I'm always amused by the "but people will get bored" argument. Ask someone nearing the end of their life how many stringed musical instruments they've completely mastered. I'm betting it will be a small number. Ask that same person how many mountains they've climbed, how many languages they're fluent in, how many countries they've lived in to the point that they know its culture like the back of their hand, etc. There is a massive amount of stuff to do on just this planet. If I live to be a thousand years old, I'm pretty sure I'll also get to add all the things there are to do on other planets.
If you ever get bored, sleep for about 100 years and the universe will seem like new again. And no matter what you do you can never do everything. A 100 billion galaxies with 100 billon stars, that can be observed, that's a lot to explore. It would take so long to explore one galaxy that by the time you finish visiting all the planets, new stars and plants would have formed. Plus wont you want to see how the universe ends, or if you can traverse the multiverse if the theory is correct.
You assume much in your argument. You assume that you will have longer life as well as freedom of action. Perhaps this would be the cease post scarcity, but I cannot even imagine such a culture.
@@paulchretien4995 The world has statistically never been better, there's no reason I'm aware of to think technology is going to stop advancing, and post-scarcity will indeed be possible through (among other things) automation and molecular assemblers.
Dude I keep watching your videos and just can't help but think - where the hell are all the people? You've been here on TH-cam for a long time now and your videos keep getting better and better and yet you don't have millions of subscribers. This is ridiculous! No doubts, this is the most underrated channel on TH-cam nowadays. Hope you will not lose the motivation and won't stop releasing the videos.
I think people who watch these videos are statistically more intellectual and interested in science. And a lot of people are "interested" in science, but not *that* interested if you know what I mean.
Ayone who doesn't actually LOVE these subjects will reject these long videos and opt more for the sci show type channels that are bite sized 3 or 4 minutes long. Most people couldn't even comprehend the basics in these videos that we take for granted. Really, just ask random people in Walmart what they think a ribosome is or how many chromosomes a human typically has.
@@Kyle496 That is probably the reason, but it also means, that videos like these get less promotion, so even people interested in this kind of stuff often discover channels like this by accident. (Look into comments for evidence of this. There is at least one person for every video.) All the more reason to share, like, comment, watch till the end/multiple times to help promote Isaac's videos in the YT algorithms. I personally watch it multiple times anyway, because there is so much to digest and there is so much googling for related information and such.
@@dronillon2578 I don't disagree at all about sharing and thr YT algorithm. It really is quite shameful that it is so hard to find these types of channels even if you go looking for them. I'd share them myself if I had friends Q.Q
I think the average TH-cam watcher doesn't want to think as Mr Arthur's videos tend to provoke. They just want to watch car crashes and videos about the top ten top ten lists of top ten things.
I never got the resistance to anti-aging research. Why would you not want to have years and years to do what you want instead of slaving for 40 years to become senile the last 20 years of your life? Once I have more financial freedom from debt I really would like to help fund these sciences!
Who knows. To me anti-aging (and medical advances in general) are some of the best possible research priorities. We can go to Mars and shit later; when we can all live long enough to see and enjoy such a proposition as traveling the galaxy. Right now, the saying "life sucks, and then you die," is all too true. Even managing your finances pretty well and obtaining an above average paying job won't give you enough time and youth to really do the things you want in life. Especially if they involve frequent travel and what not. Everything is just too expensive for most people to obtain in a given lifespan. Unless you were born silver-spooned or inherited/lucked your way into major dough.
@@Practicality01 oh boy seeing this comment at the end of 2021 hurts because it’s even more true now that trillions more are in circulation with cantillion effect compounding
Yeah, first good animation of ATP Synthase I've seen . . . I'm not "trained" or anything, but I'm guessing that's one of the animations you're talking about . . . .
As someone who was diagnosed with a Grade IV Glioblastoma precisely one year ago, yesterday, my opinion on life extension is simply this. I hope we can make some dramatic strides, particularly in the field of oncology, before this thing kills me. I, for one, wanna live to see some rotating habitats built. :D Seriously though there does need to be equal focus on quality of life. Already the brain tumor I have has damaged several motor pathways which restrict my mobility in a manner similar to a stroke. I'm typing all this with one hand, for example. Excellent video as always, Isaac.
Plenty of nut cases on TH-cam, but, if your open look up Autophagy, Fasting, and ultra low carb high fat diets. start with ted talks. in addition to what you are doing there may be more you can do. I wish you are free from suffering and are as happy as possible.
I'm so sorry to hear that man. No one deserves to die, and it's all the worse that you know that treatment is potentially years aways. Consider signing up for cryonics, at least if you feel you won't make it through the next 5 years. With insurance, it's cheap, and probably your best bet to seeing the next century. I wish you well either way.
I am so sorry that you are having to experience this. My mother fought grade 3 Astrocytoma for a year; it's a hard road. Sadly, we lost, but I hope you don't. One day, decades from now, I'd like to be on a train (or a transport ship to Mars) and see a passenger with a messenger bag showing an SFIA logo and embroidered with your name. As they used to say in the 70s, keep on keeping on. P.S. Please look into clinical trials. The viral introduction trials (polio trials) have some great outcomes. Also, as adjutant therapy, consider the anti-angiogenic diet.
Let's pool all of humanity's resources and minds into curing aging, not to extend the average lifespan or eliminate diseases, but just so we can make Issac Arthur immortal so he never has to stop making SFIA videos.
"All medicine is life extension." Yes. Just over a year ago, I contracted a still unexplained illness that ripped the myelin off of my lumbar spine. I lost 95%+ of the feeling below my waist. After treatment and therapy, I have 80%+ back, with full recovery expected in time. Now, I work hard at exercise and activity, and I eat a very healthy diet. I feel great, look a decade younger than my age, and am happy. I think we can all choose to extend both the duration and quality of our lives, and I see no downside to trying.
That's so inspiring! I am sorry you had to deal with such an experience though. As a 29 year old, may you love long enough and rejuvenate to be as youthful as I am, if not better! 😊
Just found your channel while reading a comment under Tom Scott's video, and i'm surprised that why TH-cam didn't recommend it earlier. Such a great content you're making mate.
I think I saw it, I went through quite a lot of their vids while writing this and of course they helped edit it, but time constraints required each section be kept brief. The eternal dilemma here at SFIA, we get to go into much more detail than most channels can, but it's never really enough.
Thank you for pointing out how many people sadly suffer to death everyday. It's disgusting how some people defend ineffective medicine for the elderly, but I'm glad to see you are better than that. :)
I have to ask - how on Earth does one migrate that function into the nucleus? Or even greater interest to me personally, could this be done in vivo to an adult human? The value of doing so is clear, but the mechanism is a mystery to me. I've had the pleasure of meeting Aubrey several times, and while I'm most definitely a fan of SENS and its goals, this particular aspect has always struck me as the most radical.
Seriously, 'you will get bored' is such a bullshit excuse. EVEN if we accept that yes, eventually we would get tired of living, deeming we have seen/read/experienced enough of life, that still means we will leave by our own choice at the time we chose. No way that doesnt beat dying from natural causes when we dont want to. You feel its unethical to live more than 110 years? Then take the meds to be young and healthy until that point then go skydive without a parachute or some other 'exciting' way to end life. Its not like we will all be forced at gunpoint to stay alive or something. And as we extend life and some did get bored, the attitude about suicide would change. No longer a sad 'he had so much left to live for' but a bittersweet 'he is gone, but he was happy with his life', so no stigma about killing yourself.
This! This is exactly what I always tell if someone brings the argument of boredom. Every time someone says that we are not meant to live forever, I reply that you are not forced to. But why deny that right to the other human beings?
The idea of people not wanting to live longer while being younger has puzzled me. Life Extension technology always made SENSe to me... eh. Having been reading through the Honor Harrington series, Prolong that would allow us to live for two to three centuries would be very appealing. It is interesting how that series portrays a society with such old/young people and how things would be. A fantastic episode as always, the animations used in this episode in particular were extraordinarily good.
Ben Luckett: So you think it's like Bernie said? We're cheating nature? Mary Luckett: Yes. Ben Luckett: Well I'll tell ya, with the way nature's been cheating us, I don't mind cheating her a little. - Coccon
Aging is literally a disease (it has all the features of one), I wonder why so many people refuse to accept this, even medicine scientists are changing their opinions on aging as a disease.
@@martiddy And even without thinking of it as a 'disease,' that no less makes it a treatable condition. A broken arm isn't a disease, but it *is* damage, and we don't hesitate to do something about it...
If the number one goal of life is to continue and expand its existence, Not getting rid of death is literally betraying nature itself. This is not a game I am willing to lose and I want that high score :) #NoGameOver - Infinite continues for all!
Just imagine if we diverted some of our huge military budget to research like this. How many lives could saved with another 100 billion or so invested in life extension research.
I agree with you completely, but Aubrey de Grey thinks all SENS Research Foundation needs is another digit added to their current budget to bring rejuvenation therapies online 10 years faster.
@@MeanBeanComedy Nope, his 2036 prediction is based on the research being well-funded soon, so 2026 is unlikely for the whole suite of rejuvenation therapies, but we may have senolytics and something for Parkinson's by 2026. It's all about buying time, so even people currently in old age may take advantage of near-term therapies, so that they can then benefit from other, newer, more robust therapies later on. I recommend reading the Life Extension Research Foundation's Rejuvenation Roadmap to learn about how close different rejuvenation therapies are from going into clinical trials: www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/
If I had the chance to stay at the physical equivalent of the age of 25, I'd definitely take advantage of it. I put some pretty serious mileage on my body, enough to make life suck at 44. Nobody thinks about the damage they're doing to their bodies when they're younger. Granted, neither did I. Hopefully, there will be some significant breakthroughs in the field of age regression soon.
I suspect that maybe 30 would be a better age. Runners don't peak until they are 30. Also, I've taught quite large, muscular guys (I'm a driving instructor), usually in their teens, but sometimes in their early 20s, who have had trouble getting the parking brake (handbrake) off, when I've put it on tightly, on a hill. I'm only 5',6", and don't have large muscles, but I am over 30. I It seems that there is some development over that period of time. However, re your third sentence; I would like to be able to go back in time and to slap myself and tell myself to think about what's going to happen if I am dumb enough to run up a long, steep hill, with an 11 stone person on my back, a few months after having a knee operation, or try to hang on to the outside of a car as it goes round a bend without slowing down, or... well, you get the idea!
@@pineapplepenumbra So if I've read that right are you saying you've had students that struggled to take the handbrake off because they didn't have the strength to? Are you sure it wasn't just because they're weren't applying upward force while pressing in the button? Seems like plausible for people who haven't driven a car before or for very long at least.
"In this case, life extension is not something in the far future, or even in the future at all - it's just an extension into the next frontier of things we've successfully been doing for quite some time." One of the best lines I've ever heard regarding anything. Thank you for putting it perfectly. :)
I’m so glad you did an episode on this. The end of aging is the number one thing I’m looking forward to in my lifetime. There’s so much in this universe I want to see and one lifetime is just not enough.
I've watched and taken care of several of my family members die from many of the specific topics discussed here. My father died at 62 from cancer after a painful 5 years of surgery and treatment. I can only hope these things can be tackled in my lifetime. Thanks again for another great episode.
I'm truly sorry for your loss. These rejuvenation therapies could arrive in 20 years, but let's spread the word as much as we can to make 20 years into even less. :)
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that dramatic life extension does turn out to be impossible. Like Isaac says, won't we feel better knowing we gave it our best shot, that we didn't just give up before we knew whether it could be done or not? But there's something else, too: in trying to reach that indefinite life span, we WILL make discoveries, whether the practical immortality is possible or not. If all our efforts achieved were curing one type of cancer, ending diabetes, and curing Alzheimer's (even if it were only when caught early), well then wouldn't it have been worth it? There's a saying: shoot for the moon and you should at least hit high ground. And you know, we DID get to the moon, long ago.
Support for rejuvenation biotechnology has never been better! Thank you, Isaac Arthur for playing your part in advocacy - it's safe to say it's greatly appreciated by Reason, Aubrey de Grey, LEAF, and everyone else who wants effective medicine for the elderly. For people who are new to this field, it's important to remember that this isn't "immortality medicine". These rejuvenation therapies will lead to indefinite lifespans, but that will only be possible as a side benefit of staying healthy.
I took some biochemistry when I was in university. I found it to be ridiculously complex, more than anything else I was taking. And it was obvious that there was a lot that was being passed over. Advances seemed to be almost random, some event in one part leads to success which leads to more research in it. It is almost like solving a crime, you dont solve the case unless you get the "break", and biochemistry doesnt go down a research line unless that line got a "break" early on that produced success. But I do know one thing, for those that have a talent in biochemistry, and do well at it, my hat is off to you, you are doing something I know I could never do.
Humans are complex and fragile. A life well lived comes before 'long-life' for me. However, living longer with less illness is something to strive for, but we are far more fortunate than some of the ordinary folks who lived before us with short, brutish lives. The most significant contributing factors in the last century were public-health interventions such as clean water and sanitation.
Why more eyes will help us with finding a break I think. We need more talents in the field. And more research that might not go anyway, might also find a breakthrough that will take us to the next level. But I also support efforts that try to model these complex systems more. And we have done quite a bit on that front in resent years. From distributed computing to getting actual eyes to look at these problems with citizen scientist competing to solve protean folding problems. Quantum computing offers us new ways to explore these problems to. As well as machine learning. There is still a lot to do. Biological systems are extremely complex machinery after all. I think a larger part of what we do need to do is work on developing better methodologies that do not lead us down the wrong path. Medical science sadly is a bit prone to errors due to how is funded and how we validate positive results more then negative results. But each year we still advance. It is not like we are still stuck with theory of Miasma and the theory of Humorism after all.
I wholeheartedly agree! My ex was doing her PhD work in molecular biology, and what she was dealing with was as overwhelming as it was fascinating. Even when you zoom in and focus on one very narrow aspect, biological systems are staggeringly complex. I loved talking about her work, but it was definitely a humbling experience.
I'm with you man, never understood people who say they don't want to live forever. I could find plenty of things to do with myself. And even if I'm wrong and immortality turns out to be some kind of existential torture, I'd still like to take it for a spin for a couple centuries to find out for myself.
I think the tales of vampires living for centuries, but are bored and wanting to die is likely a source of this fatalistic mentality, missing the point, that is the vampire is existing ALONE for that time, entirely.
Yes, I suppose it depends on the author but I've always interpreted it as living as a parasite and time-thief that caused the angst. I'd imagine a shepherd who had no one but his flock for company and sustenance both would get fairly bleak too, and of course shepherds aren't usually portrayed as particularly cheerful folks.
There are some personalities that you would be very bad to exist forever. Depression, psychotic, incapable of empathy are just a few examples. If we want to increase age. We must first understand the mind and what makes us human to begin with. Why increase individuals that will just be undesirable in the long term? We as a species must reflect on ourselves instead of just making everyone live for obscene life spans. So many intelligent people demean god and a higher power and ask questions like "if God exists why would God make us live in such a horrible exsistence." People ask this kind of question without ever asking if we as a species even deserve heaven? A utopia?
Regarding a perception of a horrible existence, that perception is a behavior trap, at least for those who aren't living with depression. I can't allow that attitude in my own life ( I am a cancer patient / survivor) . Unless you are dealing with clinical depression, it is a choice!
@@TheTyrial86 Who or what should be the judge of that? It's not so much 'if God exists,' but 'if God is merciful.' Our mythologies are full of deities that don't even pretend to be nice. It sounds like; 'We don't deserve a Utopia/Heaven, until we've already become 'good enough' (whatever that may be) to make one anyway?' I'm reminded of the flip-side of the 'Prime Directive' policy, when you finally reveal yourselves; "You watched us make a mess for centuries, you saw us suffer, you *could* have helped us, and you chose *not* to??" Possibly followed by a rousing 'GTFO,' or in a theological context, converting to another (or no) belief...
@Jeffrey. I agree. We don't need to be a victim of our own feelings and thoughts. They are ours to control and rule over. So use that power to make you the best you possible. @Dragoon. Yes. Being alone for centuries is something that would be an issue. But won't be a problem in the future when everyone get older without aging. Plenty of company. @Tyrial. To attain longevity, aside from the body functions we need to maintain our emotions and thoughts as well. It's good to see people addressing these possible issues.
I currently work in programming machine learning / AI. In a few years, I intend to switch to nanotech in an effort to extend my own and everyone else's lives.
Please stick to AI. You could create AI that could create better AI (and so on) that would eventually be able to create the necessary nanotech to keep us alive.
@@eviegas73 As well as predicting which potential therapies have a high probability of success, and which don't - which may save a lot of time and money.
One of the first things to ask of an super intelligent AI is - can you solve aging? Making sure to explain that killing everything that ages if not a valid solution.
@@eviegas73 AI hasn't seen the last of me yet. Will maybe do something in medicine before I get into the sort of components of nanotech. Right now I'm in quantitative finance. We'll see.
I've been following Aubrey De Grey and others for years, and you have explained things in a half hour SO MUCH BETTER than any other source I have seen. Again - very nice work!
For the bored argument, I feel like it would take me a very long time. I'd rather have an indefinite lifespan w/ a guaranteed and painless suicide option available, than march toward a death I'm not sure I'll be ready for...there's so much I want to do, not to mention I want to see if we manage to figure out interstellar travel at some point...want to see how far tech can go, anyway. At least I'd like know my death isn't going to be prolonged suffering from disease.
That quote has always bothered me. Powerhouse - something that is powerful. Power plant - something that produces power. They're the power plants, not the "powerhouse". Where is this even originally from? I heard it so many times but never found out what the original source is.
Learning this stuff scratches an itch in my psyche that I wish I knew about earlier. Thanks for the well researched (as usual) video Arthur. Currently working on switching careers into this field to add more brainpower to this endeavor.
He's growing exponentially, when I initially found him he had about 200k subs and I didn't know anyone else who knew him, nowadays almost every discord server im in has a few people that know him
Only your 300th? why not make the invitation every centennial? (every hundred years) I'm sure even with that kinda schedule he'd have a chance to visit as least a good chunk of his current subscribers, if we don't visit him first for his hundredth birthday
My daughter has been interviewed a few times on youtube for her fiction writing. A couple months ago during a 'recent developements' topic she quoted a study that posed, 'those born prior to the 70's will die at today's average age. But those born in or just after the 70's will have access to much longer life spans. Mostly due to stuff that is coming online now, such as 3D printed fully compatible replacement organs.' She was born in 79'... Half of my friends are passed or disabled. I'm 64 soon and live by the 'act 14 whenever I can' theory. I'll take every year I can get. Bring on the nanos!
Radical life extension will utterly destroy modern society. This is fine. Most of our society is based on getting stuff done before we die. Defeat of death will lead to a radical restructuring of society -- and probably interest rates.
I'm not so sure - about the interest rates that is, we discussed a lot of the societal impact back int he Life extension episode - I had assumed it would make interest rates plummet to just a hair over inflation but I've talked with some more futurist-minded economics types in more recent times who seem to feel confident it would not really impact rates all that much, as they're more based on what else you could be doing with that money, both the principal lent and the funds being spent on the payments to principal and interest, than actual lifetimes. I wish I remembered the entire arguments - they were pretty parallel in most cases though not identical - but I mostly remember them as quite compelling.
I was subscribed when you had a few thousand subs and I gotta say, your'e animations and content over all has come a long way since then. Also, thanks for not diluting the content or breaking it down into smaller videos for views. Most youtubers wouldnt think twice about dumbing down their videos for views.
This is the most amazing channel ever created. Thank you, Isaac, for making these videos! You are doing a great service to humanity. I intend to implement your lessons.
I've never understood the whole "But is it morale" question when it comes to life extension. If you have the technology then denying the treatment means you are literally sentencing someone to death. It is no different than antibiotics or other treatments, if you don't get it you die.
Definitely refreshing after ever so many journalists who take the sensationalistic approach that risks slowing down progress for the sake of increased viewership.
I think the single greatest benefit of anti-aging treatments is that rich folks will think on longer timelines. If you're a billionaire and you can be expected to live three hundred years you won't be investing in war and famine. You'll be way more likely to try to improve the world of the future, as you're more likely to see it yourself.
It's probably best for your mental health to assume it isn't going to happen in our lifetime. I think it'd be a better choice to live your life as much as you can now assuming it'll end in our current life expectancy than to assume we'll still be around in the 2400s and you end up living an unfulfilling life assuming we'll have plenty more time when we might not.
You'll live to see the treatment developed, but it'll be too late for you. Your health will be too far gone. You're doomed to be the last person on Earth to die of old age, withering away into a shriveled husk, while everyone around you grows younger and healthier. Beautiful, elf-like youths will point at you and cover their mouths in horror as you painfully trudge the last, long miles to your waiting grave.
My favorite response when discussing biological immortality(I'm for it) and asked what I consider the inane question, do you really want to live forever? Do you really want to be dead?
I think the concept of the Uncanny Valley also plays a role here. The notion that a mix of two states not definetely assignable to both of them creates discomfort in people. I mean, on the one hand you have the "true biological" human as it evolved in nature and on the other hand a hypothetical, truly immortal being, but the image of a human requiring severe medical assistance to live indefinetely is unpleasant and feels .. weak somehow. I am writing this to try and explain the seemingly irrational fear and aversion that people display when confronted with this topic, including myself. Yes, we at the optimum age of around 25 are beautifully functioning biological machines, and yes, in the far future life extension over centuries may be so elegant and easy to be hardly undesirable. But to get to the other side of indefinite life you have to pass the ugly transition state that lies in the uncanny valley, and I think this is what scares away most people nowertimes; picturing themselves hooked up to countless tubes and medical machines, weak, dependant on the competence of foregineers and the results of yet hardly tested research. A cat can look beautiful and a human can look beautiful, but the transition CGI mix of these two looks horrendous.
If would something if we can refuse to slow down the age so that ever 7 years a person age 1, but one problem that I see is people like me with a disease.. I have Parkinson, if it gets to the point where I cannot walk, remember who I.m or in bed 24/7 I do not want to live, I will end my life on my terms not a disease term.. I do not know if I want to live with it for another 50 or 70 years Any thing that will reduce aging will have to cure or slow down diseases as well
This was an amazing story and deserves more views! I will share with all my friends and family. Curing aging is a noble goal and one of the most important challenges for our civilization. I can only imagine how exciting it would be to live in a future where our population is the trillions or beyond and we are spanning multiple solar systems and giant rotating space habitats. Your channel is my favorite of all on TH-cam. Thank you!
I'm spreading the word to everyone who'll listen. Rejuvenation biotechnology is too important to be in the background while most people whine about more trivial problems.
Thanks, reloading now, usually takes about half an hour though the automatic ones are still up there, and usually don't mangle too many words these days
cool as always ! Castration can extend life ? How/why on earth is there even enough data, on that particular subject, to say either way, in the 1st place ? I pass on being a part of that study.
We had a large labrador (6.5 stone) who developed testicular cancer, and had to have his testes removed. He lived to be 14, which is quite a good age for a large dog. There may well be research on non human subjects, as well as records on the lives of Castratos: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato A few years ago I remember hearing a very old recording of the last one alive, it was somewhat creepy.
Odd, every bull we have, that we castrated young, died well under the age of three*. On the other hand, our uncastrated bull tends to survive quite a bit longer, and the cows longer still. *of "natural causes", if you remember that eating beef is perfectly natural, even if raising it for slaughter is highly artificial.
also men age(lose) one year extra for every 10 year or so they are with a woman.... heh, there were some studies done comparing male monks(no women) to normal males and that was the major difference women lol
nah thats a misleading stat "bachelor" including divorcee', men who want women but can't get them and men who are happier being single, when comparing men who are happier being single to married men, single men live longer then .
Yes! It's out! This is something I've been interested in for a long time. Out of all the technologies we've ever invented... this one will probably be the best. Thanks the video!
I think calorie restriction works better in shorter lived animals, and even then, it still doesn't lead to indefinite healthy lifespans like rejuvenation therapies will.
@@isaacarthurSFIA Oh, for sure, even scifi from 50 years ago didn't anticipate the tech we've got now, and made some now amusing assumptions on what we would use, that being said, a more optimistic belief system with an enthusiasm for science sounds good, so long as part of the core of it is fairly pragmatic on encouraging actual science rather than the pseudo science and woo magic people try to con others with today, some mix of critical thinking, good will, honesty, and some sarcasm/humor tossed in to keep nonsense in check
Watching this on the eve of my 30th birthday. Fingers crossed I get to experience some of these in the near future. Getting older isn't so scary when I have inspiring videos like this to experience.
I'd like to spend a hundred years exploring Italy on foot. I'm not sure why I'd pick that country in particular-I've never even been there-but I know I'd need at least one spare century to do it prproperly. I'd poke my nose in every archaeological cranny, read every inscription, and flirt-at the very least-with every woman (except where inappropriate or prohibited by law). I've never understood the boredom argument either.
Thanks Isaac. Through the what must be years now you continually bring a smile to my face and give me hope for the future. There is so much good in humanity and though scientific analysis you bring it out. Until next time, thanks for creating and have a great week :)
There's another side of the debate on aging that's often missing. So you think its unethical for x,y or z reasons? What are you proposing we do? Stop research into healthcare? Legally ban certain treatments that saves lives? How ethical do you suppose that is?
Critics of rejuvenation biotechnology tend to not even know the name of the field they're trying to criticize (they call it "immortality research" and other such bullshit). Like Aubrey says, a tipping point is quickly approaching where it'll be more risky for experts to dismiss rejuvenation than it will be to acknowledge aging as a target for medical intervention.
I'm not against senescence research. (I'm sure I'd appreciate breakthroughs in any of the seven areas.) But I do think the optimism of SENS advocates is misplaced. Humans already live longer than our size/mass/heart-rate would suggest, compared to all other mammals. (Around twice as long as we should, iignoring modern sanitation and antibiotics, three times including it.) That implies that our recent evolution has already plucked the low-hanging fruit of life extension. Which in turn implies that every new gain will be much more complex than extending the lives of other mammals. Example, GlycoSENS: You mentioned rats having a simpler sugar in their intercellular matrix than humans. I suspect that it will turn out that this complexity in humans is part of what is already necessary to keep our ICM healthy for as long as it does. Simply disrupting it, which might work with mice/rats, will likely cause complex side-effects in humans. That's been the pattern with big breakthroughs in animal SENS research that have turned out to either not work in humans (we already do it naturally) or disrupted some other biochemical mechanism that doesn't exist in other mammals. Life is an ugly/elegant interdependent kludge of hacked together code. Human ageing is the result of taking that hacked code and optimising it to extreme limits. Tinkering with that to gain further improvements is going to be much, much harder than advocates expect.
I remember when I was a kid reading an old non-fiction by Isaac Asimov where he charted the number of heartbeats in average of maximum lifespans by critter and that humans were in first place by a long margin, and it always struck me as probably related to our achievements and mostly in a casual way, influenced a lot of my thinking on the Fermi Paradox toward my usual stance: "Rare Earth is probably really Rare Intelligence & Technology" Anyway, yes evolution has grabbed a lot of the low-hanging fruit, but the nature of evolution is such that there will be some low hanging fruit we can't get through it, as an example some additional additional appendages that cold act as a tweezer, a sharp stick or wedge, or a carrying pouch would be very handy, but there'd be nearly no odds of us evolving those. Things don't mutate to a purpose, they survive if they serve one, so evolving a pouch that could serve as a backpack or purse, both incredibly simple and useful, would be low-hanging fruit that we still wouldn't see plucked naturally. Such things, as you say, can be very disruptive too, carrying stuff around is a byproduct of having hands and causes most of our back and joint problems, and would be way worse if we had some pouch on us, which would also likely be a cesspool for bacteria. So I don't doubt that a lot of the tricks we find in nature for many of the aging problems will be ineffective or harder for us to use on ourselves, but I don't think most will turn out to be particularly tricky to adapt or otherwise solve either. Sometimes all that kludge makes even a simple improvement impossible, but often there are very easy ones and we notice this less in artificial things like code because they were made by thinking people in the first place, who tended to notice those solutions as they went, evolution doesn't get that option, solutions only happen by accident and often good traits do not persist,a beneficial mutation to a parasite that make its symbiotic and helpful might get axed by our immune system simply because it was now more visible or less resistant to it.
You can always replace a hack with well-written code. Nano engineering may be new to us but it's still just engineering. There is no reason to assume evolution has already done everything that is easy. Indeed, evolution can only try things that happen to be simple mutations. Likely all of the ideas presented here are impossible to create using any mutation to human DNA. That has no relation to how hard or easy it would be for us to create such technologies completely outside of genetics.
I may not have much experties as a coder or any as a geneticist, but given our DNA is a mess of random changes that are mostly useful, and a decent amount of junk code, given some time and effort there is room for a lot of improvement by optimizing the good stuff, cutting the bad, and as Isaac alluded to adding useful stuff that couldn't evolve naturally or at least didn't do so in humans could very well leave us nearly biologically immortal, and even if we hit a limit on the biological side I'm more than ready to accept cybernetics as a solution too, all we really need right now is a decent mins machine interface and compact low power hardware/software that can make sense of the data, which... amusingly might require some eveolving AI based software that "learns" how our spicific brain works and lets it get continually better at understanding our minds up to the limits of the hardware. ...and yes, I deffinitly went off on a bit of a tangent, long story short I want to live long enough to see much of what Isaac talks about on here built, and I believe it is reasonably possible for that to happen within my lifetime to push said lifetime beyond it's current limits.
(I'm sure I'd appreciate breakthroughs in any of the seven areas.) Very much agreed! That said, there is another implication of the fact that we live twice or three times as long as our heart rate would suggest for typical mammals: Most medical advances are tested first on animal models. There simply won't _be_ a good test animal model of human aging.
:) Quite large I imagine. To be honest I'm always a little impressed with anyone who can commit to a truly long beard, I tend to wear the short goatee most of the time because I get irritated and shave it off every couple months, I actually just did again yesterday since I knew it would have time to grow back before I next was on camera.
I've got a beard, much less impressive than Aubreys and I can tell you it's a commitment. I've gotten used to it but there are times I fantasise of just getting a razor and hacking the thing off my face. But then I remember it'd take me years to grow it back and I hesitate lol.
Can we revisit this topic with the latest research?? Anyone else in here? Thanks and love all the content, have seen every episode. Thanks for what you do!
Thank you Isaac for another superb video, learned quite a bit today. While it's too late for me, maybe my kids and grandchildren will be able to see these visions become reality. Have a great day good sir!
Good to see somebody who cares about others, but why do you think you won't make it? I hope you do make the cut, and also, cryonics is legitimate: EvidenceBasedCryonics.org and Alcor.org
I'm always amused by the "but people will get bored" argument. Ask someone nearing the end of their life how many stringed musical instruments they've completely mastered. I'm betting it will be a small number. Ask that same person how many mountains they've climbed, how many languages they're fluent in, how many countries they've lived in to the point that they know its culture like the back of their hand, etc. There is a massive amount of stuff to do on just this planet. If I live to be a thousand years old, I'm pretty sure I'll also get to add all the things there are to do on other planets.
If you ever get bored, sleep for about 100 years and the universe will seem like new again. And no matter what you do you can never do everything. A 100 billion galaxies with 100 billon stars, that can be observed, that's a lot to explore. It would take so long to explore one galaxy that by the time you finish visiting all the planets, new stars and plants would have formed. Plus wont you want to see how the universe ends, or if you can traverse the multiverse if the theory is correct.
Well said.
You assume much in your argument. You assume that you will have longer life as well as freedom of action. Perhaps this would be the cease post scarcity, but I cannot even imagine such a culture.
"But people will get bored" really says more about the person saying it, than about extended life itself
@@paulchretien4995 The world has statistically never been better, there's no reason I'm aware of to think technology is going to stop advancing, and post-scarcity will indeed be possible through (among other things) automation and molecular assemblers.
Dude I keep watching your videos and just can't help but think - where the hell are all the people? You've been here on TH-cam for a long time now and your videos keep getting better and better and yet you don't have millions of subscribers. This is ridiculous! No doubts, this is the most underrated channel on TH-cam nowadays. Hope you will not lose the motivation and won't stop releasing the videos.
I think people who watch these videos are statistically more intellectual and interested in science. And a lot of people are "interested" in science, but not *that* interested if you know what I mean.
Ayone who doesn't actually LOVE these subjects will reject these long videos and opt more for the sci show type channels that are bite sized 3 or 4 minutes long.
Most people couldn't even comprehend the basics in these videos that we take for granted. Really, just ask random people in Walmart what they think a ribosome is or how many chromosomes a human typically has.
@@Kyle496 That is probably the reason, but it also means, that videos like these get less promotion, so even people interested in this kind of stuff often discover channels like this by accident. (Look into comments for evidence of this. There is at least one person for every video.)
All the more reason to share, like, comment, watch till the end/multiple times to help promote Isaac's videos in the YT algorithms.
I personally watch it multiple times anyway, because there is so much to digest and there is so much googling for related information and such.
@@dronillon2578
I don't disagree at all about sharing and thr YT algorithm. It really is quite shameful that it is so hard to find these types of channels even if you go looking for them.
I'd share them myself if I had friends Q.Q
I think the average TH-cam watcher doesn't want to think as Mr Arthur's videos tend to provoke. They just want to watch car crashes and videos about the top ten top ten lists of top ten things.
I never got the resistance to anti-aging research. Why would you not want to have years and years to do what you want instead of slaving for 40 years to become senile the last 20 years of your life? Once I have more financial freedom from debt I really would like to help fund these sciences!
Who knows. To me anti-aging (and medical advances in general) are some of the best possible research priorities. We can go to Mars and shit later; when we can all live long enough to see and enjoy such a proposition as traveling the galaxy. Right now, the saying "life sucks, and then you die," is all too true. Even managing your finances pretty well and obtaining an above average paying job won't give you enough time and youth to really do the things you want in life. Especially if they involve frequent travel and what not. Everything is just too expensive for most people to obtain in a given lifespan. Unless you were born silver-spooned or inherited/lucked your way into major dough.
Is 1 million even enough to retire on anymore? With inflation, I am not sure that will be much money by the time I would be old enough... :/
@@Practicality01 oh boy seeing this comment at the end of 2021 hurts because it’s even more true now that trillions more are in circulation with cantillion effect compounding
@@richardsuckerson492023 only got worse haha
Wow... As a geneticist, I found the animations in this episode to be superb! ❤️
Man I want to be genetist too
The animations are a geneticist in training?
@@Nethan2000 Lol, fair.
Yeah, first good animation of ATP Synthase I've seen . . . I'm not "trained" or anything, but I'm guessing that's one of the animations you're talking about . . . .
I think they are the ones from the SENS educational videos on their website if I'm not mistaken
As someone who was diagnosed with a Grade IV Glioblastoma precisely one year ago, yesterday, my opinion on life extension is simply this. I hope we can make some dramatic strides, particularly in the field of oncology, before this thing kills me. I, for one, wanna live to see some rotating habitats built. :D
Seriously though there does need to be equal focus on quality of life. Already the brain tumor I have has damaged several motor pathways which restrict my mobility in a manner similar to a stroke. I'm typing all this with one hand, for example.
Excellent video as always, Isaac.
I'm glad you're not giving up. I hope you live long enough to go to Alpha Centauri. (But only if you want to go there)
I wish you luck in that fight, may you one day be able to look back on it with the pride of having beat it!
Plenty of nut cases on TH-cam, but, if your open look up Autophagy, Fasting, and ultra low carb high fat diets. start with ted talks. in addition to what you are doing there may be more you can do.
I wish you are free from suffering and are as happy as possible.
I'm so sorry to hear that man. No one deserves to die, and it's all the worse that you know that treatment is potentially years aways.
Consider signing up for cryonics, at least if you feel you won't make it through the next 5 years. With insurance, it's cheap, and probably your best bet to seeing the next century. I wish you well either way.
I am so sorry that you are having to experience this. My mother fought grade 3 Astrocytoma for a year; it's a hard road. Sadly, we lost, but I hope you don't. One day, decades from now, I'd like to be on a train (or a transport ship to Mars) and see a passenger with a messenger bag showing an SFIA logo and embroidered with your name. As they used to say in the 70s, keep on keeping on.
P.S. Please look into clinical trials. The viral introduction trials (polio trials) have some great outcomes. Also, as adjutant therapy, consider the anti-angiogenic diet.
Let us not age, so we can all enjoy SFIA well into the far future 😁
I second that notion!
Yey
What's SFIA?
"Next week, we'll talk about using the 7th dimension as a power source, storage and paperclips."
Let's pool all of humanity's resources and minds into curing aging, not to extend the average lifespan or eliminate diseases, but just so we can make Issac Arthur immortal so he never has to stop making SFIA videos.
It makes SENSe to me.
Damn, I iwsh I'd thought of that quip when writing the episode :)
I SENSe a disturbance in the force... of aging :)
Ayyy lmao
"All medicine is life extension."
Yes. Just over a year ago, I contracted a still unexplained illness that ripped the myelin off of my lumbar spine. I lost 95%+ of the feeling below my waist. After treatment and therapy, I have 80%+ back, with full recovery expected in time. Now, I work hard at exercise and activity, and I eat a very healthy diet. I feel great, look a decade younger than my age, and am happy. I think we can all choose to extend both the duration and quality of our lives, and I see no downside to trying.
That's so inspiring! I am sorry you had to deal with such an experience though. As a 29 year old, may you love long enough and rejuvenate to be as youthful as I am, if not better! 😊
Just found your channel while reading a comment under Tom Scott's video, and i'm surprised that why TH-cam didn't recommend it earlier.
Such a great content you're making mate.
Ayush Upadhyay Welcome aboard!
@@mikelfunderburk5912 thanks 😊
I envy you, you have so much awesome content to watch. I've watched most of them 2 or 3 times already 😊
Jake Davies Lol. so have I. Very thought provoking content.
@@sampohlmann1503 no worries, I'll binge it mate!
Isaac, you're the highlight of my Thursday. Thank you.
I'm so happy right now, this is absolutely great
.
I think I saw it, I went through quite a lot of their vids while writing this and of course they helped edit it, but time constraints required each section be kept brief. The eternal dilemma here at SFIA, we get to go into much more detail than most channels can, but it's never really enough.
Thank you for pointing out how many people sadly suffer to death everyday. It's disgusting how some people defend ineffective medicine for the elderly, but I'm glad to see you are better than that. :)
I have to ask - how on Earth does one migrate that function into the nucleus? Or even greater interest to me personally, could this be done in vivo to an adult human? The value of doing so is clear, but the mechanism is a mystery to me.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Aubrey several times, and while I'm most definitely a fan of SENS and its goals, this particular aspect has always struck me as the most radical.
Immortality and the Stars!
Good to see a familiar face in the comment section. Surprised to not see anyone from LEAF here yet.
I love your channel. Keep up the great work!
You havent been uploading like you used to lately
@@fourthz4460 I'd like to think he's slowed down uploading videos because he's too busy speeding up rejuvenation biotechnology in other ways. :)
@@fourthz4460 I've been busier. The channel isn't monetized. I upload videos i like just to keep track of what's going on.
Seriously, 'you will get bored' is such a bullshit excuse.
EVEN if we accept that yes, eventually we would get tired of living, deeming we have seen/read/experienced enough of life, that still means we will leave by our own choice at the time we chose.
No way that doesnt beat dying from natural causes when we dont want to.
You feel its unethical to live more than 110 years?
Then take the meds to be young and healthy until that point then go skydive without a parachute or some other 'exciting' way to end life.
Its not like we will all be forced at gunpoint to stay alive or something. And as we extend life and some did get bored, the attitude about suicide would change.
No longer a sad 'he had so much left to live for' but a bittersweet 'he is gone, but he was happy with his life', so no stigma about killing yourself.
This! This is exactly what I always tell if someone brings the argument of boredom. Every time someone says that we are not meant to live forever, I reply that you are not forced to. But why deny that right to the other human beings?
I am very impressed with your work. I know just how difficult and time consuming that kind of research can be. Thank you for your efforts Isaac.
The idea of people not wanting to live longer while being younger has puzzled me. Life Extension technology always made SENSe to me... eh.
Having been reading through the Honor Harrington series, Prolong that would allow us to live for two to three centuries would be very appealing. It is interesting how that series portrays a society with such old/young people and how things would be.
A fantastic episode as always, the animations used in this episode in particular were extraordinarily good.
Thank you for helping save lives! ♥
I had no idea Isaac Arthur was working on what I think is the best in-depth analysis of SENS ever put to video. I'm extremely happy, though.
On my 5th heart surgery and thinking about cutting my feet off dew to AS. Your channel gives me hope and peace; thank you.
1:21 I agree that aging is somehow natural. So is smallpox. No reason not to get rid of it.
Ben Luckett: So you think it's like Bernie said? We're cheating nature?
Mary Luckett: Yes.
Ben Luckett: Well I'll tell ya, with the way nature's been cheating us, I don't mind cheating her a little.
- Coccon
Good common sense response
Aging is literally a disease (it has all the features of one), I wonder why so many people refuse to accept this, even medicine scientists are changing their opinions on aging as a disease.
@@martiddy And even without thinking of it as a 'disease,' that no less makes it a treatable condition.
A broken arm isn't a disease, but it *is* damage, and we don't hesitate to do something about it...
If the number one goal of life is to continue and expand its existence, Not getting rid of death is literally betraying nature itself. This is not a game I am willing to lose and I want that high score :) #NoGameOver - Infinite continues for all!
Awesome job Isaac! Sure adds a level to my interest in medicine. I am fascinated to see how these little breakthroughs will add up in our lifetimes.
I agree, but don't forget to join in on the action by spreading information about rejuvenation biotechnology. We are all in this together. :)
I donate to SENS, not very much, but when I can.
HumbleBundle offers SENS-Research foundation as a Partner.
A very nice way to donate.
@@Feuermagier1337 Amazon Smile too :)
Well shit, I use both of those, but for EFF... Now I've got a tough decision to consider...
I do too and everybody should too, even if not much. They are severely underfunded when compared to other research programs.
@@eviegas73 SENS is underfunded, but it's thankfully getting better because of people like you and sd4dfg2 who donate what they can. :)
This happens every Thursday.
Around the time I'm about to go to bed [just 5 more minutes...] I get a _must watch_ video show up in my feed.
I plan to live forever.
So far so good.
Just imagine if we diverted some of our huge military budget to research like this. How many lives could saved with another 100 billion or so invested in life extension research.
I agree with you completely, but Aubrey de Grey thinks all SENS Research Foundation needs is another digit added to their current budget to bring rejuvenation therapies online 10 years faster.
@@professorscambuster3063 what would those two numbers be?
@@MeanBeanComedy He predicts a 50/50 chance of robust human rejuvenation by 2036.
@@professorscambuster3063 so with 10x more funding, 2026?
@@MeanBeanComedy Nope, his 2036 prediction is based on the research being well-funded soon, so 2026 is unlikely for the whole suite of rejuvenation therapies, but we may have senolytics and something for Parkinson's by 2026. It's all about buying time, so even people currently in old age may take advantage of near-term therapies, so that they can then benefit from other, newer, more robust therapies later on.
I recommend reading the Life Extension Research Foundation's Rejuvenation Roadmap to learn about how close different rejuvenation therapies are from going into clinical trials: www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/
If I had the chance to stay at the physical equivalent of the age of 25, I'd definitely take advantage of it. I put some pretty serious mileage on my body, enough to make life suck at 44. Nobody thinks about the damage they're doing to their bodies when they're younger. Granted, neither did I. Hopefully, there will be some significant breakthroughs in the field of age regression soon.
I suspect that maybe 30 would be a better age.
Runners don't peak until they are 30.
Also, I've taught quite large, muscular guys (I'm a driving instructor), usually in their teens, but sometimes in their early 20s, who have had trouble getting the parking brake (handbrake) off, when I've put it on tightly, on a hill.
I'm only 5',6", and don't have large muscles, but I am over 30. I
It seems that there is some development over that period of time. However, re your third sentence; I would like to be able to go back in time and to slap myself and tell myself to think about what's going to happen if I am dumb enough to run up a long, steep hill, with an 11 stone person on my back, a few months after having a knee operation, or try to hang on to the outside of a car as it goes round a bend without slowing down, or... well, you get the idea!
@@pineapplepenumbra So if I've read that right are you saying you've had students that struggled to take the handbrake off because they didn't have the strength to? Are you sure it wasn't just because they're weren't applying upward force while pressing in the button? Seems like plausible for people who haven't driven a car before or for very long at least.
@@MrManBuzz
A good question, but no, I'm used to spotting that particular fault.
My latest car has a crap handbrake, right from new.
"In this case, life extension is not something in the far future, or even in the future at all - it's just an extension into the next frontier of things we've successfully been doing for quite some time."
One of the best lines I've ever heard regarding anything. Thank you for putting it perfectly. :)
I’m so glad you did an episode on this. The end of aging is the number one thing I’m looking forward to in my lifetime. There’s so much in this universe I want to see and one lifetime is just not enough.
Happy Arthursday Everyone!
Happy Arthursday to you.
Happy Arthursday to you.
I should be going to bed...
But I've got a new video to view.
Happy Arthursday Feidry 😊
Incredible work
I've watched and taken care of several of my family members die from many of the specific topics discussed here. My father died at 62 from cancer after a painful 5 years of surgery and treatment. I can only hope these things can be tackled in my lifetime. Thanks again for another great episode.
I'm truly sorry for your loss. These rejuvenation therapies could arrive in 20 years, but let's spread the word as much as we can to make 20 years into even less. :)
Professor Scambuster Thank you very much.
@@mikelfunderburk5912 My pleasure. :)
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that dramatic life extension does turn out to be impossible. Like Isaac says, won't we feel better knowing we gave it our best shot, that we didn't just give up before we knew whether it could be done or not?
But there's something else, too: in trying to reach that indefinite life span, we WILL make discoveries, whether the practical immortality is possible or not. If all our efforts achieved were curing one type of cancer, ending diabetes, and curing Alzheimer's (even if it were only when caught early), well then wouldn't it have been worth it?
There's a saying: shoot for the moon and you should at least hit high ground.
And you know, we DID get to the moon, long ago.
Support for rejuvenation biotechnology has never been better! Thank you, Isaac Arthur for playing your part in advocacy - it's safe to say it's greatly appreciated by Reason, Aubrey de Grey, LEAF, and everyone else who wants effective medicine for the elderly.
For people who are new to this field, it's important to remember that this isn't "immortality medicine". These rejuvenation therapies will lead to indefinite lifespans, but that will only be possible as a side benefit of staying healthy.
I took some biochemistry when I was in university. I found it to be ridiculously complex, more than anything else I was taking. And it was obvious that there was a lot that was being passed over. Advances seemed to be almost random, some event in one part leads to success which leads to more research in it. It is almost like solving a crime, you dont solve the case unless you get the "break", and biochemistry doesnt go down a research line unless that line got a "break" early on that produced success. But I do know one thing, for those that have a talent in biochemistry, and do well at it, my hat is off to you, you are doing something I know I could never do.
Humans are complex and fragile. A life well lived comes before 'long-life' for me. However, living longer with less illness is something to strive for, but we are far more fortunate than some of the ordinary folks who lived before us with short, brutish lives. The most significant contributing factors in the last century were public-health interventions such as clean water and sanitation.
Why more eyes will help us with finding a break I think. We need more talents in the field. And more research that might not go anyway, might also find a breakthrough that will take us to the next level. But I also support efforts that try to model these complex systems more. And we have done quite a bit on that front in resent years. From distributed computing to getting actual eyes to look at these problems with citizen scientist competing to solve protean folding problems. Quantum computing offers us new ways to explore these problems to. As well as machine learning. There is still a lot to do. Biological systems are extremely complex machinery after all.
I think a larger part of what we do need to do is work on developing better methodologies that do not lead us down the wrong path. Medical science sadly is a bit prone to errors due to how is funded and how we validate positive results more then negative results. But each year we still advance. It is not like we are still stuck with theory of Miasma and the theory of Humorism after all.
Leave it to AI
@@SerPapus If we do that, we'll just end up with long-lived robots.
I wholeheartedly agree! My ex was doing her PhD work in molecular biology, and what she was dealing with was as overwhelming as it was fascinating. Even when you zoom in and focus on one very narrow aspect, biological systems are staggeringly complex. I loved talking about her work, but it was definitely a humbling experience.
I'm with you man, never understood people who say they don't want to live forever. I could find plenty of things to do with myself. And even if I'm wrong and immortality turns out to be some kind of existential torture, I'd still like to take it for a spin for a couple centuries to find out for myself.
I think the tales of vampires living for centuries, but are bored and wanting to die is likely a source of this fatalistic mentality, missing the point, that is the vampire is existing ALONE for that time, entirely.
Yes, I suppose it depends on the author but I've always interpreted it as living as a parasite and time-thief that caused the angst. I'd imagine a shepherd who had no one but his flock for company and sustenance both would get fairly bleak too, and of course shepherds aren't usually portrayed as particularly cheerful folks.
There are some personalities that you would be very bad to exist forever. Depression, psychotic, incapable of empathy are just a few examples.
If we want to increase age. We must first understand the mind and what makes us human to begin with. Why increase individuals that will just be undesirable in the long term?
We as a species must reflect on ourselves instead of just making everyone live for obscene life spans.
So many intelligent people demean god and a higher power and ask questions like "if God exists why would God make us live in such a horrible exsistence."
People ask this kind of question without ever asking if we as a species even deserve heaven? A utopia?
Regarding a perception of a horrible existence, that perception is a behavior trap, at least for those who aren't living with depression. I can't allow that attitude in my own life ( I am a cancer patient / survivor) . Unless you are dealing with clinical depression, it is a choice!
@@TheTyrial86 Who or what should be the judge of that? It's not so much 'if God exists,' but 'if God is merciful.' Our mythologies are full of deities that don't even pretend to be nice.
It sounds like; 'We don't deserve a Utopia/Heaven, until we've already become 'good enough' (whatever that may be) to make one anyway?'
I'm reminded of the flip-side of the 'Prime Directive' policy, when you finally reveal yourselves; "You watched us make a mess for centuries, you saw us suffer, you *could* have helped us, and you chose *not* to??"
Possibly followed by a rousing 'GTFO,' or in a theological context, converting to another (or no) belief...
@Jeffrey. I agree. We don't need to be a victim of our own feelings and thoughts. They are ours to control and rule over. So use that power to make you the best you possible.
@Dragoon. Yes. Being alone for centuries is something that would be an issue. But won't be a problem in the future when everyone get older without aging. Plenty of company.
@Tyrial. To attain longevity, aside from the body functions we need to maintain our emotions and thoughts as well. It's good to see people addressing these possible issues.
That moment when you're driving and notice Isaac Arthur has a new upload so you just pull over.
That moment when you're _fucking_ and notice Isaac Arthur has a new upload so you just pull _out_
I love this channel.
I can't wait for the day when people stop looking at me as if I'm a crazy person every time I bring up the topic of life extension.
I currently work in programming machine learning / AI. In a few years, I intend to switch to nanotech in an effort to extend my own and everyone else's lives.
Please stick to AI. You could create AI that could create better AI (and so on) that would eventually be able to create the necessary nanotech to keep us alive.
Maybe machine learning may be used to accelerate this kind of research, for example analyzing the cause/effect of many potential therapies.
@@eviegas73 As well as predicting which potential therapies have a high probability of success, and which don't - which may save a lot of time and money.
One of the first things to ask of an super intelligent AI is - can you solve aging? Making sure to explain that killing everything that ages if not a valid solution.
@@eviegas73 AI hasn't seen the last of me yet. Will maybe do something in medicine before I get into the sort of components of nanotech. Right now I'm in quantitative finance. We'll see.
I've been following Aubrey De Grey and others for years, and you have explained things in a half hour SO MUCH BETTER than any other source I have seen.
Again - very nice work!
Isaac Arthur really does journalism better than actual journalists.
For the bored argument, I feel like it would take me a very long time. I'd rather have an indefinite lifespan w/ a guaranteed and painless suicide option available, than march toward a death I'm not sure I'll be ready for...there's so much I want to do, not to mention I want to see if we manage to figure out interstellar travel at some point...want to see how far tech can go, anyway. At least I'd like know my death isn't going to be prolonged suffering from disease.
I have a degree in biochemistry and to me, basically everything you said was accurate. Great job Isaac and company.
MITOCHONDRIA ARE THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL
That quote has always bothered me.
Powerhouse - something that is powerful.
Power plant - something that produces power.
They're the power plants, not the "powerhouse".
Where is this even originally from? I heard it so many times but never found out what the original source is.
OKAY, BUT WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT US?
@@Practicality01
My guess is, it's related to the meme.
I am 15, and I hear that while I am in biology
Learning this stuff scratches an itch in my psyche that I wish I knew about earlier. Thanks for the well researched (as usual) video Arthur. Currently working on switching careers into this field to add more brainpower to this endeavor.
Okay, I am genuinely surprised you don't have at the very least a million subscribers. The quality is apparent.
He's growing exponentially, when I initially found him he had about 200k subs and I didn't know anyone else who knew him, nowadays almost every discord server im in has a few people that know him
a subject ive been interested in for some time, i think life extension is on its way, and your invited to my 300th birthday party my Arthur ! :)
Only your 300th? why not make the invitation every centennial? (every hundred years) I'm sure even with that kinda schedule he'd have a chance to visit as least a good chunk of his current subscribers, if we don't visit him first for his hundredth birthday
I will be more conservative and invite him to my 111th birthday party. It will be in New Zealand and I think you can guess where :)
@@Martinhanou The Shire, and if you don't pull a disappearing act during a speech we'd be disappointed XD
My daughter has been interviewed a few times on youtube for her fiction writing. A couple months ago during a 'recent developements' topic she quoted a study that posed,
'those born prior to the 70's will die at today's average age. But those born in or just after the 70's will have access to much longer life spans. Mostly due to stuff that is coming online now, such as 3D printed fully compatible replacement organs.'
She was born in 79'...
Half of my friends are passed or disabled. I'm 64 soon and live by the 'act 14 whenever I can' theory.
I'll take every year I can get.
Bring on the nanos!
Radical life extension will utterly destroy modern society.
This is fine.
Most of our society is based on getting stuff done before we die. Defeat of death will lead to a radical restructuring of society -- and probably interest rates.
I'm not so sure - about the interest rates that is, we discussed a lot of the societal impact back int he Life extension episode - I had assumed it would make interest rates plummet to just a hair over inflation but I've talked with some more futurist-minded economics types in more recent times who seem to feel confident it would not really impact rates all that much, as they're more based on what else you could be doing with that money, both the principal lent and the funds being spent on the payments to principal and interest, than actual lifetimes. I wish I remembered the entire arguments - they were pretty parallel in most cases though not identical - but I mostly remember them as quite compelling.
True enough. No one cares if it is me, a real person who is investing, or some century-old company.
I was subscribed when you had a few thousand subs and I gotta say, your'e animations and content over all has come a long way since then. Also, thanks for not diluting the content or breaking it down into smaller videos for views. Most youtubers wouldnt think twice about dumbing down their videos for views.
I love it!!! Keep the life extension videos coming!!!!!!!!
This is the most amazing channel ever created. Thank you, Isaac, for making these videos! You are doing a great service to humanity. I intend to implement your lessons.
I've never understood the whole "But is it morale" question when it comes to life extension. If you have the technology then denying the treatment means you are literally sentencing someone to death. It is no different than antibiotics or other treatments, if you don't get it you die.
Hey, useless bioethicists, this guy cherudium gets it.
It's not just sentencing to death.
It's sentencing to slow debilitation. Anywhere else it would be a moral outcry.
@@musaran2 Indeed however death by many diseases is also slow and debilitating so I didn't feel the need to highlight that portion of it.
great work with this one very in depth
Definitely refreshing after ever so many journalists who take the sensationalistic approach that risks slowing down progress for the sake of increased viewership.
I think the single greatest benefit of anti-aging treatments is that rich folks will think on longer timelines. If you're a billionaire and you can be expected to live three hundred years you won't be investing in war and famine. You'll be way more likely to try to improve the world of the future, as you're more likely to see it yourself.
I often come here to learn about space matters but you amaze me with this in depth look at biology! Excellent as always
To be honest, Isaac, you have got subscribers for million years here..
my favorite video so far.
Will some of us (in our 30s/40s) become immortal?
we are RIGHT ON THE EDGE of it, it seems
Time will tell.
red pilled
probably not
It's probably best for your mental health to assume it isn't going to happen in our lifetime. I think it'd be a better choice to live your life as much as you can now assuming it'll end in our current life expectancy than to assume we'll still be around in the 2400s and you end up living an unfulfilling life assuming we'll have plenty more time when we might not.
You'll live to see the treatment developed, but it'll be too late for you. Your health will be too far gone. You're doomed to be the last person on Earth to die of old age, withering away into a shriveled husk, while everyone around you grows younger and healthier. Beautiful, elf-like youths will point at you and cover their mouths in horror as you painfully trudge the last, long miles to your waiting grave.
@@corpsyman
Seriously! I dont understand how you can make all this quality videos so frequently! Great work! :)
:) Workaholism and a lot of help from volunteers
My favorite response when discussing biological immortality(I'm for it) and asked what I consider the inane question, do you really want to live forever?
Do you really want to be dead?
Great topic to expose the world to, keep the pressure!
I just hope I can live long enough to live forever.
That's the mother fucking spirit.
Me too
Quite possibly the best video you ever made. So interesting and well paced too. Also your speech has improved so much.
I think the concept of the Uncanny Valley also plays a role here. The notion that a mix of two states not definetely assignable to both of them creates discomfort in people.
I mean, on the one hand you have the "true biological" human as it evolved in nature and on the other hand a hypothetical, truly immortal being, but the image of a human requiring severe medical assistance to live indefinetely is unpleasant and feels .. weak somehow.
I am writing this to try and explain the seemingly irrational fear and aversion that people display when confronted with this topic, including myself. Yes, we at the optimum age of around 25 are beautifully functioning biological machines, and yes, in the far future life extension over centuries may be so elegant and easy to be hardly undesirable.
But to get to the other side of indefinite life you have to pass the ugly transition state that lies in the uncanny valley, and I think this is what scares away most people nowertimes; picturing themselves hooked up to countless tubes and medical machines, weak, dependant on the competence of foregineers and the results of yet hardly tested research. A cat can look beautiful and a human can look beautiful, but the transition CGI mix of these two looks horrendous.
I'm confused how you were making a joke about the _Cats_ trailer CGI 9 months ago.
Happy Arthur's day!
If would something if we can refuse to slow down the age so that ever 7 years a person age 1, but one problem that I see is people like me with a disease.. I have Parkinson, if it gets to the point where I cannot walk, remember who I.m or in bed 24/7 I do not want to live, I will end my life on my terms not a disease term.. I do not know if I want to live with it for another 50 or 70 years Any thing that will reduce aging will have to cure or slow down diseases as well
This was an amazing story and deserves more views! I will share with all my friends and family. Curing aging is a noble goal and one of the most important challenges for our civilization. I can only imagine how exciting it would be to live in a future where our population is the trillions or beyond and we are spanning multiple solar systems and giant rotating space habitats. Your channel is my favorite of all on TH-cam. Thank you!
Spread this video far and wide, they need funding!!
Also, if you haven't already, watch CGP Grey's video about the Dragon. Gets me every time and is so inspiring
@@billmalcolm4291 Thanks, ill do that!
I'm spreading the word to everyone who'll listen. Rejuvenation biotechnology is too important to be in the background while most people whine about more trivial problems.
Good one Isaac - my personal favourite!
Subtitle is desynced by the sponsor message, pls fix
Thanks, reloading now, usually takes about half an hour though the automatic ones are still up there, and usually don't mangle too many words these days
@@isaacarthurSFIA thanks for the quick notice!
One of the very best episodes.
cool as always ! Castration can extend life ? How/why on earth is there even enough data, on that particular subject, to say either way, in the 1st place ? I pass on being a part of that study.
We had a large labrador (6.5 stone) who developed testicular cancer, and had to have his testes removed. He lived to be 14, which is quite a good age for a large dog.
There may well be research on non human subjects, as well as records on the lives of Castratos:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato
A few years ago I remember hearing a very old recording of the last one alive, it was somewhat creepy.
I'm not sure about humans, but I do know that castrating/desexing cats and dogs increases their lifespans, so it might work for humans.
Odd, every bull we have, that we castrated young, died well under the age of three*. On the other hand, our uncastrated bull tends to survive quite a bit longer, and the cows longer still.
*of "natural causes", if you remember that eating beef is perfectly natural, even if raising it for slaughter is highly artificial.
also men age(lose) one year extra for every 10 year or so they are with a woman.... heh, there were some studies done comparing male monks(no women) to normal males and that was the major difference women lol
nah thats a misleading stat "bachelor" including divorcee', men who want women but can't get them and men who are happier being single, when comparing men who are happier being single to married men, single men live longer then .
Yes! It's out! This is something I've been interested in for a long time. Out of all the technologies we've ever invented... this one will probably be the best. Thanks the video!
A starvation diet could make you live longer and look younger, but we love to eat.
I think calorie restriction works better in shorter lived animals, and even then, it still doesn't lead to indefinite healthy lifespans like rejuvenation therapies will.
@@professorscambuster3063 Indeed, we don't know for sure. Discovery Science has approached this topic.
Mm. This is another one that falls into the quality of life bucket.
How about fasting? In other words, avoiding spreading meals out, even if the overall calorie intake isn't much lower?
One thing that's timeless: is crushing snacks and watching a IA SFIA video. Never grows old!
I feel like future generations will make a religion of your predictions,see you as a prophet,and designate Thursday a holy day.
:) More likely they'll chuckle at my errors
This may anger Thor!
@@isaacarthurSFIA Oh, for sure, even scifi from 50 years ago didn't anticipate the tech we've got now, and made some now amusing assumptions on what we would use, that being said, a more optimistic belief system with an enthusiasm for science sounds good, so long as part of the core of it is fairly pragmatic on encouraging actual science rather than the pseudo science and woo magic people try to con others with today, some mix of critical thinking, good will, honesty, and some sarcasm/humor tossed in to keep nonsense in check
Well done. Aubrey is fantastic.
Hello everyone
Hey
Watching this on the eve of my 30th birthday. Fingers crossed I get to experience some of these in the near future. Getting older isn't so scary when I have inspiring videos like this to experience.
I'd like to spend a hundred years exploring Italy on foot. I'm not sure why I'd pick that country in particular-I've never even been there-but I know I'd need at least one spare century to do it prproperly. I'd poke my nose in every archaeological cranny, read every inscription, and flirt-at the very least-with every woman (except where inappropriate or prohibited by law). I've never understood the boredom argument either.
Careful. It might be the death of you. 😉
Thanks Isaac. Through the what must be years now you continually bring a smile to my face and give me hope for the future. There is so much good in humanity and though scientific analysis you bring it out. Until next time, thanks for creating and have a great week :)
There's another side of the debate on aging that's often missing.
So you think its unethical for x,y or z reasons? What are you proposing we do? Stop research into healthcare? Legally ban certain treatments that saves lives?
How ethical do you suppose that is?
Critics of rejuvenation biotechnology tend to not even know the name of the field they're trying to criticize (they call it "immortality research" and other such bullshit).
Like Aubrey says, a tipping point is quickly approaching where it'll be more risky for experts to dismiss rejuvenation than it will be to acknowledge aging as a target for medical intervention.
Simone basically they are in favour of medicines against age related conditions, as long as they don't work very well. Lol
@@povijestpovijest9569 Yep. Whatever will the bioethicists bitch about when people are healthy and life is good?
I do like your attitude that this is something we can presently do.
Yea but then we’d have politicians that wouldn’t go away for thousands of years.
Solution: term limits.
@@imienazwisko6527 solution: monarchy
@@AntonEugeneLanthier That just guarantees that you are stuck with the same politician for a long time
Even better solution: Direct Democracy
@@imienazwisko6527 You mean the number one method of leading to authoritarianism?
As always a great pleasure to watch!
I'm not against senescence research. (I'm sure I'd appreciate breakthroughs in any of the seven areas.) But I do think the optimism of SENS advocates is misplaced. Humans already live longer than our size/mass/heart-rate would suggest, compared to all other mammals. (Around twice as long as we should, iignoring modern sanitation and antibiotics, three times including it.) That implies that our recent evolution has already plucked the low-hanging fruit of life extension. Which in turn implies that every new gain will be much more complex than extending the lives of other mammals.
Example, GlycoSENS: You mentioned rats having a simpler sugar in their intercellular matrix than humans. I suspect that it will turn out that this complexity in humans is part of what is already necessary to keep our ICM healthy for as long as it does. Simply disrupting it, which might work with mice/rats, will likely cause complex side-effects in humans. That's been the pattern with big breakthroughs in animal SENS research that have turned out to either not work in humans (we already do it naturally) or disrupted some other biochemical mechanism that doesn't exist in other mammals.
Life is an ugly/elegant interdependent kludge of hacked together code. Human ageing is the result of taking that hacked code and optimising it to extreme limits. Tinkering with that to gain further improvements is going to be much, much harder than advocates expect.
I remember when I was a kid reading an old non-fiction by Isaac Asimov where he charted the number of heartbeats in average of maximum lifespans by critter and that humans were in first place by a long margin, and it always struck me as probably related to our achievements and mostly in a casual way, influenced a lot of my thinking on the Fermi Paradox toward my usual stance: "Rare Earth is probably really Rare Intelligence & Technology"
Anyway, yes evolution has grabbed a lot of the low-hanging fruit, but the nature of evolution is such that there will be some low hanging fruit we can't get through it, as an example some additional additional appendages that cold act as a tweezer, a sharp stick or wedge, or a carrying pouch would be very handy, but there'd be nearly no odds of us evolving those. Things don't mutate to a purpose, they survive if they serve one, so evolving a pouch that could serve as a backpack or purse, both incredibly simple and useful, would be low-hanging fruit that we still wouldn't see plucked naturally.
Such things, as you say, can be very disruptive too, carrying stuff around is a byproduct of having hands and causes most of our back and joint problems, and would be way worse if we had some pouch on us, which would also likely be a cesspool for bacteria. So I don't doubt that a lot of the tricks we find in nature for many of the aging problems will be ineffective or harder for us to use on ourselves, but I don't think most will turn out to be particularly tricky to adapt or otherwise solve either. Sometimes all that kludge makes even a simple improvement impossible, but often there are very easy ones and we notice this less in artificial things like code because they were made by thinking people in the first place, who tended to notice those solutions as they went, evolution doesn't get that option, solutions only happen by accident and often good traits do not persist,a beneficial mutation to a parasite that make its symbiotic and helpful might get axed by our immune system simply because it was now more visible or less resistant to it.
You can always replace a hack with well-written code.
Nano engineering may be new to us but it's still just engineering. There is no reason to assume evolution has already done everything that is easy.
Indeed, evolution can only try things that happen to be simple mutations. Likely all of the ideas presented here are impossible to create using any mutation to human DNA.
That has no relation to how hard or easy it would be for us to create such technologies completely outside of genetics.
I may not have much experties as a coder or any as a geneticist, but given our DNA is a mess of random changes that are mostly useful, and a decent amount of junk code, given some time and effort there is room for a lot of improvement by optimizing the good stuff, cutting the bad, and as Isaac alluded to adding useful stuff that couldn't evolve naturally or at least didn't do so in humans could very well leave us nearly biologically immortal, and even if we hit a limit on the biological side I'm more than ready to accept cybernetics as a solution too, all we really need right now is a decent mins machine interface and compact low power hardware/software that can make sense of the data, which... amusingly might require some eveolving AI based software that "learns" how our spicific brain works and lets it get continually better at understanding our minds up to the limits of the hardware.
...and yes, I deffinitly went off on a bit of a tangent, long story short I want to live long enough to see much of what Isaac talks about on here built, and I believe it is reasonably possible for that to happen within my lifetime to push said lifetime beyond it's current limits.
(I'm sure I'd appreciate breakthroughs in any of the seven areas.)
Very much agreed!
That said, there is another implication of the fact that we live twice or three times as long as
our heart rate would suggest for typical mammals:
Most medical advances are tested first on animal models.
There simply won't _be_ a good test animal model of human aging.
@@soreff we may need to start using cloned human tissues and such to prototype treatments more effectively
Awesome video and they never get old even though I haven't had time with work.
can you do an episode on the impact of Aubrey de Grey's beard?... LOL
:) Quite large I imagine. To be honest I'm always a little impressed with anyone who can commit to a truly long beard, I tend to wear the short goatee most of the time because I get irritated and shave it off every couple months, I actually just did again yesterday since I knew it would have time to grow back before I next was on camera.
@@isaacarthurSFIA You sneaky dog, you.
I've got a beard, much less impressive than Aubreys and I can tell you it's a commitment. I've gotten used to it but there are times I fantasise of just getting a razor and hacking the thing off my face. But then I remember it'd take me years to grow it back and I hesitate lol.
I can't even manage a goatee. I end up playing with it constantly and compulsively, until the follicles irritate me to the point of madness. :p
thank you
Cancer can already be prevented and in many cases reversed through dietary intervention.
I loved the molecular animations, great work as always Isaac. regards
Give me stem cells or give me death! Great episode.
They are trying to use stem cells to reverse brain death they haven't started any trails
Thank you again Isaac for another great video!
Well I guess I'm getting castrated.
Ditto, not like I'm using my pecker anyway.
Boston Corbett tried it (for different reasons). Not sure if it extended his lifespan or not: he's been missing since 1894.
Can we revisit this topic with the latest research?? Anyone else in here? Thanks and love all the content, have seen every episode. Thanks for what you do!
Will watch this tonight! 🙃 And im sure im not the only one who does so... have fun while watching!
No matter what subject you choose to enlighten me on you put out an Incredible video time and time again. Thanks for uploading
Thank you Isaac for another superb video, learned quite a bit today. While it's too late for me, maybe my kids and grandchildren will be able to see these visions become reality. Have a great day good sir!
Good to see somebody who cares about others, but why do you think you won't make it? I hope you do make the cut, and also, cryonics is legitimate: EvidenceBasedCryonics.org and Alcor.org
3:50 in to the video and I'm already compelled to say what a great video it is.
Thanks for another awesome video Isaac! :)
Fantastic content! Keep up the incredible work!
*Kudos!*