Immortality?

[Matt-EUC]

So, I've been doing some research* and apparently, life expectancy has been increasing by an average of 7 hours per day since 1840.

In theory, if this were to continue and/or accelerate, we may potentially be capable of living indefinitely.

People always die of something. It is also plausible to suggest that we will have a limit on life span, that at some stage we will eventually just fall over dead. Essentially dying of being dead.

People say that you can die of old age, but it's not really the case though, is it? Accumulation of various illnesses, injuries and bits of you not working anymore due to things like poor diet, smoking, drinking and other lifestyle choices.



What I wanted to ask was, do you think it's possible for us to live indefinitely? If so, would you really want to?
















*Was mentioned on Brian Cox's podcast so I read a Wikipedia thing.

[Alexander94]

I heard that mammals have a set number of heart beats to last their lifetime and it's the same number (to within a few thousand or something) across the whole spectrum of mammals so in theory we can live considerably longer if we use fewer heartbeats

[Matt-EUC]

That strikes me as probably not true. The heart is a muscle and generally, the more you use your muscles, the stronger they get.

[littleoldman2]

That strikes me as probably not true. The heart is a muscle and generally, the more you use your muscles, the stronger they get.

Therefore more blood per beat so the slower the beat and the longer you live, assuming a "set" number of beats.

[carelesschucca]

Is this what your talking about when your talking heartbeat and lifespan? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate-of-living_theory)

[embee]

There was some discussion on the radio a few weeks back and a very reputable academic pointed out that the statistics used for some of this have been misleading in that the infant deaths have been included. Particularly before the 20th century, many infants died before the age of 2. If you add up all the people born and add up all the ages when they die, divide one by the other you get an average life span. However if you discount the infant deaths, the average age at death increases substantially.
Having said that, yes we are generally living longer, we're not dying of some of the things we did die of until quite recently. I'm sure cancer rates will increase, we'll all tend to live long enough to develop it.
It's also worth remembering that all the elderly folk who are living to 85-90 now were born and grew up in the 1920-30s. Folk born recently will have a much better chance of living until they die of old age rather than of something else, but that doesn't necessarily increase the practical lifespan of a human being, just that more people get closer to that age so the average lifespan increases statistically.
I dare say the practical lifespan of a human will probably gradually rise, but I'm sure we'll see the increase in life expectancy will begin to level off around 100-105 unless some genetic engineering comes up with a way to reduce the deterioration in cell reproduction as you age.

[Fordward]

I'd like to die before my health is seriously depleted. But not too far before. If I've got to 85, I've spent some time with my grandkids, and had 20 years of comfortable retirement I'll be happy. If I get to 90 and I'm still fit and enjoying life then that's a bonus.

If I have to live with constant pain, or my son is having to wipe my **** and feed me, then I'll be getting a flight to Switzerland for a bye bye injection.

If I get to that age, and I wake one morning and my wife has gone, I'll be going to the kitchen for a big bottle of parcetamol, and getting back into bed beside her for a last cuddle.

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[carelesschucca]

Forward, if we all start saving a little each we could get you to Switzerland in the next couple of years. How's that for a deal??? As I'm doing you a favour can you write me in your will for a Tiger?

[Specialone]

He could ride there and we'll ship his bike back?

[Fordward]

Bugger off both of you.

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[MattCollins]

Extinction through our own doing is a more likely scenario.

[Shawthing]

The Hayflick limit on human cell replication means, as we currently are,( genetically) death due to the failure of function of the body is inevitable.

[Matt-EUC]

The Hayflick limit on human cell replication means, as we currently are,( genetically) death due to the failure of function of the body is inevitable.


This is a hypothetical scenario, don't you go ruining it with facts and realism!

[ophic]

That strikes me as probably not true. The heart is a muscle and generally, the more you use your muscles, the stronger they get.
Doesn't always apply to the heart. It never gets to rest. The problems with high blood pressure are mainly that it has to work harder. It can pack up early. Sometimes it can grow (like muscles do when working hard) and that in itself is a problem as it doesn't have a lot of room and there's a lot of plumbing in there.

[Shawthing]

This is a hypothetical scenario, don't you go ruining it with facts and realism!


I did say 'as we currently are' !

Likelyhood is that at some point there will be a big step in longevity when someone eventually geneticaly modifies two humans with Ocean Quahog or Turitopsis Dohrnii genes.

[Red Herring]

All good things have to come to an end, why should life be any different? All we can do is influence how and when that happens.

Me, I'm going to go aged 105 having been knocked off my classic 2015 Ducati by my 25 year old lovers jealous boyfriend.....

[ClunkintheUK]

As has been mentioned, "Life expectancy" is a funny statistic to calculate because there are so many factors. Do you include infant mortality, which is minute in comparison to even 70 years ago? Life expectancy plummeted in the late 1910's for the population as a whole, but was unchanged for women or men over 35 or under 12.

I understand that Life expectancy at 12 years old for non manual labourers (thus removing infant mortality and industrial accidents/effects of being a coal miner) is by and large unchanged for several hundred years. Living to 80 or even 100 years old was not that uncommon amongst the wealthier middle classes and upper class in Victorian England, where they had access to similar nutrition, warmth and probably better exercise to that enjoyed by the majority today. Really we are getting better at removing the causes of early death rather than extending life beyond what it was 200-300 years ago.

[Matt-EUC]

But maybe getting old is a cause of early death? There could be something about us that makes us get old and decrepit that can be altered.

Ever seen the film "In Time" with Justin Timberlake?