An episode of CBS’s “Sunday Morning” said science has determined humans can live up to 120 to 150 years of age. I am half that upper limit and I believe of sound mind but as with most people, of failing physical health. As with many people, all of those injuries from prior years has come back to haunt me. Almost all the men in my age group that I know have similar problems.
A medical article I read a few decades ago said our bodies are still built to get around like apes as we age. I don’t know if it’s correct but our structural problems are feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower backs. None of my friends can imagine what their physical capabilities would be in another five or six decades with massive replacement operations.
Physical health aside, the country’s financial condition means retirement age would have to be over a hundred. Few of my friends have financial resources to survive after their working life is over. Who wants a 90 year old teacher, or an 80 year old laborer, carpenter, plumber, or electrician climbing around a building?
Of course the most obvious problem is the world’s population and resources to support that increasing population. We are already projecting a doubling of the population shortly after starting the next century. That projection comes from the 1960s and its benchmarks for each decade have been on target. Doubling life span would be disastrous to the planet and everything living on it.
