ESSAY .83 The Consequences of Physical Immortality: Can Humans Cope with Radically Extended Lifespans? Bruce J. Klein Immortality Institute USA Bruce J. Klein considers himself to be a fairly aver- Yet, social resistance to change is persistent. There age homosapien, yet he believes his DNA is suicidal. In will always be some degree of resistance because of our order to overcome this problem, Klein hopes to eventu- evolutionary heritage. Our ancestors were successful ally shed his biological body for a more robust posthu- reproducers not because they took great risks. They man form. were successful on the whole because they were risk Kharin: How well are infinite lifespans matched to averse. Thus, evolution has selected for humans who finite environmental resources? Given popular resistance were somewhat resistant to change but not totally to the most basic forms of genetic modification, can we closed to opportunity. Once the benefits are made obvi- rely on science and technology to keep pace with expand- ous however, resistance turns quickly to support. ing lifespans? Remember the clamoring3 over "test tube babies"? In short, Yes. I think we can keep pace with popu- In the early 1970's, nearly all bioethicists warned against lation growth and we can steward environmental in vitro fertilization (IVF) and 80% of the American public resources successfully. Chiefly because we've already opposed test-tube babies. Today, over 100,000 babies been successful thus far. Looking forward, because of exist - 200,000 worldwide, from IVF. And now about greater fine tuning and skill at the manipulation of mat- 80% of Americans support IVF. ter, we will improve. Kharin: In the event that finite resources and infinite Creativity and ingenuity are infinite in capacity. So lifespans conflict with one another, to what extent is there long as we have something to do and are alive, there likely to be a trade-off between increasing lifespans and will always be problems to solve and better ways to increasing birthrates? Can we rely on the European pat- solve them. As humans strive for a better life, this drive tern of falling birthrates and increasing lifespans being will propel technology and requisite efficiency gains fur- repeated elsewhere? ther into the future. Well, this question implies there is some inherent Granted, this doesn't preclude the possibility of "finite resource" problem. I tend to disagree. As alluded some catastrophic or unforeseen external or internal to in the first response, as long as humans seek a better event happening. Life, of course, has been devastated life, creativity and innovation will necessitate and result on numerous occasions by asteroid impacts and we in more efficiency and greater degrees of fine-tuning. seem to have the dangerous urge to blow each other This will lead to even more innovation, creation and effi- up. Yet, the 'engine' of creation1, as Eric Drexler's writes, ciencies. Pretty much what we see now, just more of it. continues to hum along. And as Ray Kurzweil2 rightly Extrapolate this pattern of improvement towards points out, it's all happening at an accelerating rate. some possible conclusion, and one can make some Journal of Futures Studies, May 2004, 8(4): 83 - 88 Journal of Futures Studies pretty far out predictions. One is that we'll even- growing entrepreneurial drive, goods are now tually have control over every atom in the uni- being produced more cheaply and productivity verse. Moravec, Tipler, Perry and others have gains are being realized as centralized govern- postulated these futures, but I'll just say here ments tend to sell their monopolies businesses that I believe it is theoretically possible. I would and assets to the private sector. also like to note that I believe we'll experience a Economist Fredrick Hayek said it best in "Singularity"4 from this process. But that's anoth- "The Road To Serfdom"6: er topic. Only since industrial freedom opened Also, while answering this question I hap- the path to the free use of new knowl- pened upon the following quote from a U.S. edge, only since everything could be News article by Jerry Taylor,5 a resource special- tried - if somebody could be found to ist at the free-market Cato Institute: back it at his own risk -- has science While it is counterintuitive to many made the great strides which in the people, natural resources are not fixed last 150 years have changed the face and finite; they are created by of the world. The result of this growth mankind, not by Mother Nature. Since surpassed all expectations. Wherever resources are a function of human the barriers to the Gee exercise of knowledge, and our stock of knowl- human ingenuity were removed, man edge has increased over time, it should became rapidly able to satisfy ever- come as no surprise that the stock of widening ranges of desire. physical resources has also been Kharin: How much of a problem is access expanding. to the technologies that are the "gateway" to Taylor goes on to give examples from the immortality, given the likely expense? In particu- oil industry, but I believe his overall assessment lar, won't economic inequality always bar access is correct and applicable to all areas of human for certain sections of the population? And in achievement. areas like Europe and Canada with state funded In answer to your question about birth health services what is the likelihood of them rates, first if all, humans may not always want to even being offered? have children, or at least at such a fast and furi- There will always be differing degrees of ous clip. If people knew they could live for hun- quality in service and accessibility to health care. dreds even thousands of years in good health, Providing advanced health care services is an the drive to have children would certainly expensive business and we're starting to see decline. some strain on the system as we grow older Importantly, the introduction of the birth and live longer. However, the goal should not control pill in the 1960s has given women a to achieve some sort of perfect parity, rather we choice and gives us a hint at what is to come. If should work for a competitive balance. We not specifically because of increased lifespan in should allow the system to work to improve the past few centuries, but surely a contributing itself. We should allow for competition, not factor, women are choosing to have fewer chil- impose overbearing regulation. Granted, a cer- dren later in life. Also the children they have are tain amount of regulation is needed, but the for the most part surviving. This is a big advance balance is always safer on the side of less, espe- over the past when many children died before cially in the long run. their first birthday. Today, the need to have But more specifically to the question of many children to ensure that at least some will "gateway" technologies and immortality; look- survive is not as important as it used to be. ing to examples in the past as a guide can be Overall the trend looks promising, espe- helpful. While, automobiles were only for the cially in the lesser developed countries where rich at the turn of the century; today, most we see a rise in the standard of living because of Americans of legal driving age have a car. I 84 free market expansion. Chiefly powered by a believe health and longevity care to be no differ- The Consequences of Physical Immortality ent. Having access to health and life extension my point of view. There is justifiable concern, technologies will be a universal want, because however, for its effectiveness. For instance, of this, the cost on a per person basis will drop there is a point after death where cellular dam- with demand. Free market forces are powerful age is to overwhelming and cryonics is useless. and work, just as they have worked with other Some have speculated this point to be two technologies (i.e. cars, televisions, computers, hours, maybe more. I'm not sure. But, as a safe- you name it). ty net, nothing is better than cryonics at pre- Kharin: Finally, inequality and social insta- serving the information of the brain after death. bility have always been closely linked and some As Ralph Merkle7 says, "Would I rather be in the have predicted that technologies like genetic control group, or the experimental group?" modification may lead to social unrest. How Also, cryonics is important for bringing the much of a concern is this? debate of immortality to a larger audience. As suggested above, a free market econo- When the Ted Williams'8 story hit, I believe it my with few restrictions will allow human inno- was overall good for cryonics. It gives people a vation to help with the dispersal of wanted common starting point, a common person to goods. Social unrest in the past was largely due associate with an idea. It has also raised impor- to overburdening regulations by governments. tant questions as to why someone would want Large corporate monopolies are a worrisome to preserve their body after death in the first possibility as well. I would not count out a sce- place. nario where one biotech company could posses Kharin: Another issue is that even with nan- the elixir for immortality. But the chances are otechnology to repair tissue damage; suspen- slim for a couple of reasons. sions may remain, since the charge fields used to a) The problem of aging is a complex one. store memory decay as entropy sets in during The disease of aging it's a multifaceted cryonic preservation, so that any re-animation intercellular problem.