The world of centenarians

What will the world be like when we can live for hundreds of years?

Sergey Sobol, Naked Science

According to demographers, the average life expectancy on the planet has increased by 6.2 years since 1990. Most likely, this growth will not only continue, but also accelerate. And after some time, the life expectancy of a person will increase to several hundred years. But such a long life will entail a change in the whole way of life that we are used to. The world will be different.

Technologies

British gerontologist Aubrey de Grey believes that the first person who will live to 150 years has already been born, and the first person who will live to 1000 years will be born in the next two decades. And he's probably right about a lot of things. On the one hand, improving the quality of life, on the other hand, new medical technologies that prevent aging, prolong both the life span itself and the period of active human activity. Many are afraid of the prospect of a long life, because it is associated with old age. Someone is even ready to leave this world, just not to see his decrepit body. Others, on the contrary, are waiting for the time when people will live for 200-300 years.

What technologies will allow us to live not just for a long time, but for a very long time, it is difficult to say now. Professor Yuval Harari (Hebrew University in Jerusalem) believes that in the future people will be able to afford to merge with technology and become cyborgs, thereby they will be able to live forever. Di Gray believes that the aging process is associated with the accumulation of defects and damage in the body. His recipe for a long life is preventive geriatrics. Defects and damages must be eliminated before their number exceeds the critical mark. And long before the onset of old age. Alphabet Inc.'s Calico division is studying chemical compounds that promote the formation of new neurons. This will help in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other diseases in which neurons die in certain areas of the brain. It's not enough just to keep a healthy body, you also need to save the brain.

In the future, life extension will be achieved with the help of a significant number of technologies. Even plastic surgery, which allows you to hide your real age and appear younger than you really are, is to some extent one of these technologies. After all, it is unlikely that in the foreseeable future scientists will find a way to immediately rejuvenate a person completely. Fitness bracelets and implanted sensors that tell when to take a pill or consult a doctor and thereby help prevent diseases, artificial organs grown to order to replace worn–out ones - all these are life extension technologies. Therefore, we will move towards a long life and potential immortality gradually, step by step, mastering more and more new technologies.

One life = many "lives"

We consider it natural that human life goes "from dawn to dusk". Childhood, youth, mature life and old age. Each period has its own purpose. Childhood and youth – for the first knowledge of the world and education. A mature life is spent on raising children and a career. Old age is a well–deserved rest. Life expectancy has increased significantly in recent years. But today, modern man spends more and more time on education and later marries. And developed countries are constantly pushing back the retirement dates for their citizens. The time frames of age periods are stretched. But it won't always be like this.

Philosopher and writer Steven Cave, author of the 2012 book "Immortality: The desire to live forever and how it governs civilization", believes that when life expectancy increases significantly, we will have to move away from the linear sequence that exists today. Getting an education, work and rest will alternate several times. In one lifetime, a person will be able to change several professions, build a career several times and take a break for a long rest several times.

For the first time, a person will have the opportunity to actually live several lives. Having comprehended the results of the first cycle (education, work, rest), a person with great understanding will approach the choice of the next profession and career aspirations.

Work and education

Already, many people change their specialty and field of activity during their lifetime. Many would be happy to quit an unloved job and, having received a new education, do something else. But if now these are the needs of individuals, then in the future, with an increase in life expectancy, a regular change of profession will become a social necessity.

The extension of the period of employment will lead to the fact that the older generation and the younger will compete for jobs. If people retire later and later, then young people will be out of work.

Moreover, the elderly will have all the competitive advantages – professional and career experience. At the same time, the medicine of the future will allow them to be as active as in their youth. Remember the words of the French writer Henri Etienne: "If youth knew, if old age could." Now previously incompatible things will become a reality.

That's just bad from this will not only be young. There are whole industries that are held together by fresh ideas. If they do not receive fresh blood, they face stagnation. In this regard, Professor Yuval Harari suggests presenting a situation in which your boss is 120 years old, and the ideas that guide him appeared at the end of the XIX century. At the same time, he will stay in the company where you work for another couple of decades.

The famous German theoretical physicist, the founder of quantum physics Max Planck once noticed that the progress of science goes from funeral to funeral. The change of generations makes it possible for new progressive ideas and theories to displace the old ones that have outlived their time. Unfortunately, this happens together with the people who are the bearers of these ideas. Now, when, after a certain period of work, a person will be able to get an opportunity for a long rest, and then get a new education, we seem to be able to get away from this.

New division of responsibilities

In connection with the preservation of the ability to work in old age, scientists are already asking the question: why should one age group simultaneously work, raise children and support those who are already retired? In addition, all this does not always work out equally well. Researchers Elke Leuchinger (Vienna Institute of Demography) and James William Vopel (Institute for Demographic Research of the Max Planck Society) believe that in the future part-time work should become the norm for both young and elderly people who retain the ability to work actively. If a person does not devote the whole day to work, he will be able to devote more time to raising his children and education.

The usual eight-hour working day and five-day working week for most of us can become a thing of the past. During the day, we will devote less time to work, and more to other activities.

In addition, experiments with part-time work are still taking place in some companies. At the same time, they often show that an employee manages to do as much in 3-4 hours as in the whole working day.

Fixed-term marriages and the future of family relations

An increase in life expectancy cannot but affect the family. If the classic marriage is limited to the moment "until death do us part", then now this moment is postponed indefinitely. There is less and less confidence that in a world where a profession will be chosen only for a while, where people will constantly change their place of residence, and after the children grow up, parents will still have a lot of vitality, the choice of a spouse will be made for life. Already, an increase in life expectancy leads to an increase in the number of divorces.

And if so, then perhaps everything is going to the fact that in addition to the "eternal", fixed–term marriages will also be concluded - family unions, limited in time. If spouses who are already getting married are increasingly entering into marriage contracts, thereby assuming that sooner or later their marriage may be dissolved, then the idea of temporary marriages should find those who are ready to enter into such marriages.

The concept of family unions created for a certain period of time is not new. The marriage, which is dissolved automatically after the youngest of the spouses reaches 80 years, was described by Jonathan Swift in his novel Gulliver's Travels. But his immortal "struldbrugs" became decrepit with age and terrified others with their appearance and behavior. The medicine of the future will not only prolong life, but also increase the active age. Therefore, 80-year-olds will by no means be useless old people.

In the XVIII century, a temporary marriage was proposed by the French commander and marshal of France, Count Moritz of Saxony. True, he was distinguished by very free morals and the time for such ideas did not come then. The idea of a trial marriage was analyzed by an English doctor, the founder of sexology, the Briton Havelock Ellis. But in this century, the ideas of time-limited marriages are gaining more and more supporters. Not so long ago, the famous Chinese publicist Lu Guoping proposed to establish seven-year marriage licenses. Legislatively, they tried to allow temporary marriages in Mexico, but the bill was blocked.

It is quite possible that in the future many marriages will be concluded only for the period of raising children. As soon as the youngest child reaches a certain age, the marriage will be considered dissolved, and the former spouses will have freedom and the opportunity to create a new family.

The world of centenarians

Due to the significant extension of the active life period, the structure of the world economy will also change. An increasing number of people will be employed in medicine and industries related to maintaining an active life in old age. Cosmetology, pharmaceuticals, the production of artificial organs and implants will take the leading positions.

Services that are already available now, but are quite rare, will become mass. For example, people entering into a second or third marriage and wishing to have children will not always be able to do so. Rejuvenation technologies will not immediately become perfect. Surrogacy services, and later the bearing of a fetus in an artificial womb will become quite common. The emergence of long rest periods will bring tourism of the future into one of the leading sectors of the world economy.

There will also be a change of attitude towards your body. Technologies will allow you to change worn-out organs as spare parts for a car. People will stop being afraid of diseases and injuries. The attitude to your age will also change. People will simply stop feeling it. And perhaps someday, when we reach the final turning point in the fight against aging, an event will occur that can be considered symbolic - the date of birth will no longer be indicated in passports.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  22.08.2016