IF some effective longevity therapy is developed, the poors will never get it. It won’t be for sale at any price, to anyone. It will be handed out by whomever controls it to buy political power and loyalty. Also, its existence will not be made public until years after it happens, to give enough time for those who control it to consolidate power. The first signs will be that Bezos, or whoever, still looks surprisingly good for an 80-year-old, in fact he looks more like 50. Has cosmetic surgery gotten that good?
Told you you wouldn’t like it.
blarghly@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Unlikely, simply because this would require some pretty major scientific breakthroughs, and most of these breakthroughs happen from scientists collaborating between institutions. Sure, the actual implementation might be developed privately - but the underlying science would be public domain, and it wouldn’t be long until there were competitors on the market, shouting from the rooftops and slashing prices.
kubofhromoslav@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes, I generally more agree with that. Of course, the transition will be somewhat messy and some errors will be made. But generally I consider that it will follow more or less the path as other phisiopathologies, like cancer. In many countries, when someone gets cancer, he / she just gets the treatment. Despite it being freakingly expensive.
First versions of comprehensive treatments will most probably really expensive. And, same as with mobile phones, microwave ovens etc, the economy of scale, experience curve, generally laid down infrastructure and competition will drive costs down and availability will skyrocket. Also, I expect a bunch of those therapies to be eventually paid from public health care - prevention is better that a cure, and healthy people can more contribute to economy (and I hope that governments will value also other things about that, like life itself 🤗).