“That’d be pretty cool, actually. But if everyone lives forever...”
“That’s why we’ve got to figure this stuff out now, instead of just waiting to see what happens.”
Well, to be fair, everyone living forever while staying on Earth has some predictably bad consequences. But we’ve brought up Earth’s carrying capacity plenty of times before, and there are plausible ways that we could do it again. It’s an issue we’re probably going to have to address regardless.
It’s easier to get people to agree that we need to be thinking ahead and actively planning for transformative technologies, than it is to get them to agree that immortality is possible or desirable. But once they’ve agreed it is important to take these ideas seriously, then they will listen to much crazier sounding ideas, since they’ve starting thinking of themselves as people who Take Crazy-Sounding Ideas Seriously.
Well, to be fair, everyone living forever while staying on Earth has some predictably bad consequences. But we’ve brought up Earth’s carrying capacity plenty of times before, and there are plausible ways that we could do it again. It’s an issue we’re probably going to have to address regardless.
That’s my point.
It’s easier to get people to agree that we need to be thinking ahead and actively planning for transformative technologies, than it is to get them to agree that immortality is possible or desirable. But once they’ve agreed it is important to take these ideas seriously, then they will listen to much crazier sounding ideas, since they’ve starting thinking of themselves as people who Take Crazy-Sounding Ideas Seriously.