What are people’s thoughts:
https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/aging-science-life-expectancy-2d48ef9a
I can’t have thoughts about an article that’s behind a paywall.
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Oh yeah. I am going to hit 100 years easily.
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Easy for you to say. You’re already 99 right?
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Here is the full article - these types of article come out every few years, basically saying “stop being so optimistic” about longevity:
Human lifespan has a limit and we might have reached it.
S. Jay Olshansky, who studies the upper bounds of human longevity at the University of Illinois Chicago, believes people shouldn’t expect to live to 100. Most, he contends, will reach between 65-90.
Biology is holding us back, Olshansky said. Human evolution favors growth and reproduction, not living to excessive ages. As people grow older, their cells and tissues accumulate damage. Breakdowns of one kind or another happen more frequently and get increasingly difficult to repair. Scientists believe there are likely many genes that affect lifespan. Aging is a complex process that isn’t well-understood.
Olshansky knows his viewpoint isn’t popular.
The longevity business is booming. People are flocking to longevity meetings and taking compounds they hope will extend their lives. Investors are backing scientists researching techniques to reprogram cells to a younger state with the goal of restoring functions that diminish with age. Longevity influencers argue that if they can live long enough, scientific breakthroughs will keep them going indefinitely.
“We are going to start to understand how to rejuvenate and revitalize ourselves. This is what science does,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, a 63-year-old entrepreneur who runs longevity trips for investors to meet scientists in the field.
Read the Full article: Think You Will Live to 100? These Scientists Think You’re Wrong (WSJ)
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Nothing wrong with that opinion. Nothing new either. Not exactly a breakthrough in thinking. That is the reasonable limit for the time being.
But breaking barriers is exactly the challenge that other scientists consider worth aiming for - landing on the moon, splitting the atom, finding a cure for polio., etc.
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Hey Karl… Buddy… you’re not that far behind me. Be careful… hahaha!
Print media archives are full of predictions about the future that looked foolish a few years later.
Nobody knows and anybody who seems confident in either direction shouldn’t be taken seriously, but let’s all at least try to enjoy our final years in better health whether we die at 80, 90, 100, or 120.
I don’t necessarily want to prolong my life too drastically as I think there’s a much better place to be. But I would like to feel good and be a blessing to others as long as I am here.
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I think it’s crystal ball gazing, and so its unsurprising that people come to different conclusions. I’m just doing what I can to take advantage of anything that is developed to extend my own lifespan.
I think that puts me firmly in the camp of people that believe there will be scientific breakthroughs that extend lifespan, even if I can’t say exactly what that might look like. If I’m wrong, it’ll be embarrasing after I’m dead. If I’m right, I am in a better position to get onto breakthrough therapies before most other people my age.