New Methuselahs

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New Methuselahs

Author : John K. Davis
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2024-03-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262551564

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New Methuselahs by John K. Davis Pdf

An examination of the ethical issues raised by the possibility of human life extension, including its desirability, unequal access, and the threat of overpopulation. Life extension—slowing or halting human aging—is now being taken seriously by many scientists. Although no techniques to slow human aging yet exist, researchers have successfully slowed aging in yeast, mice, and fruit flies, and have determined that humans share aging-related genes with these species. In New Methuselahs, John Davis offers a philosophical discussion of the ethical issues raised by the possibility of human life extension. Why consider these issues now, before human life extension is a reality? Davis points out that, even today, we are making policy and funding decisions about human life extension research that have ethical implications. With New Methuselahs, he provides a comprehensive guide to these issues, offering policy recommendations and a qualified defense of life extension. After an overview of the ethics and science of life extension, Davis considers such issues as the desirability of extended life; whether refusing extended life is a form of suicide; the Malthusian threat of overpopulation; equal access to life extension; and life extension and the right against harm. In the end, Davis sides neither with those who argue that there are no moral objections to life enhancement nor with those who argue that the moral objections are so strong that we should never develop it. Davis argues that life extension is, on balance, a good thing and that we should fund life extension research aggressively, and he proposes a feasible and just policy for preventing an overpopulation crisis.

Chasing Methuselah

Author : Todd T. W. Daly
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2021-02-04
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781532698026

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Chasing Methuselah by Todd T. W. Daly Pdf

The quest to live much longer has moved from legend to the laboratory. Recent breakthroughs in genetics and pharmacology have put humanity on the precipice of slowing down human aging to extend the healthy life span. The promise of longer, healthier life is enormously attractive, and poses several challenging questions for Christians. Who wouldn't want to live 120 years or more before dying quickly? How do we make sense of human aging in light of Jesus' invitation to daily take up our crosses with the promise of the resurrection to come? Is there anything wrong with manipulating our bodies technologically to live longer? If so, how long is too long? Should aging itself be treated as a disease? In Chasing Methuselah, Todd Daly examines the modern biomedical anti-aging project from a Christian perspective, drawing on the ancient wisdom of the Desert Fathers, who believed that the incarnation opened a way for human life to regain the longevity of Adam and the biblical patriarchs through prayer and fasting. Daly balances these insights with the christological anthropology of Karl Barth, discussing the implications for human finitude, fear of death, and the use of anti-aging technology, weaving a path between outright condemnation and uncritical enthusiasm.

Methuselah's Zoo

Author : Steven N. Austad
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 315 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2023-08-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262547178

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Methuselah's Zoo by Steven N. Austad Pdf

Stories of long-lived animal species—from thousand-year-old tubeworms to 400-year-old sharks—and what they might teach us about human health and longevity. Opossums in the wild don’t make it to the age of three; our pet cats can live for a decade and a half; cicadas live for seventeen years (spending most of them underground). Whales, however, can live for two centuries and tubeworms for several millennia. Meanwhile, human life expectancy tops out around the mid-eighties, with some outliers living past 100 or even 110. Is there anything humans can learn from the exceptional longevity of some animals in the wild? In Methusaleh’s Zoo, Steven Austad tells the stories of some extraordinary animals, considering why, for example, animal species that fly live longer than earthbound species and why animals found in the ocean live longest of all. Austad—the leading authority on longevity in animals—argues that the best way we will learn from these long-lived animals is by studying them in the wild. Accordingly, he proceeds habitat by habitat, examining animals that spend most of their lives in the air, comparing insects, birds, and bats; animals that live on, and under, the ground—from mole rats to elephants; and animals that live in the sea, including quahogs, carp, and dolphins. Humans have dramatically increased their lifespan with only a limited increase in healthspan; we’re more and more prone to diseases as we grow older. By contrast, these species have successfully avoided both environmental hazards and the depredations of aging. Can we be more like them?

The Gift of Sublimation

Author : Nathan Carlin,Donald Capps
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2015-06-23
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781498203029

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The Gift of Sublimation by Nathan Carlin,Donald Capps Pdf

There is not, and never was, a monolithic masculinity; there are, and always have been, multiple masculinities. Today diversity with regard to gender and sexuality is beginning to be recognized and celebrated even while many religious denominations still resist these cultural changes. This book offers pastoral interpretations of these social shifts in light of psychological principles, applying them to topics such as the moral disapproval of masturbation; the efforts of some churches to convince homosexual men to adopt a heterosexual orientation; the dynamics of male envy of female longevity; the homosexual tendencies of King James of England and Scotland; and biblical portraits of God's body, gender, and sexuality. The authors make a special use of the psychoanalytic concept of sublimation--that is, the redirection of sexual desires that are considered unacceptable or unworthy toward interests and aspirations that are considered acceptable and worthy. While the use of psychoanalytic hermeneutics here is likely to raise various red flags for potential religious readers (especially for those who have been informed that Sigmund Freud was hostile toward religion), this book presents a rather different Freud by focusing on religious sublimation.

Should You Choose to Live Forever?

Author : Stephen Cave,John Martin Fischer
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 124 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2023-11-22
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781000986853

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Should You Choose to Live Forever? by Stephen Cave,John Martin Fischer Pdf

In this book, Stephen Cave and John Martin Fischer debate whether or not we should choose to live forever. This ancient question is as topical as ever: while billions of people believe they will live forever in an otherworldly realm, billions of dollars are currently being poured into anti-ageing research in the hope that we will be able to radically extend our lives on earth. But are we wise to wish for immortality? What would it mean for each of us as individuals, for society, and for the planet? In this lively and accessible debate, the authors introduce the main arguments for and against living forever, along with some new ones. They draw on examples from myth and literature as well as new thought experiments in order to bring the arguments to life. Cave contends that the aspiring immortalist is stuck on the horns of a series of dilemmas, such as boredom and meaninglessness, or overpopulation and social injustice. Fischer argues that there is a vision of radically longer lives that is both recognizably human and desirable. This book offers both students and experienced philosophers a provocative new guide to a topic of perennial importance. Key Features: Gives a comprehensive overview of the main arguments for and against living forever. Uses lively examples from myth, literature, and novel thought experiments. Highly accessible—avoiding jargon and assuming no prior knowledge—without sacrificing intellectual rigour. Includes helpful pedagogical features, including chapter summaries, an annotated reading list, a glossary, and clear examples.

Sex, Death and Resurrection in Altered Carbon

Author : Aldona Kobus,Łukasz Muniowski
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 205 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2020-01-31
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781476638461

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Sex, Death and Resurrection in Altered Carbon by Aldona Kobus,Łukasz Muniowski Pdf

The 2018 Netflix series Altered Carbon is a vital contribution to the cyberpunk renaissance, among such titles as Snowpiercer or Blade Runner 2049. This collection of new essays answers the question: is this increasing popularity of cyberpunk a sign of recognition of the genre's transgressive aspects, such as a stark critique of capitalism, or is it the opposite--a sign of the genre's failure to successfully criticize modernity? The contributors consider the series as taking on current issues, from a critique of neoliberalism, through the ethical aspects of biotechnology, up to thanatology. They provoke questions about what it means to be human in a world in which death does not exist. Essays evaluate the surging popularity of the series and cyberpunk at large from a variety of critical perspectives, shedding new light on a challenging and inventive series.

The Case against Death

Author : Ingemar Patrick Linden
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2022-02-08
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780262367455

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The Case against Death by Ingemar Patrick Linden Pdf

A philosopher refutes our culturally embedded acceptance of death, arguing instead for the desirability of anti-aging science and radical life extension. Ingemar Patrick Linden’s central claim is that death is evil. In this first comprehensive refutation of the most common arguments in favor of human mortality, he writes passionately in favor of antiaging science and radical life extension. We may be on the cusp of a new human condition where scientists seek to break through the arbitrarily set age limit of human existence to address aging as an illness that can be cured. The book, however, is not about the science and technology of life extension but whether we should want more life. For Linden, the answer is a loud and clear “yes.” The acceptance of death is deeply embedded in our culture. Linden examines the views of major philosophical voices of the past, whom he calls “death’s ardent advocates.” These include the Buddha, Socrates, Plato, Lucretius, and Montaigne. All have taught what he calls “the Wise View,” namely, that we should not fear death. After setting out his case against death, Linden systematically examines each of the accepted arguments for death—that aging and death are natural, that death is harmless, that life is overrated, that living longer would be boring, and that death saves us from overpopulation. He concludes with a “dialogue concerning the badness of human mortality.” Though Linden acknowledges that The Case Against Death is a negative polemic, he also defends it as optimistic, in that the badness of death is a function of the goodness of life.

Bizarre Bioethics

Author : Henk A.M.J. ten Have
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 325 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-01
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781421443041

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Bizarre Bioethics by Henk A.M.J. ten Have Pdf

The focus of bioethical debates on exceptional cases neglects the underlying values—like justice and community—that would lend to a broader, more well-rounded understanding of today's world. Discussions of ethical problems in health care too often concentrate on exceptional cases. Bioethical controversies triggered by experimental drugs, gene-edited babies, or life extension are understandably fascinating: they showcase the power of medical science and technology while addressing anxieties concerning health, disease, suffering, and death. However, the focus on rare individual cases in the media spotlight turns attention away from more pressing ethical issues that impact global populations, such as access to health care, safe food and water, and the prevention of emerging infectious diseases. In Bizarre Bioethics, Henk A.M.J. ten Have argues that this focus on bizarre cases leads to bizarre bioethics with a narrow agenda for ethical debate. In other words, although these extreme cases are undeniably real, they present a limited and skewed view of everyday moral reality. This focus also assumes that individuals are rational decision-makers, so that the role of feelings and emotions can be downgraded. Larger questions related to justice, solidarity, community, meaning, and ambiguity are not appreciated. Such questions used to be posed by philosophical and theological traditions, but they have been exorcised and marginalized in the development of bioethics. Science, ten Have writes, is not a value-free endeavor that provides facts and evidence: it is driven by underlying value perspectives that are often based on metaphors and world views from philosophical and theological traditions. Drawing on a rich analysis of the literature, ten Have explains how bioethical discussion can be enriched by these metaphors and develops a broader approach that critically delves into the imaginative world views that determine understanding of the world and human existence. Examining the roles of the metaphors of ghosts, monsters, pilgrims, prophets, and relics, ten Have illustrates how science and medicine are animated by imaginations that fuel the search for hope, salvation, healing, and a predictable future. Bizarre Bioethics invites students, researchers, policymakers and teachers interested in ethics and health care to think about the value perspectives on health and disease today.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Posthumanism

Author : Mads Rosendahl Thomsen,Jacob Wamberg
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 473 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2020-07-23
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781350090484

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The Bloomsbury Handbook of Posthumanism by Mads Rosendahl Thomsen,Jacob Wamberg Pdf

As our ideas of the human have come under increasing challenges – from technological change, from medical advances, from the existential threat of climate crisis, from an ideological decentering of the human, amongst many other things – the 'posthuman' has become an increasingly central topic in the Humanities. Bringing together leading scholars from across the world and a wide range of disciplines, this is the most comprehensive available survey of cutting edge contemporary scholarship on posthumanism in literature, culture and theory. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Posthumanism explores: - Central critical concepts and approaches, including transhumanism, new materialism and the Anthropocene - Ethical perspectives on ecology, race, gender and disability - Technology, from data and artificial intelligence to medicine and genetics - A wide range of genres and forms, from literary and science fiction, through film, television and music, to comics, video games and social media.

Size Matters

Author : Johann S. Ach,Christian Weidemann
Publisher : LIT Verlag Münster
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Biotechnology
ISBN : 9783825815943

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Size Matters by Johann S. Ach,Christian Weidemann Pdf

Nanotechnologies and nanobiotechnologies will come to be the key technologies of the 21st century. The possibility to study, understand and control features of materials at the nanoscale promises developments in different areas ranging from material sciences to electronics and communication technologies or life sciences and medicine. If one wants to make good use of nanotechnological research and development one has to create an environment that meets the various ethical, legal and social challenges as well.

Conway's Game of Life

Author : Nathaniel Johnston,Dave Greene
Publisher : Nathaniel Johnston
Page : 492 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-11
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781794816961

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Conway's Game of Life by Nathaniel Johnston,Dave Greene Pdf

Dead cells with three live neighbors are born, while live cells with fewer than two or more than three live neighbors die. These simple rules define Conway's Game of Life, which exhibits complex and unpredictable behavior that has been studied for over 50 years. This book provides a thorough introduction to the Game of Life, the mathematics behind it, and the methods used to construct many of its most interesting patterns. It emphasizes conceptual techniques for constructing patterns that evolve in unusual ways, and guides the reader through the thought processes and ideas that are needed to combine various building blocks into more interesting composite patterns. While this book largely follows the history of the Game of Life, that is not its primary purpose. Rather, it is a by-product of the fact that most recently discovered patterns build upon patterns and techniques that were developed earlier. The goal of this book is to demystify the Game of Life by breaking down the complex patterns that have been developed in it into bite-size chunks that can be understood individually. Free (watermarked) PDF and associated pattern files available for download from conwaylife.com/book

Handbook of Bioethical Decisions. Volume I

Author : Erick Valdés,Juan Alberto Lecaros
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 770 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2023-06-14
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783031294518

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Handbook of Bioethical Decisions. Volume I by Erick Valdés,Juan Alberto Lecaros Pdf

The Handbook of Bioethical Decisions is aimed at addressing and analyzing the most important ethical concerns and moral quandaries arisen in biomedical and scientific research. As such, it identifies and problematizes on a comprehensive range of ethical issues researchers must deal with in different critical contexts. Thus, the Handbook, Vol. I, may be helpful for them to make decisions and deliberate in complex practical scenarios. In this fashion, the volume reunites different points of view to give readers room enough to get a better knowledge and take their own position on pressing bioethical issues of the day. Consequently, this work seeks to engender dense ethical epistemology scientists can count on when conducting latest generation biomedical research. By bringing together an impressive array of contributions on the most important elements and categories for “at the bench” bioethical decisions as well as offering chapters by some of the most world renowned and prominent experts in bioethics, the Handbook, Vol. I, is a paradigmatic text in its area and a valuable resource for courses on bioethics, and biomedical research, as well as courses that discuss ethics and the biosciences at different professional levels, biomedical industry, pharmacological companies and the public sphere in general.

Forever Young

Author : Lucian Boia
Publisher : Reaktion Books
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Education
ISBN : 1861891547

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Forever Young by Lucian Boia Pdf

Forever Young offers a wide-ranging survey of the notion of longevity, from antiquity to the present. The author looks at the many manifestations of one of humanity's most powerful dreams: the prolongation of life and youth with immortality as a final objective. Using a variety of sources - religion, folk traditions, science, literature and art - the book shows on the one hand the persistence of the human spirit (the desire for longevity is revealed as an extremely stable archetype throughout history) and on the other, the innovations specific to each period or culture due to the progress of science and differing ideologies and attitudes. Nowadays, prolonging life and youth has become a major goal of society due to a combination of several factors: the spectacular increase in life expectancy; the advances of science and especially genetics; and, finally, the decline of religious belief in life after death, emphasizing the only remaining certainty - corporeal life. The author, a specialist in mythology and imagination, approaches his subject in an accessible and engaging way.

Coping with Methuselah

Author : Henry Aaron,William B. Schwartz
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2004-01-20
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0815796307

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Coping with Methuselah by Henry Aaron,William B. Schwartz Pdf

Many medical authorities predict that average life expectancy could well exceed 100 years by mid century and rise even higher soon thereafter. This astonishing prospect, brought on by the revolution in molecular biology and information technology, confronts policymakers and public health officials with a host of new questions. How will increased longevity affect local and global demographic trends, government taxation and spending, health care, the workplace, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? What ethical and quality-of-life issues are raised by these new breakthroughs? In Coping with Methuselah, a group of practicing scientists and public policy experts come together to address the problems, challenges, and opportunities posed by a longer life span. This book will generate discussion in political, social, and medical circles and help prepare us for the extraordinary possibilities that the future may hold.

Midlife Crisis: Adapt, Evolve, Survive

Author : Bob Nguyen, M.D.
Publisher : Bob Nguyen
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2023-10-09
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9798989063505

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Midlife Crisis: Adapt, Evolve, Survive by Bob Nguyen, M.D. Pdf

UNLIMITED HAPPINESS AND ETERNAL LIFE One is a fool’s errand and the other a distinct possibility. In this data-driven survival guide, Dr. Bob Nguyen takes you on a whirlwind campaign that covers these endeavors and much more. From building awareness and managing expectations, to life repurposing and fostering relationships, to adopting the latest anti-ageing and longevity biohacks, this book delivers a practical, actionable and wide-ranging response to the common calamity that is midlife crisis. In these pages, Nguyen first describes turmoil typical of each decade of life, detailing how COVID took the crisis out of midlife and made it a transgenerational pandemic. Suddenly, adults of all ages had the time and space to ponder their options and realize their need to adapt and evolve by discovering new routes to purpose and fulfillment. Following crisis, Nguyen then explores the mindsets and plots out the circuitous paths that can lead to emotional well-being and social connectivity. In the last section, he takes a science-based, literal approach to survival itself. He explores the process of ageing, shedding light on this DNA-centered phenomenon and unveiling the workarounds to its relentless progression. In this era of discovery, the quest for eternal life and the science to make it feasible seem on the cusp of converging. Weaving together fields as disparate as physics and philosophy, economics and religion, Nguyen writes an evidence-based manual that spins quite the socio-scientific yarn, mapping out a course for personal discovery and life-changing transformations. Catalyzed by crisis, this is a journey to find your best, longest life, regardless of your age. And with radically expanded human lifespan in scientists’ crosshairs, you better buckle up, lock in and get ready to adapt, evolve and survive!