Why do people age?

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

So I'm minding my own business doing my homework when this question pops into my mind: "Why do people age and die?" And I had to stop and think because the answer did not immediately follow. For some reason we're born, we grow, we mature, and at some point in our lives, we decline. It's a cycle that every living thing goes through but lets not complicate it too much and just focus on humans in particular.

Here's my problem: The cells in the human body are dying and regenerating at an incredible rate, so much so that they say over 7-10 years every cell in your body is completely replaced, and the dead ones are discarded either by being turned to waste or by simply falling off and becoming the majority of your household dust. Not only that, but our natural ability to heal from wounds and things like broken bones is pretty darn fantastic. We possess so much regenerative capabilities already, we ought to be immortal, or even if we weren't why bother with the decline, since people don't technically "die of old age" anyway, there is always some cause be it disease or accident, but not age itself, which only makes us more vulnerable to disease or accident (again, why is that?).

I'm not concerned with the dying part so much as the aging part though, the actual aging process itself. Hair turning white, skin sagging and the body generally becoming less versatile and more fragile, joints wearing out (and being replaced artificially, also a weird thing to do but maybe not for this discussion).

We age, and it's so weird. Like, why does that happen? I asked Google the same question earlier and apparently science hasn't figured it out yet either, so that's why I'm asking you guys, because now I'm just genuinely curious. Consider it a purely philosophical question, I guess.

[aza]

We're all born with an off switch, after a couple years we notice that gravity has been pulling the switch down.

[rpg101]

Atrophy is the default state of human existence.

[Kaga]

I once found a very interesting Youtube video on the subject, but apparently I never bookmarked it.

Hang on, it might take me a minute to find it again...

[Halo]

Kaga said
I once found a very interesting Youtube video on the subject, but apparently I never bookmarked it.Hang on, it might take me a minute to find it again...

May have been Vsauce's video "Why don't we all have cancer?" This question reminds me of that.

Anyway, on-topic: I'll answer this question in an equally pseudoscientific and philosophical way tomorrow.

[Kaga]

Found it!

[Kaga]

Halo said
May have been Vsauce's video "Why don't we all have cancer?" This question reminds me of that.Anyway, on-topic: I'll answer this question in an equally pseudoscientific and philosophical way tomorrow.

I did think of VSauce for a moment, but then I was like, "Nah, I remember another science channel that tackled this question way more directly". Although VSauce's cancer video is still awesome. Pretty much all of VSauce's videos are awesome.

[Aragorn]

Here's why. You know how the cells regenerate? They don't regenerate perfectly. Every time a cell regenerates, it's a little different(you could argue "damaged"). There are ways of slowing this down(eating healthy, drinking a little bit of red wine every once and a while, not smoking, not drinking too much alcohol), but completely stopping it would require technology far beyond us, if it is actually possible(beyond completely freezing the body that is).

[Joegreenbeen]

Aragorn said
Here's why. You know how the cells regenerate? They don't regenerate perfectly. Every time a cell regenerates, it's a little different(you could argue "damaged"). There are ways of slowing this down(eating healthy, drinking a little bit of red wine every once and a while, not smoking, not drinking too much alcohol), but completely stopping it would require technology far beyond us, if it is actually possible(beyond completely freezing the body that is).

Isn't the obvious answer to freeze ourselves, upload our minds to computers and do stuff there, and then put our minds back into our bodies once we are done or want to have a break?[]

Edit: Besides, my bad joke, I really think that this is an intriguing question.

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

Azarthes said
We're all born with an off switch, after a couple years we notice that gravity has been pulling the switch down.

I found this answer most satisfying.

But that would mean we could live forever in anti-gravity.

[Kaga]

Raxacoricofallapatorius said
I found this answer most satisfying.But that would mean we could live forever in anti-gravity.

Has any human been in space long enough to test this theory? I think not.

It could very well be true for all you know.

[Joegreenbeen]

Kaga said
Has any human been in space long enough to test this theory? I think not. It could very well be true for all you know.

But wouldn't the radiation kill them before the theory is properly tested?/[]

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

A human may live longer without the stress of gravity but I think that ultimately the cells would still decline. They would look younger surely, but they would also be weaker. Perhaps because of that they may die faster.

[Doivid]

You'd actually live for shorter periods of time and have more health issues.

There's stuff that happens like bone density and immune syste trouble with zero G. It's just not good for humans.

[aza]

Raxacoricofallapatorius said
I found this answer most satisfying.But that would mean we could live forever in anti-gravity.

...
Actually
Lets think of it more like a life-dick

Over the years we get flaccid

[Doivid]

edit: somehow double post

[mdk]

Kaga said
Found it!

Glad I watched this first, cuz that's a large part of what I was gonna say (the cancerous-growth and anti-cancer gene controls). The other operative theory I've heard about is, there's a pretty strong correlation in most animals between heart rate and lifespan; basically, the mechanical structures in your organs wear down with use, and while you can regrow most natural organic damage, it does eventually take a toll. Even a well-oiled engine eventually fails. We get more beats-per-life than most of the other animals, but still, in principle, there's an average limit out there and most living things adhere pretty closely to it. Obviously, there's more than just a heartbeat going on in your squishy-parts at any given time -- your liver is in constant use, your kidneys are in constant use, hell, even your BRAIN turns on every once in a while. So your life is a constant battle between mechanical breakdown and organic regrowth -- and that's what ultimately drives cell death, cell mutation, and eventually cell dysfunction, organ failure, and flatlines.

[rpg101]

Doivid said
edit: somehow double post

gjdavid

[Marik]

This exact question is why one day, I wish to make android bodies that we can insert out conscious selves into to practically make humans immortal. Although I doubt that I’d have the resources to pull off such a task, it’s even more unlikely that such a feat would be accomplished in our lifetime. And even if it was, and I wasn’t the one to invent it, it would be so expensive that I wouldn’t even be able to afford it. Uh, I’m actually really terrified of death. The idea of not existing is frightening beyond compensation. In fact, I’d probably accept existing in a proverbial hell instead of not at all. Maybe.

[Kaga]

Marik said
This exact question is why one day, I wish to make android bodies that we can insert out conscious selves into to practically make humans immortal. Although I doubt that I’d have the resources to pull off such a task, it’s even more unlikely that such a feat would be accomplished in our lifetime. And even if it was, and I wasn’t the one to invent it, it would be so expensive that I wouldn’t even be able to afford it. Uh, I’m actually really terrified of death. The idea of not existing is frightening beyond compensation. In fact, I’d probably accept existing in a proverbial hell instead of not at all. Maybe.

I thought MDK was already on his way to becoming an android?