Are Life Spans Long Enough?
"What if we didn’t have to grow old and die? The average American can expect to live for 78.8 years, an improvement over the days before clean water and vaccines, when life expectancy was closer to 50, but still not long enough for most of us. So researchers around the world have been working on arresting the process of aging through biotechnology and finding cures to diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer. What are the ethical and social consequences of radically increasing lifespans? Should we accept a “natural” end, or should we find a cure to aging?" -IntelligenceSquaredus.org
Yes
Side Score: 3
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No
Side Score: 12
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Interesting topic ; I know a man of 96 and he's a pretty positive guy fit as a fiddle but pissed off as he wants to die even though he's healthy man the reason being he says he done it all as in had his fill of sex , fine meals , fine wines , holidays ,family get togethers , literature etc ,etc , he has experienced and lived a full life why want more ? Side: Yes
At 96 his body and mental state will have atrophied quite a great a deal. What if you could stay in your twenties to early thirties for far extended periods of time (in a healthy manner). Say, 200 years, 500 years, or measured in thousands of years? What is a few hundred or thousand years in the scheme of things? I think another issue here is that people are accustomed to the typical roughly 80 year life span now, our entire view of life would have to alter drastically to accommodate such a drastic change. Think Sci Fi for a moment here, If you grew up in a time period where everyone lived to be several hundred years old or so and stayed in their (twenties to early thirties mentally/physically) than this would be considered "normal" and 80 years would seem awfully short. I think the answer to this question will vary a lot from person to person. If someone has found many deep passions, interests, hobbies, creative activity, ect. that can be progressed upon indefinitely, I think they would be much more likely to want to live longer lives (e.g. Einstein was writing equations down while on his deathbed up close till the moment life left his body). At the same time, people who do not have deep passions, interests, hobbies, creative activity, ect. that can be progressed upon indefinitely to engage in would likely shrivel up out of boredom/depression and living 80 years would feel like forever (I think many/most people live like this unfortunately). By the time said people are 40, 50 or so they will have "had their fill". Also, I think there could be people who prefer to live a more "standard" lifespan as you suggest in your OP regardless of the activities they may or may not be pursuing. Side: Yes
If you could stay in a young body for 500 years would you not just get sick and tired of it all as in surely most expierences just become mundane with constant repetition ? How would 500 year olds impact global economies ? How would we fund their pension funds ? If they went on working that's even less employment for the kids coming up looking for work ? What about feeding , housing and overpopulation if the world suddenly had billions of longer living people ? Side: No
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"Everything has it's time and everything dies" (Doctor Who) The beauty of nature is that birth leads to death but even after your death, life for others will carry on. Just enjoy the time you get instead of begging for more and distracting your self from living. Imagine how bad overpopulation would be if we all lived about 1000 years! Imagine if everyone from the year 1017 upwards was still alive! It's best to have a fulfilled life instead of wanting something to be invented to extend our lives which only the rich would be able to afford. Side: Yes
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Anyone who wants to die is stupid, of course the human life span should be increased. Since aging is basically a degenerative disease it's not like living 900 years will make you shrivel up like yoda because if you can slow or reverse aging then all the crap that comes with it will be abated as well. So if I where to be a 130 year old miserable sick decrepit old bastard it would be worth hanging on for a few more decades because as the technology improves so will my health. So even if you are in a position where you can increase your life span and just barely hang on at a ripe old age but not completely reverse aging it's still worth it because if you where to keep your ass alive for just a little while longer you might get to be immortal. There is absolutely no excuse for deliberately wanting to die other than stupidity when you are living in a time when life extension technology is accessible. The problem however just like with the GM babies is that in our current societal structure only rich people will get full access to this technology. Which means Justin fucking Bieber will get to live forever and everyone you know who's actually worth something will probably die so a lot of fucking good it does. Side: No
@FactMachine. Haha. I think there is a real problem with people being "stupid", "ignorant", (whatever you want to call it), seriously negatively effecting their life happiness though. If you are living your life not all that different than the way a chimpanzee (or other mammals) do, then you most definitely will get bored, depressed, and shrivel up rather quickly (by your 4th decade at least) which I unfortunately think is the reality for most people on Earth. So, the prospect of living with hyper-extended lifespans would sound nearly torturous to these kinds of people (ironically they tend to be the same ones who believe in "eternal life after death", whatever that means). Although we obviously shouldn't take these kinds of people's opinions very seriously when considering the ethics of this kind of research or let their nihilism drag the rest of the population down from the benefits of this research. Are you familiar with Ray Kurzweil, Eric Drexler, Robert Freitas, Peter Diamonds, Aubrey de Grey, Craig Ventor, Liz Parrish? Side: No
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I really don't know which side of this I belong on, but I really wanted to bring up one of my favorite books - Time Enough for Love. It's about a man dictating his memoirs after a life of 3,000 or so years. He's decided it's time to die. Ultimately, he changes his mind... Side: No
not enough . I want to learn money for fortune . I would like to go other Countly . I spend extravagant time a lot , so I hope enjoy more life such as learning things ,job , etc. In fact I looking for a challenge that improve myself . I looking forward to meet good job so that to get carrier . If i were rich men I research new technology that cat solve the problem that we facing . Side: No
Life span is not enough . I'm being thinking about life cycle , I disappointed what I did so far I want to learn more as well as enjoyable Hobie . I not get ready for die I don't want to die early life . I ocupaid job but still enjoy what I learn from my life . I being aware progress that I experienced . I can be intelligence men definitely. Side: No
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