Posted on 08/27/2011 8:56:46 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
In Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," Gulliver encounters small group of immortals, the struldbrugs. "Those excellent struldbrugs," exclaims Gulliver, "who, being born exempt from that universal calamity of human nature, have their minds free and disengaged, without the weight and depression of spirits caused by the continual apprehensions of death!"
But the fate of these immortals wasn't so simple, as Swift goes on to report. They were still subject to aging and disease, so that by 80, they were "opinionative, peevish, covetous, morose, vain, talkative," as well as "incapable of friendship, and dead to all natural affection, which never descended below their grandchildren." At 90, they lost their teeth and hair and couldn't carry on conversations.
For as long as human beings have searched for the fountain of youth, they have also feared the consequences of extended life. Today we are on the cusp of a revolution that may finally resolve that tension: Advances in medicine and biotechnology will radically increase not just our life spans but also, crucially, our health spans.
The number of people living to advanced old age is already on the rise. There are some 5.7 million Americans age 85 and older, amounting to about 1.8% of the population, according to the Census Bureau. That is projected to rise to 19 million, or 4.34% of the population, by 2050, based on current trends. The percentage of Americans 100 and older is projected to rise from 0.03% today to 0.14% of the population in 2050. That's a total of 601,000 centenarians.
But many scientists think that this is just the beginning; they are working furiously to make it possible for human beings to achieve Methuselah-like life spans. They are studying the aging process itself and experimenting with ways to slow it down by diet, drugs and genetic therapy.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
No one should ever focus their energies solely on living as long as they can. Instead, they should be doing everything they can to be in the best shape possible for the age that they are.
Welcome to the minions of FRee Republic Master Swift..
nicely worded. I completely agree.
“...they were ‘opinionative, peevish, covetous, morose, vain, talkative,’ as well as ‘incapable of friendship, and dead to all natural affection...’”
Oh, oh - he had me pegged, and I’m only sixty...
I don’t want to live to 100. Hell, 60 is plenty for me. As soon as I’m done voting Obama out of office, I’m pretty much out of reasons to hang around any longer.
don’t take me yet, I couldn’t afford the funeral!
Some do so through construction, some through family, and some through service to others.
On the other hand, there are many people who are wrapped up in themselves, and for them extending their lives is little more than an exercise in clinging to a world in which they have little importance beyond themselves, and realize that their presence will be dismissed as quickly as dust driven by a strong wind.
With my luck, they will come out with a way to stop aging - when I’m 85. At that point, I might as well play out the string.
“If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.”
George F. Burns quote
yeah, that was a little too close to an accurate description of me, too
Last year my class, the Class of 1960 had our 50th reunion. We know about our class members in detail. All but 11 are known.
We know that 60 of the 300 are dead.
That means that at 68 years old, 80 % are still kicking around.When gathered we saw that although there are weaknesses and problems, most of that 80 % are in fairly good health.
LOL, OH, LOL!
I’m already there and I’m not even 60.
Wife’s Grannie was 101 last week, boss’s Grannie was 100. Both have a far better outlook on life than I do. ;)
They must be near sighted since the end is not far away. :-)
Living to be extremely old doesn’t appeal to me unless you could be vital and productive.
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