TThis news is not good for people planning to live forever. First came Dr. Saul Newman's investigative work on supercentenarians – people aged 110 and older. In an article titled “Supercentenarians and Unusual Ages Records Patterns of Clerical Errors and Pension Fraud,” Newman reported that, unlikely, large concentrations of supposedly very old people occurred in places with the highest rates of poverty – a predictor of the worst health – and where there were no birth certificates. In the US, the number of supercentenarians has dropped from 69% to 82%, depending on the state in which birth certificates were introduced.
Pathetic for anyone who spends a fortune on jasmine tea and nattō while following the Okina Diet, Newman's research also challenged the concept of “blue zones”, pointing to high levels of error and fraud in these mythical, much-admired areas with high concentrations of centenarians. In 2010, it was revealed that more than 230,000 Japanese centenarians had disappeared due to imaginary, clerical errors or had died; in Greece, 72% of centenarians in the 2012 census turned up dead (“or, depending on your point of view, had committed pension fraud”). Throw the daikon! Banish Greek Beans! (Not really: they're still good for you, they just don't “live to 120”).
But we will still live longer than our grandparents, right? On that note: We may be reaching the pinnacle of longevity. New research analysis of international demographic data suggests the “limited lifespan hypothesis” (which assumes that we are approaching the upper limit of human lifespan) may be correct. Apparently, “there is no evidence to support the suggestion that most modern newborns will live to the age of 100.” “We suggest that as long as we live now is about as long as we will live,” the study's leader, S. Jay Olshansky, told the New York Times.
At first glance, this seems disappointing, especially since the super-star is probably not as old as previously thought, or even dead. I always enjoy reading about drinking them, mocking chocolate AND smoking antics. This must be a particularly undesirable Silicon Valley crazy longevity community. “Professional rejuvenation athlete” Bryan Johnson would be furious if he weren't too busy munching on a pile of compost after breakfast while wearing an infrared hat to notice (I watched a video of his morning routine recently and immediately lost the will to live).
But could these longevity bombs actually be good news, and not just because I get a malicious satisfaction from imagining self-absorbed biohacking billionaires hiding from nothing in cutting-edge technology? Accepting that no hack will make us immortal can help us focus on how to improve our finite lives by solving our real problems. This includes the factor most likely to shorten our entire life expectancy: climate. Even from a purely selfish point of view, why would you want to live to be 120, locked in servants' quarters in a billionaire's bunker complex, explaining to your surviving great-grandson what a bird is, sharing a family ration of worm gruel? And if you're said billionaire, what's the appeal of living forever on a dying planet? Why not do something about it instead of trying to turn into a (crazy long-lived) naked mole rat?
It can help us focus on quality rather than quantity – something we struggle with. New British research shows that today's people aged 50 to 70 are at around a higher risk of chronic disease and disability than their predecessors, with rising rates of cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This is astonishing, considering all the medical progress of the post-war period. “These disturbing trends could result in younger generations spending more years in poor health and living with disabilities,” said study leader Laura Gimeno.
What's more, research last year showed that one in five adults over 65 in England feel lonely, which in itself often leads to poor physical and mental health. England is not unique in this respect: with an aging, atomized society, 68,000 people are expected to die in Japan's frigid temperatures in a “lonely death epidemic” this year.
We don't want to die, but we have allowed our world to become a place where aging is an unappealing, even terrifying prospect. Perhaps we could achieve a better result if we focused our energy on everyone having a good time here rather than a (very) long time?
