Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Mathematics of Living Forever

Samuel Arbesman informs:
Actuarial escape velocity is the idea that at some point average human lifetime will grow by more than a year each year. Right now the rate is only a fraction of a year (thanks to changes in medical science and hygiene) a year. If it exceeds one year per year, people will effectively live for ever, without having to solve the immortality problem.
There's a sneaky step here assuming that growth in human lifetime continues to accelerate and once it hits more than a year (if it ever does) that the growth won't fall back below a year, but still a fascinating perspective.

5 comments:

  1. Ha!
    Ya think we have a SS/Medicare problem NOW?
    Calling Shirley Jackson, we need a lottery.
    Better than a death panel.

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  2. There's a sneaky step here assuming that growth in human lifetime continues to accelerate and once it hits more than a year (if it ever does) that the growth won't fall back below a year

    Well, they're assuming that the average won't fall below a year per year.

    Singularity 2050 has written about it before.

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  3. if you found that interesting, you'd love Aubrey De Grey and his Ted Talk:

    http://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html

    he touches on the possibility of (effective) immortality, or rather, non-aging, the problems at hand, etc. Really interesting stuff, and the social impact would be incredible.

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  4. When do they expect this "more than one year per year" to arrive? I WANT TO LIVE FOREVER.

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