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G0W51 comments on Open thread, Aug. 03 - Aug. 09, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I have heard (from the book Global Catastrophic Risks) that life extension could increase existential risk by giving oppressive regimes increased stability by decreasing how frequently they would need to select successors. However, I think it may also decrease existential risk by giving people a greater incentive to care about the far future (because they could be in it). What are your thoughts on the net effect of life extension?
One of the stronger factors influencing the frequency of wars is the ratio of young men to older men. Life extension would change that ratio to imply fewer wars. See http://earthops.org/immigration/Mesquida_Wiener99.pdf.
Stable regimes seem to have less need for oppression than unstable ones. So while I see some risk that mild oppression will be more common with life extension, I find it hard to see how that would increase existential risks.
But why do young men cause wars (assuming they do)? If everyone remains biologically 22 forever, are they psychologically more similar to actual 22 year-olds or to whatever their chronological age is? If younger men are more aggressive due to higher testosterone levels (or whatever) agelessness might actually have the opposite effect, increasing the percentage of the male population which is aggressive.
Oppression could cause an existential catastrophe if the oppressive regime is never ended.
Radical life extension might lead to overpopulation and wars that might escalate to existential risk level danger.
Is there anything that can't somehow be spun into increasing existential risk? The biggest existential risk is being alive at all in the first place.
Yes, but I'm looking to see if it increases existential risk more than it decreases it, and if the increase is significant.