I hadn't known that Hawley helped write Steve Jobs's inspiring 2005 Stanford commencement address:
https://twitter.com/mjhawley/status/1173273979894796297?s=19
https://twitter.com/mjhawley/status/1173273979894796297?s=19
I don't think it's too unusual or bad for someone to have a brush with cancer and start getting philosophical about it in this way.
People either ignored it, or folks like Steve Job decided to rationalize it.
It doesn't mean it's a good thing.
Most of the transhumanists I've met don't bother justifying this belief beyond the selfish "I don't want to die." Personally I think it would lead to the ossification of culture and an astronomically enormous class divide (particularly between those who can afford immortality and those who cannot.) I'm not eager to live in a society where the ultra-billionaires like Steve Jobs can buy their way out of death, which thus-far, has been the great equalizer that even the most wealthy cannot bribe forever.
It isn't a selfish desire. Do you want your SO to die? Your parents? Think about anyone you ever care about.
Personally I think it would lead to the ossification of culture and an astronomically enormous class divide (particularly between those who can afford immortality and those who cannot.)
Based on what? This society isn't the only way to organize society or the only way we ever live, assuming it is the kind of society where we get deep and rapid ossification.
Sure, immortality have its own problems, but can you say that the new problems are so undesirable that we should not even attempt to solve it?
I'm not eager to live in a society where the ultra-billionaires like Steve Jobs can buy their way out of death, which thus-far, has been the great equalizer that even the most wealthy cannot bribe forever.
If that is the case, then it is a colossal failure for such a technology, since it only alleviated human suffering for a very handful of people.
Currently, our healthcare system is suffering from a massive demand on its capabilities due incredibly ill people being needed to be cared for.
Biomedical technology here, should be the great equalizer. Instead of being bankrupted by ultimately ineffective medical care, you now have more wealth to spend on things that's important to you, like living with your loved ones.