“The pessimist is not guaranteed a tomorrow. And, if tomorrow does come, the pessimist does not expect to feel better at the same point in the race…. indeed, it might feel even worse. So, the pessimist plugs on and accomplishes their goals today. And today is the only day that counts.” Gary Cantrell
Well it has been a good week so far. Got to see some of the family this week and that was a really good thing. I have not seen my sister Cathy in a while and anytime they are up visiting their son in Denver (my nephew) I want to take the opportunity to see them. Even though the visit was brief it was good to see them all.
My wife Janet and Richard (my nephew).
My daughter Cathryn and my two great Nephews, Ford and Henry.
My sister Cathy and myself.
And of course, the proverbial group picture.
Not pictured is my nephew’s wife Laura and my brother in law Rick…somehow, they escaped all the pictures? Thinking about the two great Nephews gives me pause and I wonder where has the time gone. And that does make me feel a little old. Older than I want to be. And what is that about? I want to live as long as I can and as healthy as I can. To be able to truly enjoy life when I am 100 and older. I don’t want to be confined to a Nursing Home. I am a believer that there is some really smart guy or gal out there right now working on the longevity questions and how to extend life indefinitely. But not just indefinitely but to be healthy and fully functioning at the same time. My oh my how that would change things??!
If you are a true believer in one of the worlds mythologies (religions) then how would you wrap your head around this? I mean really, how would you and still believe? If it became possible in the future to not die of old age? To stay alive as long as you want barring any kind of incurable disease or trauma of some kind. I don’t think we as a species have thought much about this. But with that said, some have, especially some of the wealthiest individuals in the world today. They have put a significant amount of money into this research. As an example of a few: Larry Ellison (Cofounder of Oracle), Paul Glenn (Venture Capitalist), Dmitry Itskoy (Russian Multimillionaire), Peter Thiel (PayPal and Facebook fame), and Sergey Brin (Google Cofounder) to just name a few. This give me the belief that in 20 to 30 years, or maybe sooner, we may have some real progress in longevity. I have heard that the first kid to live over 150 years of age has already been born. Can you imagine spending 30 to 40 years in one area of work and passion but then being able to switch to a different field entirely. Spend the same amount of time and then switching again and again and again. Wow! Of course, with all that there would be some big adjustments in current life. Retirement? Religion? Environmental? Family? Sociology? Psychology? etc.… To just name a few. But maybe this would be the best motivation for humanity to move off world and maybe even to the distance stars? Some might see a reason why this research needs to be curtailed but for me I don’t see these issues as problems, but challenges for humanity. From the Trees, to the Plains, and then to the Stars….
The futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil believes that we are approaching this point. His belief is that the emergence of A.I. will usher in this Golden Age of Humanity. That what seems impossible now will become common place. That A.I. will create what he calls the Singularity. A rapidly developing and accelerating technology growth, an explosion in technological progress that happens overnight. Now before you start doubting this, you should check out a web site called: https://phys.org It is a “churn site.” It does not publish its own data but short synopsis of research that is occurring around the world. In almost every field. And it shows when it was published. And every day it changes, sometimes hour to hour. It’s the sheer volume of information in different areas of research that is published each and every day that gives me chills just thinking about it. I believe that Ray Kurzweil has it right when says we are fast approaching a time when a break through in technology will seem just like magic.
It is like we are on a mathematical curve that approaches an asymptote, the y value changes become larger and larger in relation to x. Almost to the point that the line described is becoming vertical. Kurzweil thinks this will be when we truly create AI or Artificial Intelligence and then, well then, all things become possible in short time frames we never thought imaginable. Have a problem…. get an AI to work on it and bingo solutions appear where there seemed to be none. Wow! It would be truly amazing if things work out this way. Just unreal and if you are still in your 50s or younger and reading this…well you might live to see it happen and more?!
Now some see the immortality question from a little different angle. They see humanity becoming immortal by embracing Transhumanism. And to some degree this has already happened in several areas of medicine. This can be thought of the blending of human and machine so to speak. If you have any of the following then you could be considered Transhumanist: cataract replacement with artificial lens, joint replacement with mechanical parts, an artificial heart valve, implantable penile prosthesis, pacemakers, even amputees from the last middle east conflict that use advanced prostheses. All of these can be considered Transhumanism. And as technology move forward, my guess is that we will see much more of this, no part of the body will be off limits. My personal opinion is that it will be a blending of human and machine that will truly allow us to be immortal.
Well that is probably enough for this week. In the word of Gary Cantrell, there is no guarantee for tomorrow. Not yet anyways. So, I need to get out and do some training for the next Ultra attempt. It is June 2nd in Golden Gate State Park. Called the Dirty Thirty. Check out the website: http://dirty30.org/ It is a 50k or about 32 miles. Here’s hoping to no mud, but of course it is an Ultra and in the mountains. So, you never know what you are going to get. Take care my friends… Have a great Holiday weekend.