In England, 2007
The current issue of The
Economist contains a fascinating account of efforts to enhance
longevity.
This seems to be serious science, not wild speculation. I have no doubt that, if it is possible, people who can create precisely addressed
nanobombs to transport designer cyto-poisons to cancer cells can do it. There is earnest talk of the human lifespan
being increased to 120 years, and even of life-expectancies rising by more than
one year per year! But of course: is this necessarily a good thing?
Several obvious,very serious questions arise. Can we stay mentally and physically “young”
enough to enjoy those extra years? Who
wants 50 extra years of lower back pain?
And, of course, what about population density? If almost no one dies and babies continue to
be born, before long most of the earth will resemble inner-city Newark. Or a Brazilian favela. But maybe we don’t need to worry about that; experts report (incredulously) that young people are giving up sex –
for video games. Darwin would be proud.
Well, well – no “likes”, no “comments”. The young are said to have abandoned sex for video games. Maybe the rest of us have abandoned reading for TV. Read this, dammit – it’s interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that the title did not intrigue me. I don't want to live forever; I want to give other beings a chance to experience life, with enough food to fill their bellies, with more peace than war, with a planet that supports life. There, you got your comment.
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