100+ summary

Most of us want to live long lives, but many of us don’t want to do so in pain or infirmity. Fortunately, modern science is finding ways to alleviate this dilemma by helping us lead longer and healthier lives.

New medical technology is even enabling us to treat diseases that we haven’t been able to heal before. Tissue engineering is one of these breakthroughs.

Advances in science and medicine have been so significant that it’s been suggested that the first of us to live to 1,000 has already been born.

But, as impressive as this progress is, what about the moral implications? Is this something we should encourage? Is living longer necessarily better? Despite what the critics may say, it is!

It seems inevitable that if the same number of people continue to be born while our life spans increase, the world will soon become crammed with people. According to many, this growth will be massive, leading to a lack of resources and dangerous environmental repercussions. But is this true?

Actually, the effect of long lives on population growth isn’t as big as you might expect.

One consequence of living longer is that we would have more time to form relationships and have children. It’s probable we would do this several times over, which would have interesting implications.

New fertility technology will enable women to have children later – an example of which occurred in 2008 when an Indian woman called Devi gave birth to a healthy child at the age of 70. Fertility technology is progressing swiftly and will make late pregnancies less risky and more common.

Some people fret about the impact a larger and older population will have on the economy. Who’s going to pay for all these old people and their pensions? But living longer might turn out to be an economic advantage.

According to economists David Bloom and David Canning, if one country has a life expectancy five years higher than another, then, all other factors remaining equal, the real income per capita will rise 0.3 to 0.5 percent faster in the “healthier” country.

How would a world where we live exceedingly long lives and seldom experience disease and death change religion? What impact would longevity have on spirituality?

As we live longer, the concept of an afterlife will start to lose its appeal.

As with any movement, the movement for longevity requires ambassadors and spokespeople to continue to raise and attract funding. There are many ways to help this cause.

Proliferating the idea or “meme” that healthy life extension is achievable and worth investing in will garner support and add to public understanding of the issue.