“Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen”  ~Mark Twain

I am not by any means a biblical scholar, but I do recall in some of the stories of the Old Testament, it had been mentioned that the average life span of persons in those days well exceeded what we now accept as “old age”.   According to this article, http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/longpatr.html,  Noah himself lived well past the age of 900 years old.  900 years old???!!!   I can’t even fathom what it would be like to live to such an age!

Yet some scientists today believe that the human lifespan can and will be able to be extended..perhaps by decades.   Personally, I feel a bit disturbed by the notion that through genetic/technological interventions,  one’s life span can be indefinately increased. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12916099/print/1/displaymode/1098/  It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel…and certainly seems to leave the door open for potentially unintended circumstances.   Its bad enough we live in a society that reveres its youth and typically “gives up” on its aged members.  What implications would living longer and longer have on us sociologically?  How would this impact the health care system?  Sounds awfully daunting to me, but maybe I am just a pessimist.

Would you want to live into your 100’s…and maybe even well beyond?   If your body and mind would remain well-preserved , would you welcome this as a positive scientific discovery and exciting opportunity?