I would strongly disagree. The decreasing life expectancy in the US is probably, ahem, largely attributed to a medical system that is not particularly well-opt

I would strongly disagree. The decreasing life expectancy in the US is probably, ahem, largely attributed to a medical system that is not particularly well-optimized for boosting mass life expectancy (despite being world-class in absolute quality of care, I assume). If you look closely, past decades have brought immense breakthroughs such as - the first completely synthetic new antibiotic - dramatic improvements in spatial and temporal resolution of imaging systems (MRI, PET etc.) - actually useful robotic assistance for surgery - easy, simple, and widespread techniques that are nevertheless life-saving, including a broad awareness for important events such as cardiac arrest and stroke - much better, faster and more accurate laboratory work, down to the DNA level And that's only a fraction of it which a layman such as myself can come up with from the top of my head!