Living to be 1,000

Currently, .03% of the U.S. population lives to be 100 or older. Scientists predict that this percentage will increase to .14%, or 601,000 people, by the year 2050. While this increase may seem extreme, many scientists believe that technological and medical advances may increase life spans far past 100 years. Aubrey de Greay, gerontologist and scientific provocateur, believes that people alive today may be the first individuals to reach 1,000 years old.

While a 1,000 year life span may be possible one day, scientists working on increasing life spans predict that an average life span of 150 years will be ascertainable in the near future. These scientists stress that they are attempting to increase both the quality and the quantity of life.

With a longer life, however, come concerns regarding the environment, population growth, the economy, and resource availability. Additionally, increased life spans may have an affect on more personal matters such as marriages, divorces, intra-family dynamics, estate planning techniques, and financial savings.

Bill McKibben, an environmental writer, argues against “techno-longevity”, claiming that “like everything before us, we will rot our way back into the woof and warp of the planet. Sonia Arrison, author of How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith (Basic Books 2011) is unconvinced, stating:

Arguments against life extension are often simply an appeal to the status quo. If humans were to live longer, we are told, the world, in some way, would not be right: It would no longer be noble, beautiful or exciting.

But what is noble, beautiful and exciting about deterioration and decline? What is morally suspect about ameliorating human suffering?

The answer is nothing. Everything that we have, socially and as individuals, is based on the richness of life. There can be no more basic obligation than to help ourselves and future generations to enjoy longer, healthier spans on the Earth that we share.

See Sonia Arrison, Living to 100 and Beyond, The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 27, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.