Longer life? Possibility?

Question

What would people think if life could be longer? Would it make people happy? Is there any chance of it ever happening? Does anyone know if there is research happening to try and make it possible? what would the possible negative side-effects be?

"you dont have to answer all those questions..just a general opinion would be ok

Answer 1

It has already happened.

In the last ten thousand years the average human lifespan has almost doubled.

The secret to a longer life is simple: we just have to figure out why our DNA degrades over time and turtle's or a tree's DNA doesn't.

On the negative side:  getting hurt will still be painful and will last longer, after a while you will get bored with EVERYTHING and want to die anyway.

Read the "Interview With a Vampire" series of books.  It is a recurring theme.

Answer 2

I think the rich people would love it, but the poor would hate it.  I think it would make the rich happy, and the poor jealous.  I believe in the next 30 years we will have some kind of procedure or idea to prolonging life.  Yes, there is research being done on this subject, in fact; there are competitions with high prize money on prolonging life.   I don't see any negative side effects in living longer.

Answer 3

well  I think that no matter how old humans lived to be it would never be long enough,and they would just become greedier and destroy earth a h**l of a lot quicker,no i think we are fine as we are and if you want to live a longer life try using positive energy it works wonders ,it encourages a happy and carefree way of life and also helps with recovery from illness,and best of all it is free!!!

Answer 4

It is happening now, it would make people happy, and research is going on right now. The negative effect would be that people would value life less.

Answer 5

A lot depends on how people live their lives, what they accomplish and their general feelings toward aging and the purpose behind life.  There is always research ongoing in this area.  One great book to read is The Immortal by JJ Dewey.  It's a fantastic story about a guy meeting an immortal being who explains who we are, what our purpose is, what lies beyond, why we die and suffer etc.  JJ has always been teaching a class online for many years.  In the class he has touched upon these subjects a few times.  The archives might be worth checking into if you're interested.

Answer 6

There is a strong possibility of longer life in near future. lot of research is going on this subject. otherwise also, there are villages in japan, whr ppl live upto 125 or more year... but other than this naturally longer life - there is a strong possibility that may be 50-100 yrs from now, we will be able to live longer. living longer the way we are now, is not a very good idea, coz we have not been able to control aging yet. once u r old, and the body stops working as it does in younger age, long life will become a curse and if there are diseases with it, it will be more difficult. then thr are issues of new births - whr will we accomodate so many ppl?

cloning does provide an answer to this - but there will be larger issues (have u watched The Island - movie?).

i have read about a theory on which research is going on - it is based on transferring all the human memories and experiences on a chip. then we will not need bodies. then we can exist as long as we want. we take a form only when we need to. we wont need food, travelling etc the way we need it now. it does sound interesting. but i think it is a bit far-fetched. it will take a lot of time and not sure if it will be so much fun though. it will take a long time for that to happen. then i guess, ppl will stop having babies. coz they will not die and will not need anymore ppl....

Answer 7

Education is proving key to a longer life

Answer 8

Sure, there is research happening. You probably havven't heard about it yet simply because they have yet to discover something.

I believe that in the future, perhaps not too distant, human lifespans will increase considerably, either due to better living conditions (including helathier food) or due to some kind of medical intervention. Either way, I expect that there will soon come a time that humans will live well into their 100s.

But would it make people happy? What I suspect is that the phenomenon of being "old" is what makes long life sometimes distasteful. I mean, if you could live for 200 years but you had to spend over half of them in a retirement home, would you enjoy that? IF aging itself can be slowed, however, I think people would not only enjoy long life, but eventually take it for granted.

On the other hand, perhaps not. I'm reading a science fiction book in which the main character, due to a combination of favorable genetics and scientific advances, has been alive for a couple millenia or so. Near the beginning of he book he tries to kill himself since, from his perspective, he has already done and seen everything in the universe. Too bad for him, while in the process of killing himself, he is discovered by some relatives (great-great-great-great-great etc grandchildren) and "rejuvenated" again, a peridoical treatment extending a life span and undoing aging.

It doesn't really sound so good to be him.

But I think 200 years would be reasonable. The real problem is, with just as many people being born and fewer people dying (or just more slowly) the planet would get overpopulated very quickly. So this discovery may have to coincide with the colonization of another planet or we will have problems.