Indefinite lifespan
Encyclopedia
Indefinite lifespan or, indefinite life extension, is a term used in the life extension
movement to refer to the longevity of humans, and other life-forms, under conditions in which aging can be effectively and completely prevented and treated. Such individuals would still be susceptible to accidental or intentional death
by trauma
or infectious diseases, but not death from aging. Their lifespans would be "indefinite," because protection from the effects of aging on health does not guarantee survival. Some life extension
ists consider the term "indefinite lifespan" technically more correct than "immortality
" which, especially in religious contexts, implies an inability to die.
increases slightly every year as treatment strategies and technologies improve. At present, more than one year of research is required for each additional year of expected life. Actuarial escape velocity occurs when this ratio reverses, so that life expectancy increases faster than one year per one year of research, as long as that rate of advance is sustainable.
The concept was first publicly proposed by David Gobel
, founder of the Methuselah Foundation
. The idea has been championed by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey
and futurist
Ray Kurzweil. These two claim that by putting further pressure on science and medicine to focus research on increasing limits of aging
, rather than continuing along at its current pace, more lives will be saved in the future, even if the benefit is not immediately apparent.
" and "eternal youth
" are often used as synonyms for "indefinite lifespan", but they carry connotations from their other contexts which science has deemed to be impossible. That is, immortal means "incapable of dying". Eternal implies guaranteed existence for eternity
, and in this context is also implausible because of entropy
. Even if cures were found for all the degenerative diseases, and effective treatments were developed for all the processes of aging, so that bodies could be maintained as easily as cars can be repaired, people would still be killed in accident
s, slain in war
s, choosing
to die, etc. The term indefinite lifespan represents this more achievable state of affairs, because it merely implies freedom from death by age or infirmity. The use of the term is also sometimes favored for reasons of linguistic aesthetics, in the same way that the term birth control
is preferred to "birth prevention" or "birth elimination" which both imply, as does 'immortality', that the choice is one-time only and has permanent consequences, whereas the point of 'indefinite lifespans', like the point of 'birth control', is to gain the opportunity to lead one's life in a more conscious and deliberate manner.
and the Doomsday Clock
). Many scientists researching this area at the moment do not agree. They see a problem in not just individual diseases but in failure of repair mechanisms alluded to above in the discussion of thermodynamic considerations.
While science is constantly advancing and technology is becoming ever more sophisticated, the human body and mind are finitely complex and have not changed significantly in one hundred thousand years, and the aging process has not, in that time, become any more damaging (which, in short, is why we live three times as long on average in the twenty-first century as we did ten thousand years before).
The answer to the second question depends on two factors: the first being how fast medical science advances, and the second being how well each person takes care of himself (such as utilizing the best available life extension
technology or not, and generally eating and behaving in a healthful and non-degrading way), both of which may affect whether or not a given person is still alive when the cure (or set of treatments) becomes available. This strategy is captured in the subtitle "Live Long Enough to Live Forever" of the popular life extension book Fantastic Voyage, by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman
, M.D.
The second factor to the second question hinges on the first factor - no amount of healthy living will enable somebody alive today to reach the point of indefinite lifespan if medical science is curtailed significantly, or if aging turns out to be massively more complex than currently believed. However, if biomedical gerontology continues to improve, if somatic genetic engineering
becomes safe and effective (and is not banned by opponents) within the relatively near future, it may be conceivable for some of those now alive to attain indefinite lifespans.
According to biogerontologist Marios Kyriazis
, indefinite lifespans will become possible (even inevitable) because of inherent properties of natural laws governing human evolution. Kyriazis believes that as humanity is enhanced by technology, human evolution by natural selection will become redundant, and humans will continue to evolve through an indefinitely-long process of self-development. This process will necessitate the elimination of death due to aging.
has been presented as a piece of the puzzle of reaching actuarial escape velocity. Other proposed techniques include genetic engineering
, telomere
extension, organ regeneration, nanotechnology
, and even mind uploading.
Life extension
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan...
movement to refer to the longevity of humans, and other life-forms, under conditions in which aging can be effectively and completely prevented and treated. Such individuals would still be susceptible to accidental or intentional death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
by trauma
Physical trauma
Trauma refers to "a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident." It can also be described as "a physical wound or injury, such as a fracture or blow." Major trauma can result in secondary complications such as circulatory shock, respiratory failure and death...
or infectious diseases, but not death from aging. Their lifespans would be "indefinite," because protection from the effects of aging on health does not guarantee survival. Some life extension
Life extension
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan...
ists consider the term "indefinite lifespan" technically more correct than "immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
" which, especially in religious contexts, implies an inability to die.
Actuarial escape velocity
Life expectancyLife expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
increases slightly every year as treatment strategies and technologies improve. At present, more than one year of research is required for each additional year of expected life. Actuarial escape velocity occurs when this ratio reverses, so that life expectancy increases faster than one year per one year of research, as long as that rate of advance is sustainable.
The concept was first publicly proposed by David Gobel
David Gobel
David Gobel is an American author, CEO, entrepreneur, inventor, and futurist.-Career:David Gobel is Chief Executive Officer of the . Working with Dr. Aubrey de Grey, he founded the original non-profit in 2000 which became the Methuselah Foundation, in an effort to reverse or preempt the damage of...
, founder of the Methuselah Foundation
Methuselah Foundation
The Methuselah Foundation studies methods of extending lifespan. It is a non-profit 501 volunteer organization, co-founded by Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel, which is based in Springfield, Virginia, United States...
. The idea has been championed by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
and futurist
Futurists
Futurists or futurologists are scientists and social scientists whose speciality is to attempt to systematically predict the future, whether that of human society in particular or of life on earth in general....
Ray Kurzweil. These two claim that by putting further pressure on science and medicine to focus research on increasing limits of aging
Senescence
Senescence or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to those affecting the whole organism...
, rather than continuing along at its current pace, more lives will be saved in the future, even if the benefit is not immediately apparent.
Immortality
The terms "immortalityImmortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
" and "eternal youth
Eternal youth
Eternal youth is the concept of human physical immortality free of aging. The youth referred to is usually meant to be in contrast to the depredations of aging, rather than a specific age of the human lifespan....
" are often used as synonyms for "indefinite lifespan", but they carry connotations from their other contexts which science has deemed to be impossible. That is, immortal means "incapable of dying". Eternal implies guaranteed existence for eternity
Eternity
While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existence for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside time. By contrast, infinite temporal existence is then called sempiternity. Something eternal exists outside time; by contrast,...
, and in this context is also implausible because of entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
. Even if cures were found for all the degenerative diseases, and effective treatments were developed for all the processes of aging, so that bodies could be maintained as easily as cars can be repaired, people would still be killed in accident
Accident
An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its...
s, slain in war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
s, choosing
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
to die, etc. The term indefinite lifespan represents this more achievable state of affairs, because it merely implies freedom from death by age or infirmity. The use of the term is also sometimes favored for reasons of linguistic aesthetics, in the same way that the term birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
is preferred to "birth prevention" or "birth elimination" which both imply, as does 'immortality', that the choice is one-time only and has permanent consequences, whereas the point of 'indefinite lifespans', like the point of 'birth control', is to gain the opportunity to lead one's life in a more conscious and deliberate manner.
Probability
This question is twofold. On the one hand it can be interpreted to mean, "Will a cure (or program of effective treatments) for aging ever be developed?" while on the other hand it could mean "Will the effective treatment of aging become available soon enough for those alive today to take advantage of it?" The answer to the first question is conditional on medical advancement: if medical science continues to advance in the fields of biogerontology and bioengineering, then some people hope the answer is "yes, that it will happen eventually, excepting if some event or series of events were to prevent the further advance of biological science" (see Risks to civilization, humans and planet EarthRisks to civilization, humans and planet Earth
Various existential risks could threaten humankind as a whole, have adverse consequences for the course of human civilization, or even cause the end of planet Earth.-Types of risks:...
and the Doomsday Clock
Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global disaster. , the Doomsday Clock now stands at six...
). Many scientists researching this area at the moment do not agree. They see a problem in not just individual diseases but in failure of repair mechanisms alluded to above in the discussion of thermodynamic considerations.
While science is constantly advancing and technology is becoming ever more sophisticated, the human body and mind are finitely complex and have not changed significantly in one hundred thousand years, and the aging process has not, in that time, become any more damaging (which, in short, is why we live three times as long on average in the twenty-first century as we did ten thousand years before).
The answer to the second question depends on two factors: the first being how fast medical science advances, and the second being how well each person takes care of himself (such as utilizing the best available life extension
Life extension
Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan...
technology or not, and generally eating and behaving in a healthful and non-degrading way), both of which may affect whether or not a given person is still alive when the cure (or set of treatments) becomes available. This strategy is captured in the subtitle "Live Long Enough to Live Forever" of the popular life extension book Fantastic Voyage, by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman
Terry Grossman
Terry Grossman is an American physician, scientist, author. He is involved in fields such as nutritional and anti-aging medicine.Grossman is the founder and medical director of Grossman Wellness Center in Denver, Colorado....
, M.D.
The second factor to the second question hinges on the first factor - no amount of healthy living will enable somebody alive today to reach the point of indefinite lifespan if medical science is curtailed significantly, or if aging turns out to be massively more complex than currently believed. However, if biomedical gerontology continues to improve, if somatic genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
becomes safe and effective (and is not banned by opponents) within the relatively near future, it may be conceivable for some of those now alive to attain indefinite lifespans.
According to biogerontologist Marios Kyriazis
Marios Kyriazis
Marios Kyriazis is a medical doctor and gerontologist who helped launch and formalise the concept of ‘Anti-aging medicine’ worldwide...
, indefinite lifespans will become possible (even inevitable) because of inherent properties of natural laws governing human evolution. Kyriazis believes that as humanity is enhanced by technology, human evolution by natural selection will become redundant, and humans will continue to evolve through an indefinitely-long process of self-development. This process will necessitate the elimination of death due to aging.
Proposed techniques
Calorie restrictionCalorie restriction
Caloric restriction , or calorie restriction, is a dietary regimen that restricts calorie intake, where the baseline for the restriction varies, usually being the previous, unrestricted, intake of the subjects...
has been presented as a piece of the puzzle of reaching actuarial escape velocity. Other proposed techniques include genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
, telomere
Telomere
A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes. Its name is derived from the Greek nouns telos "end" and merοs "part"...
extension, organ regeneration, nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
, and even mind uploading.
See also
- Dyson's eternal intelligenceDyson's eternal intelligenceDyson's eternal intelligence is a concept that states an intelligent being would be able to think an infinite number of thoughts in an open universe....
- Howard FamiliesHoward FamiliesThe Howard Families are a fictional group created by the author Robert A. Heinlein.According to Heinlein, the Howard Foundation was started in the 19th century by Ira Howard, a millionaire dying of old age in his forties, for the purpose of extending human lifespans...
- List of life extension related topics
- Maximum life spanMaximum life spanMaximum life span is a measure of the maximum amount of time one or more members of a population has been observed to survive between birth and death.Most living species have at least one upper limit on the number of times cells can divide...
- Nootropics
- SenescenceSenescenceSenescence or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to those affecting the whole organism...
- Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence
- Technological singularityTechnological singularityTechnological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
Further reading
- Fantastic Voyage: The Science Behind Radical Life Extension Raymond KurzweilRaymond KurzweilRaymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition , text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments...
and Terry Grossman M.D.Terry GrossmanTerry Grossman is an American physician, scientist, author. He is involved in fields such as nutritional and anti-aging medicine.Grossman is the founder and medical director of Grossman Wellness Center in Denver, Colorado....
, Rodale. 2004. 452pp. ISBN 1-57954-954-3 - Fahy GM; Wowk B; Wu Jun, P; Rasch C; et al. (2004), Cryopreservation of organs by vitrification: perspectives and recent advances, Cryobiology, Vol.48,Iss.2;p. 157
- Blackstone, E. Morrison, M. and Roth, M. (2005) Hydrogen Sulfide Induces a Suspended Animation-like State in Mice, Science, Vol. 308, page 518.