why would anyone want to live forever asks the nonagenarian philosopher

1
16 June 2012 | NewScientist | 29 Comment on these stories at newscientist.com/opinion You’ve been speaking a lot lately about immortalism. What exactly is this? Immortalism is the idea that not only should life go on getting longer, but that it should go on forever – that medical technology will see to it that we simply don’t die. It is a kind of ideology, almost a religion, and is much more prevalent in the US than in the UK. It is in part an overconfidence in technology from the 20th century, and has got mixed up with science fiction. Why is the desire to live forever a problem? My charge against immortalism is that it is wasteful – the idealism that gets hooked onto it is going in a useless direction and needs to be deflected. There are too many people already, and you can’t put up with an infinite number. Another difficulty is inequality. As things stand, the most privileged would live forever while everybody else would be dying at the normal rate. What else are you unhappy about? Even at the pace our lifespan has been increasing, we are beginning to run into trouble. The indignation that people express at not getting their pensions until they’re 67 shows that the idea of a life cycle is firmly rooted and may be fairly essential to human life. I’m talking about the degree of activity at different times of life, and that is not something which changes frequently, or that changes much from culture to culture. What we respect has also changed: we have a high regard and respect for youth, which makes the situation harder for the old. So even without immortalism, is the current lengthening of life problematic? Doctors have a habit of trying to make each individual live a bit longer. I think it runs very deep. They should be given a better idea of health that doesn’t necessarily mean living longer. How can we reinvent older age? We need to improve quality of life, not quantity. For example, the distribution of work is ridiculous. People in their middle years work far too long and One minute with... Mary Midgley are suddenly expected to stop. Part-time work is a good idea, but it hasn’t been fitted into our society half enough. It is very important for women with children but also very important for the old. When he found he was dying of cancer, Steve Jobs made this interesting remark, that it was the best thing that ever happened to him because it made his priorities clear. He said nobody wants to die but it is life’s best invention, it is the mechanism of change. He had a point. What about your life now you are in your 90s? We haven’t recovered from the idea that growing old is an awful disaster, which must somehow be put off. I never bought that one. If nothing awful happens to you, you go on doing what you’re doing and looking for more. I’m lucky to be in the sort of job I am in, where you can simply go on doing what you like and not be forcibly retired. I’ve got somewhat feeble and ailing but I haven’t got seriously ill. It’s the thought of a futile life that is the problem. Interview by Liz Else Why would anyone want to live forever, asks the nonagenarian philosopher SARAH LEE/EYEVINE PrOfiLe Mary Midgely is a moral philosopher dubbed the UK’s “foremost scourge of scientific pretension”. She will be appearing at the Cheltenham Science Festival on Friday 15 June. See www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science made excuses to myself that I was busy – a degree of obfuscation that may yet prove fatal. On the bright side, I have had more hugs this year than in the previous decade and an impressive amount of support from often surprising directions. But, with awareness campaigns ongoing in the US and UK, the take-home message is this: if you think all is not well with your entrails, don’t rely on it getting better by itself – get professional advice. Trust me, it’s worth it. n John Gilbey is a science writer and photographer. He teaches at Aberystwyth University, UK that have been sold in back rooms at rock and mineral shows, in fossil shops and over the internet. But because there is a delay in preparing Tarbosaurus and other dinosaur skeletons collected illegally in Mongolia – many found in hard rock – we can expect to see ever-increasing numbers on the market in the near future. Heritage Auctions is working with the Mongolians to establish the facts in the latest case. For its part, Mongolia has translated its laws into English, retained a US law firm, and sent Mongolian and foreign palaeontologists, including me, to check the specimen. The international Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has also set up a committee to examine the issue. The fact that the president of Mongolia stepped in is welcome, and I suspect that at the very least this will lead to an agreement that will allow US officials to seize specimens and prosecute people. This is clearly a make-or-break time for the illegal fossil trade, and palaeontologists worldwide hope this latest case will provide the impetus for real change. n Philip J. Currie is a professor of dinosaur palaeobiology at the University of Alberta in Canada and president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Upload: liz

Post on 30-Dec-2016

215 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Why would anyone want to live forever asks the nonagenarian philosopher

16 June 2012 | NewScientist | 29

Comment on these stories at newscientist.com/opinion

You’ve been speaking a lot lately about immortalism. What exactly is this? Immortalism is the idea that not only should life go on getting longer, but that it should go on forever – that medical technology will see to it that we simply don’t die. It is a kind of ideology, almost a religion, and is much more prevalent in the US than in the UK. It is in part an overconfidence in technology from the 20th century, and has got mixed up with science fiction.

Why is the desire to live forever a problem? My charge against immortalism is that it is wasteful – the idealism that gets hooked onto it is going in a useless direction and needs to be deflected. There are too many people already, and you can’t put up with an infinite number. Another difficulty is inequality. As things stand, the most privileged would live forever while everybody else would be dying at the normal rate.

What else are you unhappy about? Even at the pace our lifespan has been increasing, we are beginning to run into trouble. The indignation that people express at not getting their pensions until they’re 67 shows that the idea of a life cycle is firmly rooted and may be fairly essential to human life. I’m talking about the degree of activity at different times of life, and that is not something which changes frequently, or that changes much from culture to culture.

What we respect has also changed: we have a high regard and respect for youth, which makes the situation harder for the old.

So even without immortalism, is the current lengthening of life problematic? Doctors have a habit of trying to make each individual live a bit longer. I think it runs very deep. They should be given a better idea of health that doesn’t necessarily mean living longer.

How can we reinvent older age?We need to improve quality of life, not quantity. For example, the distribution of work is ridiculous. People in their middle years work far too long and

One minute with...

Mary Midgley

are suddenly expected to stop. Part-time work is a good idea, but it hasn’t been fitted into our society half enough. It is very important for women with children but also very important for the old.

When he found he was dying of cancer, Steve Jobs made this interesting remark, that it was the best thing that ever happened to him because it made his priorities clear. He said nobody wants to die but it is life’s best invention, it is the mechanism of change. He had a point.

What about your life now you are in your 90s?We haven’t recovered from the idea that growing old is an awful disaster, which must somehow be put off. I never bought that one. If nothing awful happens to you, you go on doing what you’re doing and looking for more. I’m lucky to be in the sort of job I am in, where you can simply go on doing what you like and not be forcibly retired. I’ve got somewhat feeble and ailing but I haven’t got seriously ill. It’s the thought of a futile life that is the problem. Interview by Liz Else

Why would anyone want to live forever, asks the nonagenarian philosopher

SAr

AH

lEE

/EyE

vIn

E

ProfiLeMary Midgely is a moral philosopher dubbed the UK’s “foremost scourge of scientific pretension”. She will be appearing at the Cheltenham Science Festival on Friday 15 June. See www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science

made excuses to myself that I was busy – a degree of obfuscation that may yet prove fatal.

On the bright side, I have had more hugs this year than in the previous decade and an impressive amount of support from often surprising directions. But, with awareness campaigns ongoing in the US and UK, the take-home message is this: if you think all is not well with your entrails, don’t rely on it getting better by itself – get professional advice.

Trust me, it’s worth it. n

John Gilbey is a science writer and photographer. He teaches at Aberystwyth University, UK

that have been sold in back rooms at rock and mineral shows, in fossil shops and over the internet. But because there is a delay in preparing Tarbosaurus and other dinosaur skeletons collected illegally in Mongolia – many found in hard rock – we can expect to see ever-increasing numbers on the market in the near future.

Heritage Auctions is working with the Mongolians to establish the facts in the latest case. For its part, Mongolia has translated its laws into English, retained a US law firm, and sent Mongolian and foreign palaeontologists, including me, to check the specimen. The international Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has also set up a committee to examine the issue.

The fact that the president of Mongolia stepped in is welcome, and I suspect that at the very least this will lead to an agreement that will allow US officials to seize specimens and prosecute people.

This is clearly a make-or-break time for the illegal fossil trade, and palaeontologists worldwide hope this latest case will provide the impetus for real change. n

Philip J. Currie is a professor of dinosaur palaeobiology at the University of Alberta in Canada and president of the Society of vertebrate Paleontology