X-Message-Number: 24875 From: "John de Rivaz" <> Subject: living forever Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 12:02:46 +0100 The difficulty with the concept of the value of finite life and living forever seems to be in the matter of 10 more years has some value, therefore 10^6 more years has 10^5 more value and so on. If an infinite number of years has a value x, then a lifespan of n years has a value of nx/(infinity) which is zero. This gives rise to the suggestion that a finite lifespan is of zero value regardless of duration. If an infinite number of years has infinite value, n years has n(infinity)/(infinity) which is indeterminate. However it is possible to write: value of n years of life= limit(t approaches infinity)(nx/t), where x is the value of an infinite lifespan. If more is known about the nature of the variables there are various mathematical tricks to work it out. Mike Price may know them off the top of his head, and I would have to look them up. The goal must be to exist forever, but it must also be understood that forever never comes. The fact that there is this philosophical dilemma is convenient because it gives us a way for saying that we do upstage religions who do seem quite happy to makes claims about people living forever. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy, Nomad .. and more Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=24875