What will humans do when we live forever?

Humans alive right now could be alive for thousands of years. This video breaks this down. David Shapiro is one of our favorites here at Feed The Beast. Below are the key notes from the video.

Longevity Prediction and Trends:

• David Shapiro predicts a medical "Panacea" is on the horizon, focusing on three significant trends in health technology.

• AI Drug Discovery: Shapiro highlights FDA's interest in AI-generated drugs

• Rejuvenation Therapies: Universities like Harvard and MIT are researching medicines that rejuvenate cells without requiring genetic engineering.

• AI's role in early sensing, detection, and prevention of diseases, like predicting Alzheimer's decades in advance, is the third leg of this "Panacea."

Longevity Escape Velocity:

• Shapiro argues that we are close to or already at longevity escape velocity, a state where each year lived gains one more year in life expectancy.

This part is fascinating. He’s not talking about “immortality”. He’s talking about “indefinite lifespan”. This is where every year that goes by, the life expectancy goes up by more than 1 year. AI is allowing us to conduct experiments much faster, and if we can develop AI that runs its own experiments, looking for ways to make us live longer, we could reach escape velocity.

Health and Hospitals:

• The development of technologies for radical life extension will make the human body more resilient, reducing the need for medical services.

• The scarcity of medical needs could potentially cause the collapse of the healthcare business model, transforming hospitals into government services.

Suburbs and Urbanization:

• As people live longer, fewer children are expected to be born, resulting in a diminished need for suburban, single-family homes.

• Proximity to urban centers for jobs becomes irrelevant in a post-labor economy, possibly leading to the collapse of suburbs.

Lifestyles in the Age of Longevity

Urban Socialites

• Many people may choose to extend their youthful, city-centric lifestyle into multiple decades, focusing on experiences and socializing.

Rural Hermits

• A section of the population may choose a life of peace, solitude, and minimalism in rural settings. Many people want nature and beauty.

Social Communes

• Socially focused rural communities are expected to form as alternatives to urban living, prioritizing human connections over work.

Rather than clustering for work, people may cluster for community and center around beliefs. House clusters of 100 people.

Globe-trotting Adventurers

• A lifestyle focused on continuous travel and adventure will become accessible to more people in a post-labor economy.

Many people will want to just wander around and climb every mountain.

Natal Pods

• Low birth rates and the importance of community in child-rearing could lead to deliberate communal living arrangements for families.

5 Generations living in one home. Families living with many families so the kids have friends. Kids need to be around kids.

Eternal Gamers

• Individuals who immerse themselves in virtual worlds and gaming ecosystems, engaging in complex narratives, social interaction, and competitive events as their primary lifestyle.

This is the Metaverse trajectory, Mark Zuckerberg is foaming at the mouth with this possibility.

Potential Problems

• Gerontocracy: "Rule by the Elderly"

• Wealth Consolidation

• Cultural Stagnation

• Demographic Collapse

• Regulatory Capture

Longevity and Lifestyle Models

• The content explores the future impact of longevity and post-labor economics on lifestyle.

• Seven models are proposed: Neo-Ruralists, Neo-Urbanists, Free Spirits, Neo-Nomads, Natal Pods, Eternal Gamers, and Master Craftsmen.

David’s Call To Action

Post-Labor Economics:

• We need to push for a shift towards "post-labor economics," where the goal is to automate away human jobs.

• “Let’s get humans out of the workforce”

• In this system, wealth needs to be redistributed to sustain the economy.

Government and Policies:

• Universal term limits are suggested to counter "gerontocracy," or rule by the elderly.

• Wealth and property taxes are presented as solutions to avoid wealth consolidation among a few.

Population and Incentives:

• Population equilibrium is expected as both death and birth rates go down.

• Policies could be designed to incentivize or disincentivize childbirth, depending on population needs.

Concerns and Challenges:

• Cultural stagnation and "calcification" are mentioned as challenges to prolonged life.

• The risk of regulatory capture, where businesses and governments collude for wealth accumulation, is highlighted.

What really stood out to me is the need for a "new common dream" that moves beyond GDP growth to focus on quality of life. We need talk to each other and coordinate and improve our collective ability to articulate and strive for this new vision. If we don’t use AI in a way that brings us together, AI and longevity may serve to entrench existing disparities rather than liberate humanity from them.