Here's an idea I'm developing: a plan
for living a healthy lifespan of 100 years.
Here's my reasoning. I don't want to die - ever. But
attaining immortality is like any other human endeavour; it's a project of many
parts. So the first part is to work out what it'll take to be independent, healthy,
and productive at 100.
Which is hardly a ridiculous goal. Take Sir Norman Foster,
nearing 80 but with the body shape of a far younger man. Compay Segundo from
Bueno Vista Social Club, active at 90 when the documentary was made (and who
lived another five years.) Designer Robin Day, star of British design in the
1950s, still working today at 90. What's more, I'm from long-lived genetic
stock on both sides: no heart disease, no cancer, no addictive tendencies.
In
short, I'm in with a good chance.
It's even possible the major problems aren't medical. Albert Camus's
notion that the only real philosophical problem is suicide. In other words, is
there enough in life to make it worth living? Can you stay relevant to the world
as you age? Can you continue succeeding on terms true to yourself? Will you want
to? A positive mental attitude is as important to hundred-year-clubbers as
broccoli and bicycles.
And there's a longer-term goal: anyone under 50 who manages to live
to a hundred may never need to die at all. A full understanding of the human
genotype and phenotype, complete control over cancer, custom cell repair, personalised
telomere editing, in-body diagnostic nanotechnology, and other medical advances
that aren't even concepts yet may eliminate death as a medical condition altogether. Life-threatening
cancers can be spotted in childhood, kept in check until they're worth dealing
with, and whacked with a designer drug keyed to your genome alone. Badly dividing
cells can be snipped out with molecular shears, ejected from your body, and a
fresh pair cloned without you ever needing to do anything about it. You'll still
need to take care of your body, but unlike today, it won't eventually wear out
with use.
Yes,
it sounds farfetched. About as farfetched as transplanting major organs did in
the mid 20th century.
