What If We Could Live for One Million Years?

Avi Loeb is the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, among other positions. Writing in the Scientific American, he notes the discovery of bacteria that have apparently lived for over 100 million years, and he imagines a human life span of one million years. What would be different if we could live that long?

Loeb's initial observation is after the jump.

"Two thoughts immediately come to mind. First, tenure in academia would have to be capped. Universities would have to limit faculty appointments to a century at most in order to refresh their talent pool and mitigate old-fashioned education and research dogmas. Second, a birthday cake cannot hold a million candles. Instead, the number of birthday candles could reflect the logarithm of our age. For a thousand-year-old, that would mean three candles."

Comments

[anon]

"mitigate old-fashioned education and research dogmas"

Greatly describes the reason must institutions are failing so miserably today: the insane notion that "newly-fashioned" is always better.

To be sure, technology has taken some big leaps. But "education and research"?

Hopefully, it wouldn't take a full century for an educated human to realize how little "education and research" has improved.

[Ediberto Roman]

Okay, Steve, I will agree to renegotiate my tenure for a max of 200,000 years---I kick my kids out after 250-350, and then I save as much as I can for the next 175,000 or so. I get additional degrees and study the "newly-fashioned" ways to teach--Anon, "Advanced Zoom" courses, perhaps? Being a professor that long, I might just have a shot to give a talk at or publish with Harvard????

I then travel the world several times over. I run with the bulls, take on Everest, get divorced and remarry my bride after I date everyone, visit every baseball facility in the world, and I continue to train in more martial arts--collecting every black belt as I age. Then, like the Sims, I take on different lifestyles and occupations--jewel thief is always something I wish I had the nerves for--but knowing I have at least several thousand years left--I should be relaxed. There will likely be a need to address overpopulation? But my values will likely rule out being a mercenary---I will consider it though(university types???). I become a hippie for several centuries---heavy drugs is something I never tried, but pondered. I would certainly become a monk for 500,000 years or so--but how about reincarnation???? I would try film--ham at heart--I know I can be an amazing Bond: Can you imagine---"Bond, Diego, Bond." "Jamie Bond," just doesn't work for me.

Most importantly, like Larry David, I just might witness my N.Y. Jets winning a Super Bowl---their odds have to improve, no???? About the same chances I would have to publish with or teach at Harvard Law in a million years---I can perhaps become a donor after a big heist: Can you imagine: Berto Hall???? I love it--sign me up!!!!

[Buster]

I would like to live that long to see Trump’s tax returns finally released, after all appeals are finally exhausted.

[Thomas Cruise]

Scientologists joining the elite “Sea Org” sign a billion year contract upon entering.

They would be barely started on this commitment after 100 million.