What exotic science fiction technology would you finance research into, if you had billions of dollars?

TehBamski@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 119 points –
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An end to the problem of aging, and death. Whether that means turning into cyborgs, I don’t care. I just want to choose when I die. Not having dying slowly happen to me like a terminal illness. Plus life is way too short. If I get tired of immortality let me off myself. But let me at least get tired of it first.

Have you ever heard of de'beers diamond hoarding story. Thats like what i expect would happen to humanity if we gained the ability to live forever, 'manufactured scarcity'.

A tumultuous time of oligarchic rule with infighting to control the life extending technology. Eventually ending in a winner take all dictatorship. The masses would never see their lives extended (greener pastures visions may be made in the beginning). In fact common peoples lifespans would likely shorten as the controlling elite no longer required the same sort of widespread healthcare present even at todays standards, (depending upon where you live).

The elite would form a supplicant circle around the eventual dictator who maintains control, drip feeding the life extending technology to those who serve their dictatorship best.

Within a couple generations they won't be a dictator but our Monarch, and the common people will obey, and descend to a miserable condition.

I may have let my imagination loose today a bit...

Similar to the book/show altered carbon except in that the poor people have a knockoff way to extend life

Honestly I'd be horrified knowing that without aging, a traumatic, fatal, accident becomes more and more likely as time passes to the point of being inevitable. Always on edge for that moment when it all suddenly comes to an end.

That sounds like the gambler's fallacy to me. Time alone wount make an accident more likely, it just means potentially mpre opportunities wheee an accident could occur. Sitting on your sofa today or 10,000 years from now makes no difference if the environment is the same. If you've played the lottery 10 times before you likely won't win if you play again, if you play 100,000 times you still won't win.

You shouldn't be any more anxious about an unexpected accident than you are right now. Just without the worrying about factoring in aging.