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Why do people still use this argument? Every single proponent and scientist working on longetivity aims at increasing the life quality also, along with lifespa

Why do people still use this argument? Every single proponent and scientist working on longetivity aims at increasing the life quality also, along with lifespan. It's an obvious thing to do and to aim for, and everyone seriously working in the field does this already. They are not looking to make humans live 150 years at the 80-year-old life quality, they are looking to expand and extend the life quality, so that the same quality at 40, 50, 60 years etc - to last for longer, thus extending the overall range as well...

ryanmercer 8y ago
>Every single proponent and scientist working on longetivity aims at increasing the life quality also, Maybe because zero progress has been made in regards to cognitive decline, vision preservation/restoration and retarding or reversing joint deterioration? Just a hunch... Worldwide life expectancy is 1.48 times what it was in 1950 and yet: - Cancer rates have experienced a 6% (Leukemia) to 183% (Multiple Myeloma) since 1950 - 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s. - According to the Vision Council of America, approximately 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction - For women, they can start to show signs of joint pain due to aging after age 50, while men are likely to see it before age 45 - Roughly 7 million people in the United States are living with a total hip or knee replacement. Continuing pain is common. So cool, some worms live an extra 2-3 weeks and have infinitely less exposure to UV radiation, wholly lack joints, have incredibly simpler brains, live orders of magnitude less to be exposed to random radiation and countless compounds that can cause genetic mutations and damage, experiences orders of magnitude less environmental stress over their lifespan etc.
- svachalek 8y ago
  Most research in life extension is based on reducing the incremental damage caused by radiation, stress, toxins etc. so they will increase the duration of youth and middle age as well as feeble old age. I think a lot of the real world gains in life span are coming from entirely different things though, like treating and preventing heart attacks and cancer. This does end up extending the "old" part of our lives.
- wild_preference 8y ago
  Well, somebody has to care enough to further the research. If the human population was serious about quality-of-life improvement, they would eat healthy and exercise. But they don't. Most people in this forum don't.
- tastyham 8y ago
  Human lifespan hasn't increased very much. Life expectancy at birth has increased significantly due to reductions in childhood disease and accidental death, but life expectancy at 50 and 60 have barely moved over the last 100 years. People have a much higher chance of making it to old age, but all the issues you cited will still hit them once they get there.
  - philipkglass 8y ago
    From 1918 to 2018, remaining life expectancy at age 60 in the United States has increased 44% for men and 52% for women. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Tbl_10.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Tbl_10.html
- JamesBarney 8y ago
  It seems like there are two approaches to trying to increase the healthspan of individuals. One is wait for the body to fail and try to correct it. This is 99.9% of all research funding. The other is trying to coerce the body into failing more slowly and less often(.1% of funding). It seems weird to criticize the second approach because the first approach has made so much more progress extending lifespan than healthspan.

ryanmercer 8y ago

>Every single proponent and scientist working on longetivity aims at increasing the life quality also, Maybe because zero progress has been made in regards to cognitive decline, vision preservation/restoration and retarding or reversing joint deterioration? Just a hunch... Worldwide life expectancy is 1.48 times what it was in 1950 and yet: - Cancer rates have experienced a 6% (Leukemia) to 183% (Multiple Myeloma) since 1950 - 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s. - According to the Vision Council of America, approximately 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction - For women, they can start to show signs of joint pain due to aging after age 50, while men are likely to see it before age 45 - Roughly 7 million people in the United States are living with a total hip or knee replacement. Continuing pain is common. So cool, some worms live an extra 2-3 weeks and have infinitely less exposure to UV radiation, wholly lack joints, have incredibly simpler brains, live orders of magnitude less to be exposed to random radiation and countless compounds that can cause genetic mutations and damage, experiences orders of magnitude less environmental stress over their lifespan etc.

svachalek 8y ago
Most research in life extension is based on reducing the incremental damage caused by radiation, stress, toxins etc. so they will increase the duration of youth and middle age as well as feeble old age. I think a lot of the real world gains in life span are coming from entirely different things though, like treating and preventing heart attacks and cancer. This does end up extending the "old" part of our lives.
wild_preference 8y ago
Well, somebody has to care enough to further the research. If the human population was serious about quality-of-life improvement, they would eat healthy and exercise. But they don't. Most people in this forum don't.
tastyham 8y ago
Human lifespan hasn't increased very much. Life expectancy at birth has increased significantly due to reductions in childhood disease and accidental death, but life expectancy at 50 and 60 have barely moved over the last 100 years. People have a much higher chance of making it to old age, but all the issues you cited will still hit them once they get there.
- philipkglass 8y ago
  From 1918 to 2018, remaining life expectancy at age 60 in the United States has increased 44% for men and 52% for women. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Tbl_10.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Tbl_10.html
JamesBarney 8y ago
It seems like there are two approaches to trying to increase the healthspan of individuals. One is wait for the body to fail and try to correct it. This is 99.9% of all research funding. The other is trying to coerce the body into failing more slowly and less often(.1% of funding). It seems weird to criticize the second approach because the first approach has made so much more progress extending lifespan than healthspan.