Shortest path to dramatically extending human longevity (and improving wellbeing)

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#1

I’m wondering if the shortest path to dramatically extending human longevity would be to employ AI to develop a gene therapy that would 10x our cognitive capacity.

A 10x cognitive gain is obviously a very lofty goal, but what happens when there is a therapy that initially offers a modest gain of 10%? Wouldn’t that expanded capacity have a profound effect of enhancing the development of all things being developed by SingularityNet?

Imagine that Ben G and the whole SingularityNet team increased their cognitive capacity by a factor of 10x (or even 10%). What if everyone involved in the Rejuve ecosystem also experienced those same cognitive gains?

What if all that enhanced capacity was then directed at the development of AGI and longevity… What would that mean to the progress of AGI and therefore life extension and wellbeing?

Why isn’t this a spinoff of SingularityNet, or at minimum, being developed in parallel within Rejuve?

Side Note…
For sure there are the philosophical questions about - if I am still “me” when I experience an enhancement of 10x of my cognitive capacity, but that is a separate conversation.

I’m optimistically assuming that anyone with deep altruistic inclinations aimed at creating AGI and/or extending human longevity would see new ways to enact such a disposition.

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#2

This is a highly interesting angle for human longevity, focusing on the brain and cognitive function/advancement rather than other physiological aspects (although those could go hand in hand with the new discoveries, methods, technologies, etc. made possible by the increased cognition).

It is a good topic for brainstorming, possible hyperfoci/niche areas for extending longevity.

On the philosophical side–I believe that increased brain function is much more “you” than for instance gene editing, but that’s just me :wink:

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#3

I love this idea…it’s the perfect model of a virtuous cycle. If we can even 1x our cognitive capacity, that helps us get to 2x and 5x so much easier…which in turn gets us to 10x capacity, AGI, and longevity so much faster!

And we probably get much better at taking care of ourselves in the meantime…pluses all around

Is there a thought leader in the area of developing cognitive capacity, like a David Sinclair or Ben Goertzel of that field?

Btw - I’m in the middle of a rewatch of Bradley Cooper’s “Limitless”…and man do I want some of the NZT-48!!

@bengoertzel Do you have any thoughts or directions, about increasing cognitive capacity, for achieving the benevolent singularity and longevity bigger-faster-better?

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#4

It really does look as though an exploration in this direction, that yields even modest results, could potentially set off a crazy cool virtuous cycle that unfolds in many directions.

I haven’t yet found “the” thought leader(s) who’ve spent decades looking in this direction. I’ll look harder and post if I find anything. Anyone reading this thread who might have an idea or a suggestion of who that would be?

Haha —> NZT-48 :exploding_head:

#5

I hope there comes a time in the Snet ecosystem where cognitive expansion therapy is seriously discussed and acted on. I’d really like to be able to participate in that conversation.

On the philosophical side…

I thought about this a bit more. It looks as a generality we maturate throughout our lives. That is, over time people often experience insights or growth that result in more maturity.

What we are up to when we are 18 is not the same when we are 40. We loose interest in the 18 year old stuff and discover new learning curves in our 40’s that are much more interesting to us. We are still ourselves and yet we are quite different.

My speculation is that expanding our cognitive capabilities is going to be more of that same learning curve stuff BUT accelerated in ways that we are not accustomed to. As a generality, I think we’d out grow what we are doing in life and move in new directions where we take on bigger roles. It’s our growth and the path we take that defines us. We are still ourselves and yet we are quite different. With luck more mature:-)

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#6

I like the philosophical aspect of this discussion, and whilst I have no answers I am open-minded to the notion of through-life maturation being a key part of our existence - to grow in love and knowledge and to reduce our entropy. To me, Michael (VSauce - “Do chairs exist?”: Do Chairs Exist? - YouTube) presents the most logical description of what “we” are and the significance of changes over time… chairs for example are “arranged chair-wise”… Is there a better one out there?