2. 39%
50%
25%
82%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Health problems of aging should be cured by medical
research.
Aging and its health problems are a natural part of life.
Medical interventions should prevent aging before its
onset.
Following a healthy diet and lifestyle can postpone
aging.
Which of the following represent your views on aging?
Photocredit:TBYHonFlickr
7. Comments on
Why would you want to extend your lifespan or not?
“I love life!”
45%
“I’m burdened
by the idea of
living a 1,000
years!”
45%
“I’m
undecided on
life
extension.”
10%
8. “I love life!”
• Because I really like to live
• Absolutely! As long as life is good, who wants to give it up?
• To Love Living
• I can think of extended lifespan if my family & friends and coffee stayed along with me....
else no point :)
• To benefit others with what knowledge and hopefully wisdom I have accumulated, to
help with the coming challenges to the earth and humanity, to have more time to pursue
creative and artistic endeavors, to hopefully live to see more peace across the world, and
to explore what adventures lie ahead.
• Would like to reverse or extend my lifespan for being a good human being and do my bit
for the world in a better manner.
• Would like to extend my lifespan, because there are just too many wonderful things to
do that one cannot fit into a current human lifespan. It also allows you to see a larger
span of changes around you.
• To enjoy what life has to offer and experience "more"!
• I would want to extend my lifespan because I want to constantly participate in the
adventure of evolution of our species!
9. “I’m burdened by the idea of living a 1,000 years!”
• This has really got me thinking now. On second thoughts, I'd rather be born again, fresh and not carry
the confused baggage of seeing life change drastically across time - which it will - in the 1000 or so
years I will live, and constantly try to adapt my mental models around things, people and situations
and how they work from what i began with, as a kid.
• I do not want to live for 1000 years for the reason that in the life span of 70-80 years a human goes
through a lot of good and bad times and acquires experience. It will be more of a suffering for an
average Human to live that long and endure emotional pain. A popular example is Bhishma in
Mahabharata.
• I wouldn't mind a slightly extended lifespan if I could prevent the diseases and issues that come along
with it (read: memory loss, arthritis, etc.). However, beyond the age of, say, a 120, I don't think I'd
want to keep pushing to learn newer and newer skills to stay relevant, and then I'd just want the
struggle to stop.
• We have been handed a fixed lifespan from nature. In this manner, each of us are born equal, as in we
have a finite time on this planet. It is THIS very ticking clock that is at the very core of how we live our
lives - this reality pushes to live each day to our fullest and strive to complete our bucket list before our
last gasp of breath. I dread an alternate reality where I would live a 1000 years - i fear it will
demotivate me to procrastinate Life itself! And don't I want to know what is at the end of the tunnel,
who is our maker and if there is an afterlife.
10. • Probably not. I think extending one's lifespan, if this becomes possible, can become a fad and
even an addiction among the wealthy of the world. They'll keep living on, while the rest die
away, and they'll become obsessed with finding more meaning in their life that continues on and
on. And no doubt, they'll keep consuming and generating trash for the landfills.
• All the questions in this survey relate aging to only physical aging. That is not the only problem of
aging. What if I am fit and fine and live a 1000 years but have nothing to do, or contribute. I have
seen from very close quarters what happens to an inactive mind in a healthy body. We do have
increased lifespans now not the fantastic 1000 years but much more than that what was there
before. But people still retire at 60 or 65. They are rendered useless by the system and society
and the will to live a long life does not remain. Medical care can only affect changes at personal
level, but to be able to live happily and healthily for a thousand years the society at large needs
to change. Am not sure that is going to happen in a 1000 years.
• I guess have lived enough :)
• I am good with 'what is'. No less no more.
• While I like the concept to living to experience what 1,000 years from now would look like, I
would not want to live that long. Aging is a beautiful process and I would like to happen naturally
and gracefully.
“I’m burdened by the idea of living a 1,000 years!”
11. “I’m undecided on life extension.”
• I like the idea of removing disease and illness so our lives will be less
painful however significant extension of lifespans doesn't help an already
over populated world. I'm more enthused about the construct of self being
kept going within an avatar. The question of how a human mind deals with
a synthetic host body does make me wonder if its a naive goal as what’s
the point of preserving a mind if its broken after experiencing a traumatic
event that we can't fully contemplate let alone plan for effectively coping
with. Excited either way, very interesting junction in our species history so
happy to be along for the ride.
• I'm a little undecided on the topic. While a long and healthy life is
appealing, immortality is both scary and a possible reality. That we live a
hundred or two hundred is an idea we have internalized by looking around,
but there is no reason why that should be the ideal case, though it might
be a good one.