This is a pretty interesting question that I ran across over at John Chow’s blog, which then led me to Scott’s post at W Revenue dot Com.
Scott is attending the Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego this week. Think of ETech as the CES of the… well, emerging technologies. Scott became interested in longevity research, or the science of making people live longer. He even went so far as to offer up $20.00 to the first 100 people who blog about this topic - that is serious dedication!
So, what do I think about this topic? Well, I feel that we have been researching longevity for a while time now, hence the continued human research into cures for many of life’s worst diseases (cancer, AIDS, etc.). We have come a long way in a very short time. Diseases like Polio and Measles were once life-threatening, but now there are vaccines to prevent these from even happening. Don’t confuse this with “looking younger”… wrinkle cream, plastic surgery, etc… which is all just a huge waste of money IMO.
Scott’s idea of longevity research is a bit different. The example he uses is living as a 20 something for, say, 500 years or more. This sounds like something totally out of a science fiction novel, but could it be a reality one day? And even more so, would you even care to live that long?
This question will certainly bring up issues from nearly every religious denomination. Did your higher power “intend” you to live past normal human life expectancy? And for that matter, don’t today’s various medications already do this…. simply help to “fight the clock” that is life?
I think it would be worthwhile to invest more time and effort into longevity research, but it is equally important to continue to fund other disease-curing research.
Here’s my reasoning. I have Muscular Dystrophy, a muscle-destroying genetic disease. This is something I was born with, and has gotten progressively worse over time… and will continue to do so until it eventually “wins”. What good would it do me to live for 500 years in my current situation? Well, this would simply “buy time” for me and others… time for scientists to continue research and eventually find a cure for MD and other diseases. Sure, this will eventually come with time anyway, perhaps well after my time on Earth has passed, but how could I turn down the thought of being around when that happens? To finally live life “normally”; to make up for “lost time”… time that I could have spent playing sports, driving cars, doing what every other healthy person takes for granted.
So yeah, I would fully support “longevity research”… at the same rate that I would support other disease-curing research.
Sure, there are a ton of concerns to consider… who gets to live longer, at what cost… and what about over-populating the planet?
What are your thoughts on this subject? Would you want to “live for 500 years”? Why or why not?
