Saying a pill will prevent "cancer" is like saying one stone can kill "all the world's birds". There are countless types of cancers and it is very unlikely we will ever find a cure-all for each and every one of them. Furthermore, while some diseases and illnesses may be covered by a pill, it's impossible to prevent all of them. There will still be sexually transmitted diseases, viruses, bacteria, and other things that will affect us. Also, there's nothing to say that playing with our molecular structure to prevent one disease won't make us more susceptible to another. Doing science experiments on our bodies may not be the wisest way forward.
Pro: You'll remain fit and able for longer
For many of us, it isn't actual death that we fear with ageing. It's the fear of not being able to live our lives actively, with full physical and mental functionality. Harvard's team believe if we start taking certain pills at age 30, we'll still literally be jumping around at 80 with complete agility and mobility. No matter how you feel about aging, that's great news for society-at-large.
Con: You have to deteriorate eventually
All we would be doing in giving ourselves the ability to live to 150 is prolonging the inevitable. Our bodies will eventually shut down on us. Our minds will unavoidably begin to play tricks on us. Is there really a difference if that happens at 140 years old than if it happens at 85? Additionally, longer periods of degeneration would be far more trying than shorter periods - we might be healthy for 100 years then spend the next 50 feeling rubbish. That's a third of your life.
Pro: You'll see your family grow
Today, we are lucky if we still have grandparents after high school age. The ability to live to 150 means people will see their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren (and so on) grow up. Families will be large and generational stories will be able to be told in real life. Just think of how much wisdom could be passed down in person.
Con: Families are dysfunctional
Few of us have great families where everybody gets along. The majority have deep-rooted issues that go back years, pain that will never go away, and begrudge seeing or being involved in the lives of certain relatives. If we all lived to 150, that dysfunction would only grow because we'd all have more people and more chances with which negativity would eventually permeate our familial lives.
Pro: You'll see the world change
Can you imagine if you had experienced both the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Internet Age? Being pulled by a horse-and-cart on your daily commute one century, and driving a Tesla the next? The ability to experience changes in the world and reflect upon them would allow us all to comprehend the development of the world with clout, because we all would have actually been there to see it happen.
Con: The world will be full of complainers
A lot of us hate change. The film Midnight in Paris adequately conveys the sentiment that we all think there was a better era than the one we're currently living in. Lots of us lament the social media era and wish we were still in the 1990s where nothing was documented. In the 1990s, people were complaining that CDs were inferior to vinyl. See the trend? When the world changes, we complain. Living through 15 decades will undoubtedly mean we will spend our lives constantly starting stories with "in my day..." and then reeling of lists of complaints about the modern world.
- nzherald.co.nz
