There’s no time for us
There’s no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away
From us

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever....?

(lyrics by Queen)

I heard a radio talk show host discussing reports that new technologies would eventually lead to people living practically forever, or at least much longer than they do now. He said that some scientists view aging like any other disease, something to be attacked, studied, and cured. Nanobots would scurry around in your body, cleaning out arteries, dicing up fat, attacking cancers, and repairing worn out parts before you even know they are going bad. Assuming you avoid swimming with alligators or jumping off tall buildings, you could be a modern day Methuselah.

Imagine a 200 year old person with the inner body of a 25 year old. You could take your great-great-great grandfather with you on those skiing trips. Social Security might need a bit of re-tooling, as it is not designed for people to draw hundreds of years worth of benefits. You could always raise the retirement age to…what….120?

Who wants to be 250 years old? I don’t want to die any more than anyone else does. Just think of all the books I could read and write in all those years! Not only could I watch my grandchildren grow up, I could watch their grandchildren too. It could be dangerous though. At the rate I’m going I could have like 20 ex wives. Scaaaarrrryyy!

In some ways it is not surprising that we contemplate this. Think about how medicine was practiced just a scant 150 years ago, with holes being drilled in the head to relieve pressure, limbs being hacked off when they became infected, and leeches as a medical tool to clear out diseased tissue. It was not uncommon for a mother to have multiple stillborn children and a large number of kids did not survive to their second birthday. Modern medicine has truly been miraculous in extending life in ways our forefathers could not have imagined.

For much of mankind’s existence we have searched for the “fountain of youth”, a way to beat nature, to overcome the natural degenerative flaws these bodies are born with. People pay ridiculous sums of money to have their bodies or heads frozen, hoping for a rebirth at a time when technology can fix what ails them. I don’t know what to think about these nanobots and other futuristic technologies, but when one looks at the history of just the past 50 years it is not a stretch to think that things like cancer, alzheimer’s disease, and cardiac disease will some day be treated easily. The promise of technology lies out there, glimmering with the possibility of extending life itself.

Would this make those lives any better or just stretch out empty existences? Would the collective wisdom gained from all those years of living benefit the rest of mankind? Would there be enough room for all of us on this seemingly shrinking planet?

Its quite a chunk to wrap your brain around, isn’t it?
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