Arenamontanus wrote:

Then there is always cryonics.

Hmmm... this seems like a hook to bring present day famous people into EP. A little bit like the fishtank heads of Futurama, but edgier. I can see moot (of 4chan fame) to establish an anarchist society.

I think it's quite reasonable to assume that advances in the medical sciences will gradually increase the lifespan of human even prior to immortality through a cortical stack. Don't they say the first person to live to reach 150 is alive right now?

hi hi I think if you can assume the premise of exponential technology advancement, you could see people resleeving in a much shorter time. A breakthrough like a source of clean and plentiful energy would significantly alter the economics of these fields of research. If someone invented stable fusion power tomorrow, I suppose it might not be too far-fetched to see people resleeving within 20 years. Personally, I don't think I am going to make it. A tragic automobile accident is most likely in my future.

monjay wrote:

nezumi.hebereke wrote:

Take care of yourself, eat right, exercise, and maybe you too will survive long enough to discard your body.

What's the fun in that??? Drink whiskey, smoke cigars, and drive fast cars with loose women.

The goal is to maximize the integral of the fun you have across your lifespan. I did a mathematical analysis of this a few years ago and concluded that the best strategy appears to be to "sin" just so much that one will squeeze by the singularity/longevity takeoff, and then sin as much as is feasible with available body repair. So if you think the singularity will come early, go for the cigars and women (cars will still kill you, even if you have a cryonics contract - you are likely to be autopsied). If you are uncertain, play a more cautious game.

Since it's possible for characters to have "Immortality Blues," a condition normally reserved for centuries-old vampires, it might simply be that the cortical stack or brain-slicing was invented within our lifetimes, and it took many more years for the Fall to happen. Still, they must have surely tested the technology on preserved dead people first... maybe Einstein and Lenin were brought back as experiments? Really evil idea: a TITAN based on what was left of the brain of someone like Patton, bin-Laden, Mao Zedong, or what have you

As somebody noticed on rpg.net-Lady Gaga is mentioned as still alive in Gatecrashing-page 86. ;)

Quote:

And indeed, I believe our last count was with the Fall being around 2250.

I feel a lot better about the date being in 2140s. It makes more sense this way.2250 seems too far considering continued existance of certain political entities and institutions.

ssfsx17 wrote:

Since it's possible for characters to have "Immortality Blues," a condition normally reserved for centuries-old vampires, it might simply be that the cortical stack or brain-slicing was invented within our lifetimes, and it took many more years for the Fall to happen. Still, they must have surely tested the technology on preserved dead people first... maybe Einstein and Lenin were brought back as experiments? Really evil idea: a TITAN based on what was left of the brain of someone like Patton, bin-Laden, Mao Zedong, or what have you

For an example of the immortaility blues and transhumanism, see the movie "Zardoz".

You would think so, but I don't see it. I don't have dates on when every one of these individuals/teams estimates that life extension reaches escape velocity, but I do have their singularity predictions: [b]Eliezer Yudkowsky[/b] Born: 1979 Predicts: 2030 [b]Nick Bostrom[/b] Born: 1973 Predicts: 2024 [b]Didier Sornette and Anders Johansen[/b] Born: 1950s Predict: 2040-2060 [b]Laurent Nottale, Jean Chaline, and Pierre Grou[/b] Born: 1950s Predict: 2050-2110 [b]Ray Kurzweil[/b] Born: 1948 Predicts: 2045 [b]Hans Moravec[/b] Born: 1948 Predicts: 2040-2050 [b]Vernor Vinge[/b] Born: 1944 Predicts: 2030 [b]Marvin Minsky[/b] Born: 1927 Predicts: 2070

I like it. The joke is almost XKCD-worthy, and I imagine that's exactly what goes on in the minds of general non-nerds when they really like what a futurist has to say.

The other thing to take into consideration is that the interview is false in some level. I think that for the following reason: omniscient vs personal view. The text involving some of the other date clues are in the light blue boxes, for example the one about Neptune being in specific season. This is omniscient information of the authors given to the readers of the book. The text in the discussion that prompted the o.p. is in game/in universe is personal view. I assume that the conversation has taken place in universe with us as invisible observers, but who knows? Our "forced uplift" may be a plant from a TITAN. That is how I have been interpreting information in the books. The light blue box information is fact, other information may or may not be factual, but most especially discussions regardless of communication method are suspect. That is assuming that planetary configurations in the EC universe are identical to ours. I hope I made myself clear about views. English comp was my worst subject.

I just realized that page 107 of the core states that Uranus is currently in its south polar mid-spring. So, AF 10 must be either about 2143 or 2227, without straying too far from what other indications mentioned here suggest. I'd include 2060, but I just re-read the Titanian Commonwealth stuff on p. 79 that says Titan was colonized in the 'late 21st century.' Not to mention what Extrasolar Angel just mentioned about Luna.

Saerain wrote:

I just realized that page 107 of the core states that Uranus is currently in its south polar mid-spring. So, AF 10 must be either about 2143 or 2227, without straying too far from what other indications mentioned here suggest. I'd include 2060, but I just re-read the Titanian Commonwealth stuff on p. 79 that says Titan was colonized in the 'late 21st century.' Not to mention what Extrasolar Angel just mentioned about Luna.

Yep and that's what makes Kyla Free Aster testimony suspect. If those years are precise, then the Fall was in 2133 or 2217. Say it took a whole year. That makes BF 60 to BF 40 either 2073-2093 or 2157-2177. I point those years out because the core book timeline says longevity treatments became available in BF60-BF40. This makes Kayla around 90-110 or 174-194 years old at the time she began longevity treatments and thus 110-130 or 204-224 during the Fall. Note, her claim that she has never resleeved. Some might argue that the longevity treatment also de-aged or rejuvenated people. I think not, or morphs as an immortality option might not have been as popular

Nathan Brazil wrote:

This makes Kayla around 90-110 or 174-194 years old at the time she began longevity treatments and thus 110-130 or 204-224 during the Fall.

This may be explained by Kurzweil's "A Bridge to a Bridge". I don't have the book in front of me, but he speculated that if scientists found cures for the top 10 big killers, it would extend the average lifespan to about 100, and if they cured the top 50, it would extend the lifespan to over 150. Sweet Kayla was born in... '83? So we've got about 40 more years for scientists to find a cure for heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory disease, alzheimer's and diabetes. That'll buy her 30 years for them to cure the rest. Throw in some luck and you're golden. Her story may be suspect, but it isn't unbelievable.

One little factoid I'd throw in, without even managing to cite the source, is that in the last 10 years the average lifespan in western countries has grown by almost 2 years. If you assume this stays linear, it just buys one a decade over then next half a century. It's certainly very reasonable to assume at least a little acceleration, and assume that someone born in the last quarter of the 20th century is more likely than not to see the beginning of the 22nd.

Saerain wrote:

I just realized that page 107 of the core states that Uranus is currently in its south polar mid-spring. So, AF 10 must be either about 2143 or 2227, without straying too far from what other indications mentioned here suggest. I'd include 2060, but I just re-read the Titanian Commonwealth stuff on p. 79 that says Titan was colonized in the 'late 21st century.' Not to mention what Extrasolar Angel just mentioned about Luna.

Also note that Eris is "55 AU" out from the Sun, which cannot happen until in the years ~2189-2192 (according to Celestia, so if that program's wrong, disregard everything I say). If you figure it's just a broad, rounded number, you might expand that 55 to be 52.5 or 57.49 or whatever. Another option is to assume when they're talking about Uranus' poles, they're using whatever definition corresponds with the 55 AU location of Eris. Or they just messed up on their astronomy. ; )

I have always thought AF 10 was 2146... but that might be just me.