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AngryParsley comments on How to sign up for Alcor cryo - Less Wrong Discussion

32 Post author: oge 26 April 2015 02:51AM

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Comment author: AngryParsley 27 April 2015 09:57:05AM *  7 points [-]

Is that 50-55% estimate conditional on no civilizational collapse or extinction event? Either way, it seems very optimistic. According to current actuarial estimates, a 30 year-old has about a 50% chance of living another 50 years. For life expectancy to dramatically increase, a lot of things have to fall into place over the next half-century. If you think anti-aging tech will be available in 30 years, consider how medicine has advanced in the past 30. Unless there are significant breakthroughs, we're sunk. I'm signed up for cryo and I donate to SENS, but my estimates are much more pessimistic than yours.

Comment author: Dentin 27 April 2015 04:12:05PM 1 point [-]

I believe I used a fairly small number for civilizational collapse and extinction, on the order of ten to fifteen percent. I just don't find such doomsday scenarios that likely or plausible.

It may be that my background and upbringing have inured me to it - I've seen the end of the world not happen far too many times in my lifetime:

  • Communists failed to conquer everyone
  • There was no nuclear war/nuclear winter with russia
  • The UN new world order didn't enslave everyone
  • The end times due to the second coming of christ haven't happened at least a dozen times
  • y2k didn't cause problems
  • 2012 was just retarded
  • There has been no superflu
  • The stock market has become more stable over time, not less
  • Peak oil happened and nobody even noticed
  • There was no hard AI takeoff

There's probably more if I stop to think about it.

At the moment, I find biotech to be the most likely existential threat, with general civilization collapse and strong AI the next two major candidates.