Who wants to live forever?

What if people could live to 200 instead of just 80 years?

Dr. Stuart Kim has already done the equivalent in his studies on how to reverse the aging process in worms, and has learned incredible things about aging. Traditionally, we’ve always thought that aging was the result of wear and tear on our cells, but it turns out that isn’t quite true.

ideacity on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

I heard this lecture last night on CBC radio and was blown away by it, and the implications it offers about aging in the future. It’s almost one of those things which makes me think I was born a touch too early, because I might just miss the benefits of this kind of research. On the other hand, it kinda terrifies me, because it also offers a real prospect of a future where the options are a) the rich (who can afford the treatments) live for hundreds of years while the poor continue to die as normal. Or, b) a world where people age at 1/2 to 1/3 the rate they do now, and which will see terrifying overpopulation like we can’t even imagine.

Neither seems all that pleasant. But hopefully we’ll find a happy middle.

%d bloggers like this: