I’ve been planning since I was young to live to 120. I was figuring 20% genetics (I had a great-great-grandfather who lived to be 102) and 80% advances in medicine. Really hoping for those vat grown organs that appear in Neuromancer and Blade Runner, and if stem cell research pays off, we may have them in my lifetime. But the older I get – and I just turned 37 ten minutes ago – the more implausible 120 seems. Therefore any research on life extension catches my eye, and this talk at TED seems to offer some simple lifestyle guidelines based on good research. In fact, I think I’ll go for a walk right now.
[Note: the video embedded below might not show up on your news reader.]
At this point I am hoping for 70, I think. Other than the cool factor, I am not sure how much fun it would be to be 120 years old. I doubt 70 would be fun either.
37 is a rather cool number. 2 Prime number sitting side by side that make up another prime number.
Happy Birthday! (Not sure if my pre-emptive text made it through)
Thanks! 37 is a cool number, although I’d rather be 24 🙂
I guess it all comes down to quality of life. These old people do seem happy and pretty healthy. The truth is that as long as I can enjoy the things I do today – friends, books, movies, music – I’ll probably be OK.
Of course, this is under the assumption that I’ll retire well before 70. Having to work at that age, esp. doing something you don’t particularly enjoy, would definitely suck.