The answer is yes. It seems the author is reasoning more in the philosophic realm than in evolutionary biology. In this podcast [1] an evolutionary biologist

The answer is yes. It seems the author is reasoning more in the philosophic realm than in evolutionary biology. In this podcast [1] an evolutionary biologist goes into depth about telomeres, evolution and how cancer and longevity are two sides of the same coin. Long story short, having cells die after a number of replications is a postive trade off. It means that when a cell replicates too fast it also dies fast. The opposite are cancer cells, which replicate too fast and don't die. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLb5hZLw44s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLb5hZLw44s