Who Wants to Live Forever? If your doctor could give you a drug that would let you live a healthy life for twice as long,would you take it? This seems a great idea.Think of how much more time we could spend chasing our dreams,spending time with our loved ones,watching our families grow and have families of their own. Longer lives dont just affect the people who live them.They also affect society as a whole.We have war,poverty,all sorts of issues around,and I dont think any of them would be at all helped by having people live longer,says US bioethicist Daniel Callahan.The question is What will we get as a society? I suspect it wont be a better society. Research into ageing may enable women to remain fertile for longer.And that raises the prospect of having 100-year-old parents,or brothers and sisters bom 50 years apart~.We think of an eider sibling as someone who can protect us and offer help and advice.That would be hard to do if that sibling came from a completely different generation. On the other hand,more people working for longer would create greater competition for jobs.It would make it more difficult for younger people to find a job.Top posts would be dominated by the same few individuals,making career progress more difficult.And how easily would a 25-year-old employee be able to communicate with a 125-year-old boss? And society would feel very different if more of its members were older.There would be more wisdom,but less energy.Young people like to move about.Old people like to sit still.Young people tend to act without thinking.Old people tend to think without acting.Young people are curious and like to experience different things.Old people are less enthusiastic about change.In fact,they are less enthusiastic about everything. |