How long do you want to live?

@notyouraveragedummy what share of our nation's tax revenues should go to pay for the cost of extending human life by decades?

@SusanInFlorida I have no information on government supports for extending human life. I have private health insurance as part of my retirement plan that takes care of my medical needs so far.

@whowasthatmaskedman I absolutely agree, and so does the scientific community, which is why reversing the aging process is the current goal. And they've managed to do it, at least in mice. There are laboratory mice living twice as long as your standard pet mouse, without any health problems to speak of.

@SW-User As I commented elsewhere in this thread, that's actually within the grasp of medical science. They've reversed the aging process in lab mice. Next is testing in dogs, I assume, and then primates. We are on our way.

@SW-User evolution is driven by new generations, not the preservation of individuals for decades (or centuries) after they're capable of reproducing.

@ReptilianFromPlanetCrush While true, looking at various factors, its just possible the thinning will start with Americans.. So be careful what you wish for...😷

Who knows. At this point, nothing would surprise me. @whowasthatmaskedman

@ReptilianFromPlanetCrush i don't want to see people massacred in war. i don't want to see the majority of the planet's GDP spent on preserving the gerontocracy either. Let's live our livespans as nature intended - free of violent wars, and extraordinary medical intervention in the weeks before death.

@WanderingSavage half of the average person's lifetime medical expenses will be incurred in the final 6 months of life. and they will still die.

hospitals are like hotels - they admit anyone as long as there are empty beds and someone to pay.

@SusanInFlorida Depending on your location.

@Sazzio possibly. are you familiar with the epoch known as "snowball earth"?

@SusanInFlorida I think if we humans could be responsible with it and stop reproducing as much, the augmented lifestyle wouldn't be a problem.

Are you familiar with the elf effect? It's a theoretical side effect of augmented lifespans. In fantasy and science fiction, whenever a society is introduced to the story where the people live for hundreds of years, there's always a shortage of children in said society. If the main character or characters bring a child or young person to the kingdom of the immortal people, somebody always makes a comment along the lines of "We have not seen a youngling in centuries."

That's how society would need to adapt in a world where people don't die of old age after a mere 70 to 100 years.

@LordShadowfire i haven't read about the elf effect, i must confess. does it play out in the real world, or just in literature?

one theory posits that lower fertility rates in WEIRD nations (Western, Educatetd, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) comes from the certainty that more of their kids will live to adulthood.

There are competing theories involving the excessive use of drugs, television, internet porn, gambling, affordable birth control, etc.

@SusanInFlorida Thing is, we don't really know. We don't have a real world society yet that corresponds to the Elven Realm in a fantasy novel. However, the reason scientists have speculated that it would play out that way is that if you're no longer dealing with a ticking biological clock that only gives you a few short decades to have a baby, you feel less pressured to pop one out.