Live forever- Aubrey De Grey

Merry Christmas! Its been over a month since I last posted. Have lots going on and lots to say, actually...just no time to write it. But its Christmas break now, so I'm posting on what's on my mind at the minute, which is Cambridge biologist Aubrey De Grey.

De Grey says he has tracked the main causes of aging -which can essentially be defined as the gradual failure and decay of the body after long periods of continuous metabolism- and gives his ideas on what can be done to prevent that decay from happening. In other words, he believes that through science people could live for hundreds, if not thousands of years, in a relatively "youthful" state without ever dying of old age. He offers a prize for anyone who can disprove his proposition.

The ideas are interesting, though I notice the documentary stops short of describing those cellular processes in any serious detail, opting instead to compare De Grey to Da Vinci, and focus on character and personality issues of the man. On his website, you need to become a member before he'll even venture to explain.

Even assuming the cellular arguments are sound, I can think of one thing that he can't stop from aging without some negative consequences- the mind.

"Maturation" and "aging" are two different things. Aging involves the death of cells, etc, which can be replaced. Maturation is another matter. Unlike your physical body, which is bound to have 4 limbs in adulthood regardless of what you do (and regardless of what little use they might be of in the alien terrain of a dramatically different future), the mind has some plasticity in its youth that allows it to adapt to novel circumstances. That's why kids around the world grow up to learn very different languages with ease. Its also why its nearly impossible for anyone through adolescence to learn a second language completely fluently, without the slightest trace of an accent, and why blind people can't comprehend what they "see" if surgery corrects their eyes some time in adulthood. You only have a window of time in childhood to master these tasks, when your mind is still new and malleable.

But once that development is complete, or in its later stages, it is difficult to go back. As an analogy, imagine that a young mind is like a pan of wet clay, and that the pattern required to adapt to life in the US resembles a starfish.

Now imagine that a person is transported back to ancient Mongolia and must now live under Genghis Kahn or something. The pattern required to deal with that requires a seahorse. But now what option do you have to change? Its not just a matter of health. Neural Network models that have no issues with decaying cells have the same problem. Early in their life they can adapt to accommodate a new operation. But as time goes on they reach a point of no return.

In a way, that's in line with what he's saying- you can't reverse aging, just slow/stop it. But you never know when circumstances will change in such a way that the mind could need to change. A brain that appears to be the picture of youth and eternal resilience can encounter great difficulties as the terrain changes. In a way that a young, still immature brain will not. That's why innovations come with youth and future generations. Because their minds have the flexibility to adapt to these new circumstances, and view the new terrain in a fresh light.

There are some brilliant older people that still jump on the latest technology and buy and understand the marvels of computers and iphones. But they are few and far between. That kind of flexibility is a testament to their great intelligence, which most people do not have, regardless of what you could do to them to cease aging. And even in these cases, using novel technology is a rather trivial, superficial change in the times. It would pale to the changes in circumstances that a thousand years would produce. Sure you could live forever. But remember- you may not be able to live the way you're accustomed to. You may have to speak a different language and live by very different social mores. If the great men of the 1830's (to say nothing of the 1200's, or 300 BC's) were all still alive, even frozen at a youthful 40, they would still hold the traditions, mannerisms and convictions of the past. And they would be incredibly tiresome bores.

People living in Japan, marveling at the snail-like pace of its politics- You think its difficult for things to progress and change in Japan now? Just imagine if the emperor-worshiping crowd that got japan into WWII were all still alive, and still running the show (and given Japan's respect for the elderly, they all still would be). Good lord.