This is a formal Request for Discussion regarding the establishment of
an unmoderated sci.life-extension newsgroup. My original proposal for
this group was edited by news administrators. They changed the name to
sci.bio.life-extension, which seemed not to make sense to many people,
so now I am proposing the group again under the original name. (The
Rationale section has been revised.)
<> Purpose of the Newsgroup.
The newsgroup would be primarily for the discussion of techniques of
slowing, stopping, and reversing the aging process, from a practical
as well as theoretical standpoint. This includes, as
life-extensionists say, "adding life to years as well as years to
life;" i.e., we'll discuss not just techniques of "extending" what in
some cases might be a state of already senescent decrepitude, but also
ways of restoring and maintaining youth. (The name of the group
implies no stance on the merits of the book, "Life Extension," by
Pearson and Shaw.)
<> Rationale.
This topic has received increasing attention in recent years as
research gerontologists have begun to understand the mechanisms of
aging. As interest in this topic has grown, so has discussion on the
Net. The discussion has been scattered across a variety of newsgroups,
including bionet.molbio.aging, sci.cryonics, sci.med.nutrition, and
alt.psychoactives. None of these newsgroups is appropriate to a broad
discussion of life-extension:
The "bionet" groups are not carried by many sites. In addition, they
are designed as a medium of exchange for professional researchers,
whose professional needs should be respected by other (mostly amateur)
scientists. Moreover, the proposed group would be a forum for the
discussion of life-extension from a variety of scientific perspectives
-- some falling within the sphere of molecular biology, some within
other areas of biology, and some not in biology at all (but rather in
psychology, cryonics, etc.).
Sci.cryonics specializes in only one technique of life extension.
Sci.med.nutrition and alt.psychoactives allow only the limited
discussion of life-extension that falls within the spheres of
nutrition and psychoactive drugs, respectively, and the emphasis of
each is not on life-extension *per se*. A new group would consolidate
the discussion, and would provide a more appropriate forum for the
more general issues related to longevity, which do not fall under the
purview of any current newsgroup.
<> Note
All discussion should be posted to news.groups.
-Brian <bmdelane at midwa.uchicago.edu>
