Will Human Life Expectancy Quadruple in the Next Hundred Years? Sixty Gerontologists Say Public Debate on Life Extension Is Necessary

Humanism, as a meaning frame, is defined by four characteristics: human agency; human dignity; self-realization; and love of vulnerable, unique, and irreplaceable persons. A humanist view of aging is in favor of healthy aging and life extension, but human life is and remains inherently vulnerable (not just medically), and in a humanist view other aims are regarded as deserving a higher priority than life extension for privileged social groups with already a high (healthy) life expectancy. Humanist priorities are (1) a better social organization of a person’s life course with a better balance among learning, working, caring, and enjoying; (2) more social justice—for too long differences in socio-economic status have been determinants of shocking differences in health and longevity; (3) development and dissemination of cultural narratives that better accommodate the fulfillment of essential meaning-needs of the elderly than the stereotyping decline- and age-defying narratives); (4) less loneliness and social isolation.

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Water Quality and Life Expectancy: Parallel Courses in Time

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060752 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 752

Author(s):

Andreas N. Angelakis ◽

Heikki S. Vuorinen ◽

Christos Nikolaidis ◽

Petri S. Juuti ◽

Tapio S. Katko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Life Expectancy ◽

Human Life ◽

Life Quality ◽

Modern Medicine ◽

Personal Hygiene ◽

Water Supply Systems ◽

Improved Sanitation ◽

Ancient Times ◽

Concomitant Factors

Since ancient times, the need for healthy water has resulted in the development of various kinds of water supply systems. From early history, civilizations have developed water purification devices and treatment methods. The necessity for fresh water has influenced individual lives as well as communities and societies. During the last two hundred years, intensive and effective efforts have been made internationally for sufficient water quantity and quality. At the same time, human life expectancy has increased all over the globe at unprecedented rates. The present work represents an effort to sketch out how water purity and life expectancy have entangled, thus influencing one another. Water properties and characteristics have directly affected life quality and longevity. The dramatic increase in life expectancy has been, indisputably, affected by the improvement in water quality, but also in other concomitant factors, varying temporally and spatially in different parts of the world throughout the centuries. Water technologies and engineering have an unequivocal role on life expectancy. In some cases, they appear to have taken place earlier than the progress of modern medicine. Among these, improved sanitation, personal hygiene, progress in medicine, and better standards of economic living have played the greatest roles.

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2. Speaking of God in the Post-Human Era: An Examination of Radical Life Extension in Relation to Key Theological Concepts and Narratives

Inquiry@Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings ◽

10.24908/iqurcp.11693 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Kaitlyn Barton

Keyword(s):

Human Life ◽

Life Extension ◽

The Core ◽

Psychological Suffering ◽

The Cross ◽

And Function ◽

Radical Life Extension ◽

The Way ◽

Changing World

Rapid advancements in radical life extension technologies contribute to humanity’s ever-changing world. The normalization of radical life extension technologies would signify that the present era in which biology and evolution act as dictators of human life and health would come to an end, thereby ushering in the age of the post-human. The purpose of this paper is to engage in a theological analysis of how and to what degree the ways in which humanity speaks about God could be changed or influenced if radical life extension becomes normative within society. . It is likely that this powerful technology would have a significant impact on many facets of culture, including the way in which humanity engages with religion, in particular Christianity. To accomplish this, the technology that could potentially support radical life extension, namely nanotechnology and cybernetic immortality, will be explained in terms of their relevance and function. Subsequently, the affects of radical life extension for human life will be addressed. Specifically, the implications of the partial or full eradication of human biological and psychological suffering and death through the use of cybernetic immortality and nanotechnology and will be considered. From there, the core theological concepts and narratives will be analyzed in the context of the potential actualization of radical life extension technology. A focus will be placed on the ethic of loving thy neighbour, Christ’s suffering on the cross, the hope of salvation and the Christian hope of entrance into heaven after death.

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CHAPTER 22. Human Life Extension: Opportunities, Challenges, and Implications for Public Health Policy

Drug Discovery - Anti-aging Drugs ◽

10.1039/9781782626602-00535 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 535-564 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ilia Stambler

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Policy ◽

Public Health Policy ◽

Human Life ◽

Life Extension

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The discounted money value of human lives lost due to COVID-19 in Spain

Journal of Health Research ◽

10.1108/jhr-04-2020-0116 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (5) ◽

pp. 455-460

Author(s):

Joses Muthuri Kirigia ◽

Rose Nabi Deborah Karimi Muthuri

Keyword(s):

Life Expectancy ◽

Discount Rate ◽

Economic Model ◽

Net Present Value ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Human Life ◽

National Health System ◽

Agriculture Education ◽

Content Type ◽

Value Of Health

PurposeTo estimate the discounted money value of human lives lost (DMVHL) due to COVID-19 in Spain.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs the human capital approach to estimate the DMVHL (assuming Spain's life expectancy of 83 years and a 3% discount rate) of the 20,453 human lives lost in Spain from COVID-19 as of 19 April 2020. Sensitivity analysis was conducted alternately assuming (a) 5% and 10% discount rate; and (b) global life expectancy of 72 years, and the world's highest life expectancy of 87.1 years.FindingsThe 20,453 human lives lost due to COVID-19 had a total DMVHL of Int$ 9,629,234,112, and an average of Int$ 470,798 per human life lost. Alternate re-estimation of the economic model with a 5% and 10% discount rates led to 19.8% and 47.4% reductions in the DMVHL, respectively. Re-calculation of the economic model using the global life expectancy of 72 years, while holding the discount rate constant at 3%, diminished the DMVHL by 41%. While the re-run of the same model using the world's highest life expectancy of 87.1 years instead, it increased the DMVHL by 18%.Research limitations/implicationsThe study omits the value of health systems inputs used in preventing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19 cases; and the negative impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture, education, finance, manufacturing, travel, tourism, and trade sectors.Social implicationsThere is a need to use this kind of evidence to advocate for increased investments into the strengthening of the national health system, IHR capacities, and coverage of safe water and sanitation facilities.Originality/valueIn Spain, no other study had attempted to estimate the net present value of human lives lost from COVID-19.

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The AgeGuess database, an open online resource on chronological and perceived ages of people aged 5–100

Scientific Data ◽

10.1038/s41597-019-0245-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julia A. Barthold Jones ◽

Ulrik W. Nash ◽

Julien Vieillefont ◽

Kaare Christensen ◽

Dusan Misevic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Expectancy ◽

Human Life ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Biological Age ◽

Ageing Process ◽

Birth Cohorts ◽

Online Resource ◽

Human Ageing ◽

Perceived Age ◽

Citizen Science Project

Abstract In many developed countries, human life expectancy has doubled over the last 180 years. Underlying this higher life expectancy is a change in how we age. Biomarkers of ageing are used to quantify changes in the aging process and to determine biological age. Perceived age is such a biomarker that correlates with biological age. Here we present a unique database rich with possibilities to study the human ageing process. Using perceived age enables us to collect large amounts of data on biological age through a citizen science project, where people upload facial pictures and guess the ages of other people at www.ageguess.org. The data on perceived age we present here span birth cohorts from the years 1877 to 2012. The database currently contains around 220,000 perceived age guesses. Almost 4500 citizen scientists from over 120 countries of origin have uploaded ~4700 facial photographs. Beyond studying the ageing process, the data present a wealth of possibilities to study how humans guess ages and who is better at guessing ages.

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Significance to human health of carbamazepine detected in fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2016.585 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 (5) ◽

pp. 1059-1062 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bahman Sheikh

Keyword(s):

Life Expectancy ◽

Life Span ◽

Human Health ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Human Life ◽

Daily Intake ◽

Food Crops ◽

Acceptable Daily Intake ◽

Recycled Water ◽

The Individual

The relevance and significance of the findings of chemicals of emerging concern at nanogram concentrations in recycled water is critically important for the consumers of these crops. The relevance and significance of these chemicals at these concentrations is placed in perspective in terms of the number of years of consumption necessary to accrue one acceptable daily intake every day, over a lifetime, specifically for carbamazepine. In this paper, the number of years is calculated and found to far exceed the maximum human life expectancy, even assuming that the individual consumes a mix of fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water throughout an 80-year life span, excluding other food crops free from carbamazepine.

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The Politics of Life Extension in Francis Bacon's Wisdom of the Ancients

The Review of Politics ◽

10.1017/s0034670515000327 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 351-375

Author(s):

Natalie Elliot

Keyword(s):

Political Thought ◽

Human Life ◽

Life Extension ◽

Francis Bacon ◽

Worth Living ◽

Political Strategies ◽

Life Worth Living ◽

Scientific Project ◽

Politics Of Life

AbstractThe extension of human life is one of the central goals that Francis Bacon posits for science, and this goal shapes his political thought significantly. Bacon's interest in life extension appears throughout his corpus, but the Wisdom of the Ancients contains his most extensive treatment of its political and philosophical consequences. Here, I interpret a series of myths in the Wisdom of the Ancients and argue, first, that through them Bacon presents key political strategies for promoting life extension and tending to its hazards; and, second, as he does so, he sketches a new portrait of philosophy, which directs some of its energies to understanding what makes longer life worth living. My reading addresses a profound and neglected subject at the heart of Bacon's politico-scientific project, and advances the growing literature on Bacon that turns to the Wisdom of the Ancients to explain unexamined goals of his science.

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