I agree. Don't feel bad that you didn't do much up until now however because until a few years ago there really wasn't any direction or capability in the concept. The time truly is *now*.
That's why people like me (and you) have activated to make a difference. I've been studying and practicing 8 or more hours a day recently upgrading my graphic design skills so that I can use those talents to assist the movement - there's a decided lack of progress on the social front and that's where my skills lie.
In terms of why people aren't moving with this, are you familiar with the concept of the "death trance"? Basically it's the result of people convincing themselves over the hundreds and thousands of years we've been around that death is inevitable, and specifically, death by aging is inevitable. This was useful when it actually WAS inevitable as a coping mechanism but that's no longer necessarily the case.
People need to be brought around to the fact that it isn't inevitable - I feel we've established that this is true even if we haven;t figured out how to make it happen yet. Yet most people are not particularly science-minded nor do they have very large attention spans for this (they're busy, why would they?) so they need assistance gettting "the message" in a consumable and believable format. That's where I come in.
If they do indeed get the message they will turn their support to us because, as you say, they don't want to die. They also, however, don't want to be sick, infirm, and incapacitated when alive so this has to be made clear as part of the package. People are also as concerned about the welfare of their loved ones as they are about themselves - or more, hence this is a very important selling point. This particular point leads to an internal problem in the life extension movement: it is by and large still oriented to extending life at the end stage by slowing aging slightly. This is not useful as an overall goal because at most it will extend life by a decade or two, not more. True life extension requires REJUVENATION, a return to youth. It cannot be understated how much of a problem this is right now; the LE market is set to grow by billions of dollars and the vast majority of it is headed in the wrong direction AND it is less appealing to the public than the real solution (rejuvenation) would be.
How do you fix this? You ensure people know about rejuvenation and ensure that they demand it. You ensure that businesses and governments hear them so the path is made clear. You also do it very firmly with great dedication because there are people - powerful people - who have an interest in the direction staying the way it is because they've invested money in that way as is. If things change at least some of that money will go nowhere so you need to be ready to oppose them hanging on to it, or ideally help them to convert it to what is actually needed (rejuvenation).
If this sounds like a massive, major issue, it is. All the science in the world will mean nothing if it isn't implemented to the proper end and it won't get the funding it needs in the first place if that proper end is not what the public wants. What we have on our side is that we're right - rejuvenation is the solution, so if we push people will come around to it, but how quickly and effectively that happens depends on our efforts and our lives may literally depend on it.
p.s. many people think that the situation will right itself and that we don't need to do any of this. Even if this is true, which I dispute, it is virtually a certainty that our efforts will make things right sooner. I am 41 years old and I suspect as things stand that I may be 80 or older by the time indefinite lifespan is achieved and that depends on things like quantum or at least highly advanced optical computer setups being the norm by then. If I am correct then many of the people on these forums will either be dead or in cryo hoping to be revived by that point. I consider this an unacceptable solution and will not let it be, hence I work to speed things up.
"your grandmother not getting Alzheimers" and "your mom not getting cancer". That makes it sound a lot more like the conventional medicine that everyone supports (even though it's not "natural"...).
I think also very important is for us to not procrastinate and leave changes for "later".
Since I was little child, I knew that this is what I must dedicate my life to... to end the
evilness of involuntary chronic diseases and involuntary death.
But I let pass so many years without actively researching, and this is what I must have done
all of the time. To find the others who think like us, that we can find solutions to have a
life without diseases, without pain and without death.
So many people just blind themselves into entertainment music and funny videos
and some corporation office job every day,
and they try to never think what they will be in 200 years from now.
This is the question that we can ask others: "Would you like to be alive in 2200 ?"
I think every sane, non suicidal person will respond an enthusiastic "Yes!"
Edited by Sanhar, 29 March 2015 - 09:31 PM.
