This no limit to maximal lifespan has always stuck me as this is in total contradiction with the evolution theory as defined by Darwin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism#:~:text=Darwinism%....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism#:~:text=Darwinism%....
And the expectation is that no ageing and no disease will give us a 50% chance of surviving any given (IIRC) 1000-ish year period, because accidents will still happen.
In nature, you still have predators and lots of diseases that limit lifespan even of those species which have biological immortality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_immortality
I think overall the point is right but I'd a lot of nuance.
- The evolutionary ideal lifespan for any creature is certainly limited but asking about the potential is more of a biochemical question and somewhat orthogonal to evolution.
- Some creatures fill extremely long lived niches proving that at the level of cellular dynamics, longevity is certainly possible.
- Humans no longer really depend on evolution. We'll start genetically modifying ourselves soon and I'd be surprised if there weren't any gm people walking around already.
- Our biggest limiting factor is experimentation. These experiments take a long time and aren't ethical to perform on humans. We'll certainly figure out how to make immortal rats before people.
This is why we don’t have the 30-minute reproductive period of some bacteria.