A Cambridge geneticist recently announced his assessment that people alive today might live to be a thousand years old. We have learned so much about how to repair the cellular and molecular damage that is the ultimate cause of death, he says, that quite soon the average age at which people die might be several thousand years.
Oh God save us!
I like living very much. I’m not looking forward to dying anytime soon. But I do not, do not want to live to be a thousand.
Apart from my personal preferences in the matter, can you imagine a world in which people live 20-30 times longer than we do now? I’m almost aghast as I contemplate the possibility.
China already has a one-child policy. Obviously, unless we find another planet on which to live, we would have to stop having children on a far more drastic scale than that. Alternatively, the murder rate might increase dramatically as we fight for food and water. Possibly even space to lie down.
And of course, the retirement age would have to be delayed somewhat.
No, it’s a terrible idea. I’ve just read an article about the implications of the speed at which the global population is aging. It’s enough already.
The end of my natural life will come sooner rather than later. I might not greet death with delight.
But the alternative would be much much worse.
