Discussion (Possibly upsetting) How do you deal with missing out on Humanitys Advancements?

[Sukui]

Since i was a little kid i was extremely invested in the technological development of our species and where we might end up in a few decades or at the end of my life.
(When i was kid i never expected my life to come to an end this soon of course)

As you know in the past few years we have seen crazy advancements in Computing, AI, Space Travel, VR, Architecture etc.
Progress starts to increase exponentially.

Just a few minutes ago i saw an article about a breakthrough in anti-aging research and it is very likely that our generation already will become practically immortal.
Increasing the lifespan of our population is especially attractive for first world countries which currently face a serious demographic crisis.

If our species manages to survive the next couple of decades, we no doubt will ascent to heights we can't even imagine right now.

And that's exactly what worries me so much.
I would love to be there to experience all of this, but the pain is just too much and the situation i am in to dire too continue.

 

[PrisonPlanetBreak]

I don't yearn for immortality, but ever since I was little I've had a passion for space and the universe in general. Looking up at the stars in a place where there is little to no light pollution, seeing the beauty of the night sky just feels like a cruel joke. And our current space program also feels like a joke, although I am fully aware how difficult it is to do what NASA is doing.

A couple of years ago, I developed an (unhealthy) obsession with the /r/Aliens subreddit, and went down some rabbit holes. It's not something I feel too comfortable talking about, but being trapped on this planet plays a part in my depression, and that's coming from someone who's only seen three to four other cities in my country, besides my hometown. I have the money to travel, but I don't have the will to do it. It sometimes feels like I would be a lot more eager to just fly off to a different solar system, than see what life on Earth has in store.

So part of my delusions, is that we have the means to develop crafts capable of traveling to a different solar system, but the government is more interested in studying how such technology can be weaponized and used for leverage in a war. It sounds crazy, it's something I definitely cannot talk about in front of friends/colleagues/family, but at least I hope I can do so on this forum.

That being said, I feel like the universe could play a cruel enough joke on me such that the moment I engage into CTB, some whistleblowers spill the actual beans. No speculations or blurry videos, or hearsay stuff. But alas, I don't think it's something that can get me to stick around. If anything, there's a higher chance that if I keep dwelling on this subject long enough, I'll end up in a psych ward not because of suicidal tendencies but because I will go proper crazy.​

 

[Forever Sleep]

I guess it depends on how much you admire the human race. I'm much more of a pessimist. I suspect we will just continue to pollute the earth, climate change will become more and more extreme and we will see horrendous 'natural' disasters and freak weather that will claim more and more lives. I'm looking forward to not having to witness that and I'm so relieved I haven't had children to lumber with the problem.

I don't entirely get why it would be so good to live a long life when the human body naturally degrades and is far more susceptible to things like alzeimers and incontinence. I've seen inside nursing homes. I doubt many people want to live like that.

Fine- if they can work out a way to enable people to have a good quality of life but just prolonging life for the sake of it and worse- pressuring people to live longer and retire later seems wrong to me. It's fine if we progress in all areas- which includes giving humans the right to bodily autonomy but actually- I see prolonging life (against someone's wishes) could in fact be a very negative thing. Still- ignore me. I'm such a pessimist and a cynic. Probably much healthier to have a love for the human race.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I'll not have anything form any of those "advancements" bc simply I'm not rich enough to enjoy them ...

yeah I'd be interested in a trip into space in an orbit around the earth, in VR worlds, living in "future cities", increasing my life span ...

 

[NumbItAll]

I guess it depends on how much you admire the human race. I'm much more of a pessimist. I suspect we will just continue to pollute the earth, climate change will become more and more extreme and we will see horrendous 'natural' disasters and freak weather that will claim more and more lives. I'm looking forward to not having to witness that and I'm so relieved I haven't had children to lumber with the problem.

I don't entirely get why it would be so good to live a long life when the human body naturally degrades and is far more susceptible to things like alzeimers and incontinence. I've seen inside nursing homes. I doubt many people want to live like that.

Fine- if they can work out a way to enable people to have a good quality of life but just prolonging life for the sake of it and worse- pressuring people to live longer and retire later seems wrong to me. It's fine if we progress in all areas- which includes giving humans the right to bodily autonomy but actually- I see prolonging life (against someone's wishes) could in fact be a very negative thing. Still- ignore me. I'm such a pessimist and a cynic. Probably much healthier to have a love for the human race.

Yeah I don't trust humans at all, and I fundamentally dislike life, so I'm happy to miss out on all that. There isn't any new technology that excites me anymore. If they invent a cure for loneliness then I will be interested, but technology seems to only make that worse lol.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Yeah I don't trust humans at all, and I fundamentally dislike life, so I'm happy to miss out on all that. There isn't any new technology that excites me anymore. If they invent a cure for loneliness then I will be interested, but technology seems to only make that worse lol.

Oh, that's so sad- a cure for loneliness? I really felt that. I'm so sorry.

 

[Sukui]

I don't yearn for immortality, but ever since I was little I've had a passion for space and the universe in general. Looking up at the stars in a place where there is little to no light pollution, seeing the beauty of the night sky just feels like a cruel joke. And our current space program also feels like a joke, although I am fully aware how difficult it is to do what NASA is doing.

A couple of years ago, I developed an (unhealthy) obsession with the /r/Aliens subreddit, and went down some rabbit holes. It's not something I feel too comfortable talking about, but being trapped on this planet plays a part in my depression, and that's coming from someone who's only seen three to four other cities in my country, besides my hometown. I have the money to travel, but I don't have the will to do it. It sometimes feels like I would be a lot more eager to just fly off to a different solar system, than see what life on Earth has in store.

So part of my delusions, is that we have the means to develop crafts capable of traveling to a different solar system, but the government is more interested in studying how such technology can be weaponized and used for leverage in a war. It sounds crazy, it's something I definitely cannot talk about in front of friends/colleagues/family, but at least I hope I can do so on this forum.

That being said, I feel like the universe could play a cruel enough joke on me such that the moment I engage into CTB, some whistleblowers spill the actual beans. No speculations or blurry videos, or hearsay stuff. But alas, I don't think it's something that can get me to stick around. If anything, there's a higher chance that if I keep dwelling on this subject long enough, I'll end up in a psych ward not because of suicidal tendencies but because I will go proper crazy.​

Thats why i value people like Elon Musk so much.
He is not a perfect person by any means, but at least he has a vision and uses his resources trying to bring humanity forward with Space X.
Leaving this planet and establishing ourselves in the universe is arguably the most important thing to do in general.

And yeah i feel you on the last part.
If aliens revealed themselves to us one day after my passing i would not let that slide AT ALL.
Better to not think about it too much.

I guess it depends on how much you admire the human race. I'm much more of a pessimist. I suspect we will just continue to pollute the earth, climate change will become more and more extreme and we will see horrendous 'natural' disasters and freak weather that will claim more and more lives. I'm looking forward to not having to witness that and I'm so relieved I haven't had children to lumber with the problem.

I don't entirely get why it would be so good to live a long life when the human body naturally degrades and is far more susceptible to things like alzeimers and incontinence. I've seen inside nursing homes. I doubt many people want to live like that.

Fine- if they can work out a way to enable people to have a good quality of life but just prolonging life for the sake of it and worse- pressuring people to live longer and retire later seems wrong to me. It's fine if we progress in all areas- which includes giving humans the right to bodily autonomy but actually- I see prolonging life (against someone's wishes) could in fact be a very negative thing. Still- ignore me. I'm such a pessimist and a cynic. Probably much healthier to have a love for the human race.

I would love to have a more pessimistic view similar to yours aswell.
Even though i want Humanity to succeed, that way i would be much less jealous of my friends and others who get to experience the future.

But tbh, even if the world ends in the next few decades for whatever reason, the thought of being there together with your loved ones in the last moments of our existence and seeing everything coming to an end is kinda beautiful in it's own way.

So regardless of what happens to our species next, i'm sad that i can't be there.
No happy end for me

 

[TakesOneToKnowOne]

Feel the same way. Would like to see how the world looks in 30 years. Can not teleport there unfortunately...

 

[Sukui]

I'll not have anything form any of those "advancements" bc simply I'm not rich enough to enjoy them ...

yeah I'd be interested in a trip into space in an orbit around the earth, in VR worlds, living in "future cities", increasing my life span ...

Of course being rich gives you an advantage, but i think the Quality of Life will drastically increase for pretty much everyone in the future.
I don't know if there even will really be lower class people anymore.
Chances are a universal standard of wealth and health will be present by then.
And even products like phones made for normal people who maybe would be considered middle class or lower class will improve immensly.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Of course being rich gives you an advantage, but i think the Quality of Life will drastically increase for pretty much everyone in the future.
I don't know if there even will really be lower class people anymore.
Chances are a universal standard of wealth and health will be present by then.
And even products like phones made for normal people who maybe would be considered middle class or lower class will improve immensly.

You seem to have a vision for the future and that's cool!

If your vision ever become true, I'm most likely long dead already. I passed more than 50% of an avg lifetime already.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

I'd be stuck experiencing all these things as the undesirable me and no one else, even more alienated and stuck on the sidelines than now.

Just a few minutes ago i saw an article about a breakthrough in anti-aging research and it is very likely that our generation already will become practically immortal.
Increasing the lifespan of our population is especially attractive for first world countries which currently face a serious demographic crisis.

Wouldn't that just exacerbate it?

And that's exactly what worries me so much.
I would love to be there to experience all of this, but the pain is just too much and the situation i am in to dire too continue.

Could you improve your situation, if you feel this strong of an investment in witnessing the future?

 

[jar-baby]

Could you link the article?

Edit: I asked because I think there's a tendency in the media to glamorise studies like these. Often medical research seems promising but doesn't lead to anything tangible.

Not that I'm denying that we live interesting times. I can relate to wanting to live to see humanity's technological advancements (specifically when it comes to AI and genetic engineering).

That said, I don't think there's enough to suggest we're anywhere close to human immortality and even if someone invented an elixir of life, it'd probably only be available to the uber-wealthy. So we're all virtually guaranteed to miss out on most of humanity's progress anyway. And considering it's not currently known what consciousness even is— in the material, biological sense, I don't think consciousness transfers will be possible anytime soon either. Maybe that's just me being a pessimist though.

If you are set on ctb— does it help to figure that you won't know what you're missing out on? That you won't feel a loss?

 

[Sukui]

You seem to have a vision for the future and that's cool!

If your vision ever become true, I'm most likely long dead already. I passed more than 50% of an avg lifetime already.

Who knows, maybe you will be able to upload your conciousness before your passing or at the very least still benefit from anti-aging medicine.
Even if not, you just spend 50% of your lifetime which means you still have loads of time to witness a lot of cool shit coming out soon that our ancestors could have just dreamed off.

I'd be stuck experiencing all these things as the undesirable me and no one else, even more alienated and stuck on the sidelines than now.

Wouldn't that just exacerbate it?


Could you improve your situation, if you feel this strong of an investment in witnessing the future?

At the very least you would be stuck alone with the newest Gigachad 3000 VR Headset that lets you Fly Spaceships, Explore the Universe and feel the sand on your skin instead of the stuff we have right now, you know what i mean?

Maybe these advancements would exacerbate what you are going through right now, but i tend to think that things would generally rather get better than worse.

Regarding myself: no, i don't think that's possible.
I hoped for a wonder to happen to me for the past few years when i still had a tiny flame inside of me or some form of enlightement that hit me which takes away my pain, but that is not going to happen.
As time passes on my pain only gets worse, i am done.

Could you link the article?

The article was in German and summarised a number of breakhroughs that happened, primarily one that happened 2022 in the Altos Cambridge Institute of Science.

I found an english article that talks about this https://longevity.technology/news/research-reverses-aging-in-human-skin-cells-by-30-years/amp/
The German article also talked about the introduction of AI into this field of medicine, which is the real breakthrough in my eyes because that will speed up things a lot.

 

[Sukui]

Could you link the article?

Edit: I asked because I think there's a tendency in the media to glamorise studies like these. Often medical research seems promising but doesn't lead to anything tangible.

Not that I'm denying that we live interesting times. I can relate to wanting to live to see humanity's technological advancements (specifically when it comes to AI and genetic engineering).

That said, I don't think there's enough to suggest we're anywhere close to human immortality and even if someone invented an elixir of life, it'd probably only be available to the uber-wealthy. So we're all virtually guaranteed to miss out on most of humanity's progress anyway. And considering it's not currently known what consciousness even is— in the material, biological sense, I don't think consciousness transfers will be possible anytime soon either. Maybe that's just me being a pessimist though.

If you are set on ctb— does it help to figure that you won't know what you're missing out on? That you won't feel a loss?

To clear something up, the article that i read didn't claim that we will become "immortal" in our generation. That is purely my prediction based upon the rate research is currently going.
I am absolutely certain that if Humanity doesn't end we will be become so advanced in lets say 60 years, that we can't even fathom it right now.
Biological aging as we know it will not be a thing anymore at one point.
Wether only the ultra rich will get access to it depends ofc on how human society will evolve.
I know that we will be able to "copy" Brains eventually, because our Brains are just very complex Machines that can be recreated 1 to 1 with the right tech.
But actually transferring someones consiousness is a pretty monumental task and i have no idea if that will actually be possible. I just threw that into the room for fun.

The Universe will continue without me after my death. I won't be able to be upset over missing out then, but i am aware of what i will miss out right now.