Prolongevity

Is approaching immortality immoral?

Ronald Bailey | August 4, 2004

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This lack of interest in progeny would have the happy side effect of making sure that doubling human lifespans doesn't lead to overpopulation. No one can know for sure, but it could well be that bearing and rearing children would eventually interest long-lived oldsters who would come to feel that they had the time and the resources to do it right.

Callahan's final demand that all problems that doubled healthy lifespans might cause be solved in advance is just silly. Humanity did not solve all of the problems caused by the introduction of farming, electricity, automobiles, antibiotics, sanitation, and computers in advance. We proceeded by trial and error and corrected problems as they arose. We should be allowed do the same thing with any new age-retardation techniques that biomedical research may develop. And we'll be happy to do so.

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Heads up: I will be reporting on the goings on at Transvision 2004 in my next column.