Good news, everyone! It seems we have reached the maximum lifespan | Emma Beddington

By Liam On Oct 13, 2024

TThe news has not been good for people who plan to live forever. First came Dr. Saul Newman’s research work on supercentenarians – people aged 110 or older. In an article titled “Supercentenarian and notable age records show patterns indicative of administrative errors and pension fraud”Newman reported that high concentrations of so-called extremely old people, improbably, occurred in places with the highest poverty rates – a predictor of the worst health – and no birth certificates. In the US, the number of supercentenarians dropped by 69% to 82%, depending on the state, when birth certificates were introduced.

Cheers for anyone who spends a fortune on jasmine tea and nattō by the Okinawa dietNewman’s research also challenged the idea of ”blue zones,” pointing to high rates of error and fraud in those mythical, much-admired areas with high concentrations of centenarians. In 2010, more than 230,000 Japanese centenarians were found to be missing, imaginary, to have made administrative errors, or to be dead; in Greece, it was discovered in 2012 that 72% of centenarians were dead (“or, depending on your perspective, committing pension fraud”) according to the census. Ditch the daikon! Banned Greek beans! (Not really: they’re still good for you, just not ‘live to 120’ good.)

But we’ll still live longer than our grandparents, right? In that regard, we may be reaching maximum lifespan. New research analyzing international demographic data suggests the ‘limited lifespan hypothesis’ (which states that we are approaching the upper limit of human lifespan) may be correct. There is apparently “no evidence to support the suggestion that most newborns today will live to be 100.” “We suggest that as long as we live now is about as long as we will live,” said study leader S. Jay Olshansky. told the New York Times.

At first glance, that seems disappointing, especially since the super-old is probably not as old as previously thought, or even still alive. I always enjoy reading about their drinking, chocolate spotting And smoking antics. It must be especially unwelcome for Silicon Valley’s crazy longevity community. “Professional Rejuvenation Athlete” Bryan Johnson would be furious if he wasn’t too busy munching his compost pile of breakfast while wearing an infrared hat to notice (I looked a video of his morning routine recently and immediately lost my own will to live).

But could these longevity bombs actually be good news, and not just because I feel a hateful satisfaction imagining the self-absorbed biohacking billionaires on a hi-tech hiding from nothing? If we accept that no hack will make us immortal, we can better focus on how we can improve our finite lives by tackling our real problems. This includes the problem that is likely to limit our life expectancy: the climate. Why, even from a purely selfish perspective, would you want to live up to 120 years, cooped up in the servants’ quarters of a billionaire’s bunker complex, explaining to your surviving great-grandchild what a bird was while doling out the family ration of worm porridge? And if you’re the billionaire in question, what’s the appeal of eternal life on a dying planet? How about doing something about it, instead of trying to get yourself into a (bizarrely long-lived) naked mole rat?

It can help us focus on quality, not quantity – something we struggle with. New British research shows that today’s 50 to 70 year olds are at greater risk of chronic disease and disability than their predecessors, with rising rates of cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. That’s mind-boggling, considering all the medical advances of the post-war period. “These worrying trends could lead to younger generations spending more years in poor health and living with disabilities,” said Laura Gimeno, head of the study.

Moreover, research last year showed that one in five adults over 65 in England feel lonelya condition that in itself often leads to poor physical and mental health. England is not special in this regard: with an aging, atomized population, 68,000 people are expected to die this year in Japan’s horrifying “lonely death epidemic.”

We don’t want to die, but we have made our world a place where growing older is an unappealing and even frightening prospect. Maybe we could do better if we focused our energy on making sure everyone here can have a good time, and not a (very) long time?