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Comment by Analemma_ | Hacker News Reader

Doing a couple Google/Twitter searches for this company it's pretty obvious it's coming out of the Berkeley-area EA/rationalist cluster, which automatically makes me pretty skeptical. These people don't exactly have a stellar track record of medical startups (recall all the hype around MetaMed, which delivered precisely nothing).

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Longevity biotech came from a similar milieu and has been doing very well: https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-07-17/t...

(along with AI companies of course)

> Longevity biotech came from a similar milieu and has been doing very well

They're doing well numerically when it comes to funding but is there anyone who has actually lived materially longer as a result of the field?

Ray Kurzweil will outlive us all, if taking 200 pills a day works:

https://www.wired.com/2008/03/ff-kurzweil/#:~:text=He%20is%2....

I just cant take this seriously. Why are Americans so afraid of death?

Almost everyone is afraid of death. Like, if you point a gun at someone, most people will feel fear. The main exceptions are people who are so sick with age-related diseases that they can't live happy lives anymore, but, of course, aging interventions would help with that.

I don't subscribe to his belief system, but logically if you enjoyed life, why wouldn't you want to prolong it?

I have no problem with prolonging life but trying to become immortal is dumb (and you will fail)

I will spend my time living instead of trying to avoid death.

I can’t that you seriously - what other fear could possibly be more valid?

Death is the end of EVERYTHING for an individual. What could be worse than that?

Everything else, we can figure out for ourselves, given time - pushing back death gives us more time.

Death is the beginning and end of everything. There is more to existence than your ego.

More time is fine but don't waste it by trying to avoid death (protip: you can't)

I honestly can’t think of a dumber take.

Longevity isn’t really about adding more years. No one wants to live another 10,20,30 more years how we currently do. But, if you can improve everyone’s health span, the amount of healthy, able bodies years, why wouldn’t you? It would be a great relief to our health care system. People can spend more time doing what they love without worrying about their body giving out on them.

Being someone who lost two immediate family members before 30, I’d do anything to have had them live longer and healthy instead of watching the slow and fast decline of the human body.

I'll raise my hand and say I'll gladly live another 30, 300, or 3,000 years longer than we currently do. Why in the hell would I want to cease existing?

I was referring to how a lot of the elderly live where they have no community, their body is shot, their mind is going, and modern medicine just keeps them in pain longer (if you were commenting directly to me)

Yeah - I don't get this take. Always rings a bit fanatical where you believe in some heaven, or suicidal at worst. I enjoy my neurons firing, because if they weren't, i wouldn't know it.

As a big science fiction fan who has been reading his whole life about fantastical possible futures for humanity, I'm not so much afraid of death as just super bummed that I'm going to miss out on things like exploring the solar system and hopefully beyond. The universe is such a mind-bogglingly fascinating place, and we know so little about it. I'm intensely curious to know how that's all going to pan out.

That is, if humanity doesn't destroy itself before then.

Not sure if you are kidding, but death is bad. I assume you don't want to die now, so why would you want to any other time? And don't say 'because I'm old', because obviously aging is part of the problem. Being 20-30 forever is the goal.

Death is not bad - without it life makes no sense. Being 30 forever and immortal would be my definition of hell. Death is doing a great job, leave it alone.

Chugging 300 pills per day - you will still die.

It is inevitable.

It is sad that you are insécable of finding joy and meaning in life without death. Go touch some grass.

you are reading something into my comment that is not there - I was saying immortal life would be a meaningless existence and no panacea to the human condition. Trying to escape death is not only futile, it is a waste of life. You are right of course, we should all touch grass more (I.e. really live) instead of trying to "solve" the human condition.

You misunderstood me too. Go touch grass and see what is so great about living. Then I don’t think you can fairly say we should have less years to live.

Can't wait to be a perpetually 20-year-old immortal Wal-Mart cashier because all the good jobs have already been taken by the other immortal 20-year-olds. Cleaning public toilets for the rest of eternity.

That is, if he doesn't get clubbed with a barbell by Nassim Taleb.

https://omniorthogonal.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-anti-kurzwei...

We'll let you know in 20 to 30 years...

If it takes 20-30 years to show any measure of success on what's supposed to be $600B of investment, it's a grift.

> These people don't exactly have a stellar track record of medical startups (recall all the hype around MetaMed, which delivered precisely nothing).

I can only think of one other medical startup coming out of the Berkeley-area EA/rationalist cluster, which would be Equator Therapeutics. They're working on an anti-obesity drug, and my understanding is it's going pretty well. But maybe you have others in mind?

(MetaMed came out of the NYC-area rationalist cluster and ~predates EA, and Alvea came out of the Boston-area EA group and shut down after their vaccine candidate gave disappointing results in human trials.)

Their org chart includes "Aella", who is apparently acting as their "media advisor" [0]. That tells you just about everything you need to know about this organization.

[0] https://nitter.net/Aella_Girl/status/1705772547781140541

So... people who are into sex work, fetishism, etc. aren't capable of being competent professionals?

Not saying this company is or is not legit, but this doesn't seem like a reasonable vector for criticism.

Where did I say any of that? What a weird response.

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