Just a bit of background to give this relevance: we (meaning human scientists) discovered what amounts to a biological clock in our cells, using that clock we have made certain cells 'immortal'. If this amounts to it's potential we could theoretically stop people from aging (free radicals aside) and increase human life span.

So here's the question: If a drug is developed that, when taken once a day, increases human lifespan to 400 years, should it be distributed? If so, to who? Everyone? Only to certain people? How would this impact society?

I just like hearing different opinions on this…

good luck.

400 years? damn...i dont know about that long. and then will u be the same age as when u started taking the drug for the next 400 years? i mean itd make more sense if it slowed the aging process down...

if it would just slow the aging process down, i'd say hell yeah give to everyone except the ppl in jail, and then only allow it to be given to ppl over 21. but i dont like 400 years. that's just too long. maybe 200 years, but not 400. i think itd be good, cuz that way everyone would have time to get things done they always wanted to get done. but wed have to come up with more ways of birth control and a way to force ppl to take it more. gosh we dont need no more humans in this population. theres enough as it is. could u just imagine the chaos if everyone lived 400 years?? it would be WAY over populated.

Deep down I really don't think that more then half of our society would want to live for that long a time, we may wish for it now but deep down we can't handle it just like all power created by or given to humans it will be abused,
and the world will be over populated so we might have to only choose certain people to take the drugs.
And what happens if it is decided that it should be sold at a price that only the rich and famous cen afford, do we really want to face Britney Spears for years and are we prepared to let Klinton come back in congress again?

As far as it looks right now, the aging process just stops and olders cells will actually revert to a youthful and healthy state, so everyone would be about the same biological age.
AS for people in jail, it could be a better deturant. If suddenly a life sentence means 200 years,finacial costs aside, it might have a greater impact.
Over poplation was always a concern of mine, too. I think that anyone who took the drug would also have to agree to only have one child and then get steralized (but I think everyone should do that anyway).
I've always wondered what Mozart or Enstein could have done is they'ed lived a few hundred more years. Of course that is a double edged sword as you've pointed out, teen pop idols for 200 years is a terrifing thought.
So, if only some people were allowed to have the drug, how would you decide who gets it?
I've always thought that if people got to choose how long thier life would be (ignoring accidents and disease) they would reach a point in their lives in which they would no longer fear death.

The emotional impact a 500-year lifespan would have on people could be destructive to our race.

Besides, the longer people live, the more they can reproduce. We already have enough stupid people on the face of the earth, we don't need any more.

I'm glad to see the overpopulation issue was the first thing on people's minds. Our world population is already ridiculously high without allowing for a death rate to slow its climb. If people were reproductive during even half of those 400 years, the resulting population explosion would be staggering.

What would all those extra years do to the human mind? Some people already have mid-life crisis when they reach their forties and fifties...can you imagine the kind of breakdown you might suffer living that long.

I'm not so sure about having Mozart live that long...let a musician extend their career too far and eventually it all begins to sound the same...look at AC/DC. I wouldn't worry about Britney Spears though. The average lifespan of a corporate-produced bubblegum pop star is 6 years on the average, no matter how long they might live.

Could you imagine a third-world country's prospects when their "president for life" dictator is going to live for centuries?

Shadowborn

I think you're right about the emotional trauma, most people can't handle one lifetime of emotions much less more, but I think we'd find ways to cope and adapt, humans are very good at those two things.

Something to consider about the overpopulation that this would cause:
there's a theory stating that sex and death are closely related, if people stop dying the urge to have sex will fade. Eventually, the number of children being born would decrease dramatically to make up for the amount of people already existing. Just a thought.

ever read Kurt Vonnegut "Welcome to the Monkey House"? ::nods:: read it if you enjoy this topic.

I liked (antihero)'s Jack Handey quote better.

Decon- I'm almost tempted to add you to my list below just because of your screen name..

You're pretty cool though.

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antihero's quote kicks ass. heh.

add me.

thanks. I think you're kinda similar to me, so you must be pretty cool too. kidding, you are.

Yeah, the list was cool until about 11:30 this morning when fear the spider asked to be on.. before then it was just me..

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lol. heh, yeah, that would've been funnier. but look at it this way - now you're not alone!

wait, I'm not good comapny.

At least I was being unique. Damned conformists..

heh. conformists = dumb

At least I can live happily with my delusions.

Thanks, I'll look into it. Some of my friends read his works religiously.

he's a very unique writer. I enjoyed reading what he wrote. I had to read Welcome to the Monkey House for a class. now its one of my favorite books. I have a lot of in-depth stuff. lemme know if you want it.

Sure, I'd love to have it. Are you offering to mail it to me??? I'm sure I could pick it up at the library, thanks though

whatever, s'all good.

dude, I frigging love your quote at the end of your posts? where'd you get it?