OK, that's a very good point. I agree with you that there were more optimistic predictions made about life expectancy, but that they did not derive from the medical profession itself.
Futurists can be Malthusians...
I guess, but I don't consider the Paul Ehrlich types to be futurists, but enviro-whacko Malthusian Luddites.
I consider Ehrlich to be the shining example of why you should get a whole bunch of salt before even considering the predictions of any futurist. What I like best about Ehrlich is that he still manages to get books published long after he predicted we would unavoidably be reduced to mass cannibalism, he's a shining example of the complete unaccountability of futurists, he should be working the comedy circuit not the lecture circuit.