[AnotherUnixGeek]

Raising the retirement age to 978.

Exactly. Aging is a technical problem and there's no reason it can't be solved eventually, though I think Kurzweil is being unrealistic about his schedule. If people can live indefinitely in good health due to radical developments in biotechnology and nanotechnology, the reason for entitlements such as Social Security and Medicaid disappears. Take your 25 year old body and get back to work, grandpa.

[etlib]

Aging is a technical problem and there's no reason it can't be solved eventually

Not true. Aging is part of the life process of every living thing with any level of complexity. This indicates there is a significant natural law in effect here. Probably related to entropy and the amount of energy required to sustain an individual life. Reproduction is easier than repair beyond a certain point. 1000 year lifetimes are as possible as is time travel or perpetual motion.