Skip to content
U.S. Transhumanist Party – Official Website
  • Home
  • Posts
  • Values
  • Platform
  • Leadership
  • Advisors
  • Candidates
  • Highlights
  • FAQ
  • States & Allies
  • Free Membership
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Search Icon

U.S. Transhumanist Party – Official Website

U.S. Transhumanist Party – PUTTING SCIENCE, HEALTH, & TECHNOLOGY AT THE FOREFRONT OF AMERICAN POLITICS

For the Last Time: Rejuvenation is Not Immortality – Article by Nicola Bagalà

For the Last Time: Rejuvenation is Not Immortality – Article by Nicola Bagalà

January 10, 2018 Nicola Bagalà Comments 0 Comment

Nicola Bagalà


Editor’s Note: In this article, Mr. Nicola Bagalà explains to us the terms “rejuvenation”  and “immortality” and how they should not be construed to mean one and the same.  This article was originally published by the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation (LEAF).

                   ~ Kenneth Alum, Director of  Publication, U.S. Transhumanist Party, January 10, 2018

When doing science, it is crucially important to have clear, unambiguous definitions. These definitions must be firmly established to avoid confusion and misunderstandings and possibly to prevent people from going around telling everyone that you’re working on something that you’re actually not.

The I-word

It’s not uncommon, especially for outsiders of a given field, to use an inappropriate word to indicate a more complex concept than the word itself conveys—maybe because they think that the two are close enough or possibly because they just don’t see the difference.

For this reason, it’s likely that each field has its own unspeakably profane word; in the field of rejuvenation, that word is the dreaded I-word: immortality.

Before I explain why it is a dreaded word, it’s important to define what the heck it even means. Now, of course definitions are entirely arbitrary, and the same word could mean a different thing to a different person; but if we go with the most intuitive, commonly accepted meaning of “immortality” when nothing else is specified, then we can safely say it describes the quality of someone who cannot die. In other words, it refers to an immortal being could not be killed or die in any way, even if it wanted to. Just like people today who would like to live for an indefinitely long time (like me) are forced to eventually die by aging and are thus stuck without a choice (at least until we figure rejuvenation out), a hypothetical immortal being would be in a similar situation, with no choice to terminate its life because its immortality would force it to live forever. This brief article explains the issue very nicely and concisely.

Now, the way I approach life, immortality wouldn’t be all that bad, because I am skeptical that I’d ever have a reason to want to die. Still, I appreciate that I might be wrong, so if I could choose and wanted to play it really safe, I’d opt for an “immortality switch”; as long as it is on, you’re immortal; if and when you get tired of life, you flip it off and you become mortal again, free to get rid of your own life however you see fit.

Unfortunately, an immortality switch is just as improbable as immortality itself. Think about it: to be immortal, your chance of ever dying of any cause at all should be exactly zero. There’d be no gun, no disease, no poison, no amount of air taken out of your lungs, no stellar explosion capable of terminating your existence. The inner workings—biological or not—keeping you alive should be indestructible, able to withstand forces of any magnitude and keep going under any possible circumstance (including running out of energy). Even without dragging the fabled heat death of the universe into the mix, it’s difficult to imagine how any of this could ever be possible—let alone a switch turning this unlikely ability on and off.

What’s the difference?

I’m not going to go as far as to say that the above is completely impossible; I was trained to make such bold claims only when I can prove them, so I’ll just say that, to the best of my knowledge, this sort of immortality appears to be exceedingly unlikely.

Now, whether immortality is possible or not is an intriguing question, but it is decidedly off-topic in the field of rejuvenation, because rejuvenation is not immortality. If a universal antiviral drug able to wipe the floor with every conceivable virus existed, you wouldn’t call it an immortality drug, because right after leaving the doctor’s office where you got your miracle shot, a grand piano might happen to crush you after a 50-story free fall, and the antiviral drug wouldn’t be especially effective against that particular cause of death. Similarly, rejuvenation would save you from death by age-related diseases, but not by falling grand pianos, sadly.

Yet, both people and the media keep talking about “curing death” and “immortality pills” when the actual topic is rejuvenation biotechnology; this is a cause of particular annoyance to Dr. Aubrey de Grey, whose pioneering work is constantly called an “immortality quest” and similar things. Since immortality reasonably seems a pipe dream and is laden with all sorts of ethical issues and concerns, whether justified or not, this results in a gross misrepresentation of the entire field and a lot of unwarranted bashing of completely legitimate medical research whose only fault is that it aims to prevent the diseases of aging rather than just coping with them.

The same story is true of negligible senescence. If a successful rejuvenation platform were implemented, people would still age biologically, but we would have therapies capable of undoing such aging. Through periodic reapplication of these therapies, the hallmarks of aging would always be kept well below the pathology threshold. In other words, we would still senesce (that is, age), but our level of senescence would stay negligible—that’s where the term comes from. Yet, many people keep calling negligible senescence immortality just like they do rejuvenation biotechnology, whether deliberately or by genuine mistake, thereby providing an excellent strawman for needy critics to beat. This is why the I-word is dreaded in this field, by the way.

Negligible senescence is the expected result of truly comprehensive rejuvenation biotechnologies, and yes, if we got there, our healthspan would be vastly increased, and consequently, so would our lifespan; if you were in perfect health for longer than, say, 100 years, it is a disarmingly trivial consequence that you would live for longer than 100 years. However, whether a negligibly senescent person then lives on forever or not, or ten thousand years from now, someone beats the odds and comes up with a fancy immortality switch, is an entirely different matter that is beyond the scope of the field of rejuvenation biotechnology. Speaking of which, let me reiterate once more what its actual scope is: to eradicate age-related diseases. All the rest, whether consequential effects or downright made-up rubbish, is just unnecessary embroidery.

About Nicola Bagalà

Nicola Bagalà has been an enthusiastic supporter and advocate of rejuvenation science since 2011. Although his preferred approach to treating age related diseases is Aubrey de Grey’s suggested SENS platform, he is very interested in any other potential approach as well. In 2015, he launched the blog Rejuvenaction to advocate for rejuvenation and to answer common concerns that generally come with the prospect of vastly extended healthy lifespans. Originally a mathematician graduated from Helsinki University, his scientific interests range from cosmology to AI, from drawing and writing to music, and he always complains he doesn’t have enough time to dedicate to all of them which is one of the reasons he’s into life extension. He’s also a computer programmer and web developer. All the years spent learning about the science of rejuvenation have sparked his interest in biology, in which he’s planning to get a university degree.

About LIFE EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATION (LEAF)

In 2014, the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting increased healthy human lifespan through fiscally sponsoring longevity research projects and raising awareness regarding the societal benefits of life extension. In 2015 they launched Lifespan.io, the first nonprofit crowdfunding platform focused on the biomedical research of aging.

They believe that this will enable the general public to influence the pace of research directly. To date they have successfully supported four research projects aimed at investigating different processes of aging and developing therapies to treat age-related diseases.

The LEAF team organizes educational events, takes part in different public and scientific conferences, and actively engages with the public on social media in order to help disseminate this crucial information. They initiate public dialogue aimed at regulatory improvement in the fields related to rejuvenation biotechnology.


Guest Articles
Aubrey de Grey, immortality, LEAF, life extension, Life Extension Advocacy Foundation, longevity, Nicola Bagalà, rejuvenation, research

Post navigation

PREVIOUS
A Review of Immunosenescence – Article by Steve Hill
NEXT
New Clinical Study May Be the World’s First Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease – Press Release from Libella Gene Therapeutics

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Social Media

Constitution of the U.S. Transhumanist Party

Transhumanist Bill of Rights – Version 3.0

U.S. Transhumanist Party Facebook Feed

Free Transhumanist Symbols

Guidelines for Community Conduct

SUBMIT A POST

Subject Categories

    - Life Extension
    - Artificial Intelligence
    - Space Colonization
    - Robotics
    - Biotechnology
    - Nanotechnology
    - Autonomous Vehicles
    - 3D Printing
    - Cryptocurrencies
    - Vertical Farming
    - Universal Basic Income
    - Existential Risk
    - Rationality

Hashtags

    #USTranshumanistParty, #TranshumanistParty, #TranshumanistPolitics, #TomRoss2024, #RossTwedt2024

Recent Posts

  • Why Is Trump So Intent on Sending Illegal Immigrant Noncriminals to Prison Camps in El Salvador? – Article by Alex Nowrasteh
  • Tribute to John Kerecz (1961 – 2025)
  • The Copenhagen Consensus – How to Feed the Hungry – Article by Zach Richardson
  • The Issue of Food – Article by Luis Arroyo
  • Results of Platform Vote #9 and Vote on Proposals on Investigations and Emergency Declarations; Adopted Sections of the U.S. Transhumanist Party Constitution
  • Official Ballot Options for Platform Vote #9 and Proposals on Investigations and Emergency Declarations
  • Gennady Stolyarov I and Gennady Stolyarov II Discuss the Progress of Information Technology (2019)
  • Immortality: My Quest and Reasons for Seeking an Indefinite Lifespan – Article by Albi Ndoni
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party General Discussion Thread for 2025
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party Statement on the Murder of Brian Thompson
  • News Regarding THPedia, the Transhumanist Encyclopedia for Everyone – Invitation to Contribute – Statement by Gennady Stolyarov II
  • The Transhumanist Council: A Worthy Effort for a New Umbrella Transhumanist Organization
  • Report on the Montana Right to Try Act – Analysis by Shamar White
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party Comments on the Citizen Petition by Age Reversal Unity to Declare Aging a Disease
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party Chairman’s Eighth Anniversary Message
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party Statement on the Outcome of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election
  • Preliminary Member-Reported Write-In Totals for Tom Ross and Daniel Twedt in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election
  • U.S. Transhumanist Party and Nevada Transhumanist Party Positions on 2024 Nevada Ballot Questions
  • Where to Write In Tom Ross for President of the United States – and How to Make Sure Your Vote Counts
  • Celebration of U.S. Transhumanist Party 10th Anniversary and International Longevity Month

Recent Comments

  • R. Nicholas Starr on U.S. Transhumanist Party General Discussion Thread for 2025
  • Luis Arroyo on Tribute to John Kerecz (1961 – 2025)
  • shamar on U.S. Transhumanist Party General Discussion Thread for 2025
  • Gennady Stolyarov II on U.S. Transhumanist Party General Discussion Thread for 2025
  • Theo Ibrahim on The Issue of Food – Article by Luis Arroyo

Archives

  • June 2025 (1)
  • May 2025 (1)
  • March 2025 (3)
  • February 2025 (1)
  • January 2025 (3)
  • December 2024 (2)
  • November 2024 (6)
  • October 2024 (3)
  • September 2024 (2)
  • August 2024 (5)
  • July 2024 (4)
  • June 2024 (3)
  • May 2024 (1)
  • March 2024 (1)
  • February 2024 (1)
  • January 2024 (8)
  • October 2023 (11)
  • September 2023 (6)
  • August 2023 (1)
  • July 2023 (4)
  • May 2023 (3)
  • April 2023 (3)
  • March 2023 (2)
  • February 2023 (12)
  • January 2023 (23)
  • December 2022 (2)
  • November 2022 (2)
  • October 2022 (3)
  • August 2022 (3)
  • July 2022 (2)
  • May 2022 (6)
  • March 2022 (3)
  • February 2022 (4)
  • January 2022 (7)
  • December 2021 (11)
  • November 2021 (4)
  • October 2021 (5)
  • September 2021 (2)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • July 2021 (3)
  • June 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (6)
  • April 2021 (7)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • February 2021 (5)
  • January 2021 (6)
  • December 2020 (10)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (5)
  • June 2020 (6)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (3)
  • March 2020 (6)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (6)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (9)
  • September 2019 (10)
  • August 2019 (12)
  • July 2019 (18)
  • June 2019 (17)
  • May 2019 (12)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (12)
  • February 2019 (7)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (9)
  • November 2018 (5)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (5)
  • August 2018 (10)
  • July 2018 (13)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (8)
  • March 2018 (10)
  • February 2018 (15)
  • January 2018 (17)
  • December 2017 (8)
  • November 2017 (17)
  • October 2017 (19)
  • September 2017 (11)
  • August 2017 (11)
  • July 2017 (16)
  • June 2017 (15)
  • May 2017 (10)
  • April 2017 (7)
  • March 2017 (8)
  • February 2017 (16)
  • January 2017 (8)
  • December 2016 (6)
  • November 2016 (5)

Categories

  • Allied Projects
  • Announcements
  • Art
  • Candidates
  • Debate
  • Discussion Panels
  • Distributed Computing
  • Exposure Periods
  • Foreign Ambassadors
  • General Discussion
  • Guest Articles
  • Inclusion
  • Interviews
  • Legislative Analysis
  • Official Ballots
  • Petitions
  • Platform
  • Presentations
  • Press Releases
  • Research
  • Sample Ballots
  • Science Fiction
  • Statements
  • Tolerance
  • Virtual Enlightenment Salons
  • Vote Results
  • Working Groups

Victor Run Virtual Race – June 4-6, 2021

Historical Archive – 2020 U.S. Presidential Ticket – Charlie Kam and Liz Parrish

© 2025   Copyright - U.S. Transhumanist Party - All Rights Reserved | WordPress design: Art Ramon Paintings