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by m-i-l·11y ago·view on hn ↗
This only really touches upon the financial implications of increased lifespan. Immortality in particular I feel isn't feasible for everyone, given a growing population with finite resources. In which case we'd either need some radical breakthroughs (e.g. being able to travel to other inhabitable planets), or more probably some kind of constraints on who can achieve immortality. Given the current trends for increasing the gap between rich and poor I'd be concerned that a future society would only give the benefits of increased lifespan to those who could afford it.
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Immortality would introduce some new challenges (possible cultural stagnation, an even more entrenched elite class (only a problem if you're not a member of the elite class I suppose), etc.), however, it would also solve (or at least mitigate) a lot of problems, some of which are hinted at in the article (medical costs, social security, etc.)

I'm not sure overpopulation would be such a huge problem - birth rates are already declining all over the world and I suspect indefinite lifespans would only accelerate that trend. Besides, there are still plenty of ways to die other than old age, we wouldn't be truly 'immortal' :)

Ah yes, now I remember Zardoz, with the Apathetics who have grown weary of immortality.