Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
sons could fall in love when they are in the same life stage but then find
themselves in completely different generations after just a few years.
spending 50 to 100 percent more years working would require several
periods of retraining for persons in jobs with rapidly developing technolo-
gies. longer periods of retirement could mean years of lower living stan-
dards unless retirement systems and personal savings plans were adjusted.
finally, the end period of life, if drawn out over twice as many years as
is common now, could be correspondingly unattractive. These problems
make it unlikely that humans will chose to retard aging during all stages
of life. more likely is that age retardation will be applied to lengthen the
most productive and creative period of life, and perhaps some persons will
opt for age-acceleration treatments to shorten the end period of life.
how might young people be affected when they realize that their healthy,
productive years may reach a century or more? We can imagine possi-
bilities. young persons are already noted for exuberant living that defies
mortality. Positioning death even further into the future could encourage
greater risk-taking and a lessened urgency to prepare for a career. start-
ing programs in higher education or technical training and leaving home
might be delayed for several decades, especially when ample financial sup-
port comes from others. on the other hand, multiple careers during the
prime of life would be feasible, but there may be a paucity of entry-level
positions in many professions due to delayed retirements.
family life and spiritual life might also be affected by 150-year life spans.
family reunions would be enormous, perhaps commonly including six
generations. And for those whose spiritual life is motivated mainly by con-
cerns over mortality, pursuing answers to life's persistent questions about
meaning might be delayed for a century or so. Whether this would trans-
late into less introspection during the prime of life is hard to say. Also diffi-
cult to predict is how spousal relationships might be affected by many more
decades of prime-time living.
Society.
how would moderate life extension affect national and global so-
cieties? increases in the median age of populations by several decades mean
either that many more persons will live long past retirement or that people
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