symptom of this, I think, is the first question that you will almost always be asked by the average person in the US when discussing your career choice: how much money will you make? Personally, I'm tired of being asked that question even though I'll end up making plenty; it's beside the point. I recommend reading the book "The Next 100 Years" by George Friedman to get a better idea of what I mean.

Ever wonder why eastern european countries tend to have more interest in science advancement? They grow up with hardships and see the need for improving the human condition. I see this over and over again in students that I meet at university.

To answer OP's question, though, I think cancer will be figured out in our lifetimes (people in their 20s) without a doubt. Although that will affect the statistics, it won't help the average individual to live longer unless the cure for cancer is a preventative one which would imply that scientists found a way to vastly improve DNA repair mechanisms. In the big scheme of life extension, cancer and genetic mutation are really only one small part of the puzzle, though. The real killers that will keep people dying around 75-100 years old are advanced glycation endproducts, which are responsible for or associated with skin senescence, arteriosclerosis, osteoperosis, diabetes, alzheimers, macular degeneration, muscular degeneration, arthritis... research on this really hasn't even begun and it's going to be as tough or tougher to figure out than cancer.

[Anonymous No.1692991]

>>1692737
Why would anyone want this? Even if you're scared of death, which most are not, you have to realize that it's harmful to so keep your ass around past your expiration date.

[Anonymous No.1693002]

>>1692991