Dear Future Centenarian,

Last week, we talked about Purpose of Life and why it is pertinent to a life extension newsletter. This issue, I’m going to extend last week’s discussion.

Do you know most people don't have any clear-cut goals, plans or purpose? Mostly, only scientists, business owners and managers and individuals who work on challenges that might take decades to solve, have a clear definition of life’s purpose and appreciate the need for extended lifespans. The Japanese are more in tune with long-term thinking than Americans and maybe the rest of the world as well. Therefore, I suspect they may have a better appreciation for the purpose of life. But I don’t know. I spent a lot of time in Japan many years ago and wish I would have thought to explore it.

Nevertheless, if you are a long-term thinker, you most likely have an opinion… no matter where you live.

After last week’s letter, I researched further and was surprised at how little I knew about various cultures’ and philosophies’ purpose of life. There were a lot more than I thought, too many for one newsletter. So I’m like to share some of what I learned with you here and extend this topic one more week. I’ll wait until then to disclose my personal opinion of what it is.

Platonic view. For Plato the meaning of life was to attain the highest form of knowledge.

Aristotelian view. Aristotle argued that a person had to study and practice in order to become “good”.

Cynic view. The Cynics were a Hellenistic school of philosophy that argued that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and fame, and by living a life free from all possessions.

Cyrenaic view. They thought happiness is one of the ends of moral action, and maintained that pleasure was the supreme good and purpose, creating a hedonistic view.

Epicurean view. Epicurus believed the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear through knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life… abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites, verging on asceticism.

Stoic view. Stoicism teaches that to live according to reason and virtue is to live in harmony with the divine order of the universe, Stoicism's prime directives are virtue, reason, and natural law, and they seek the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions.

Nihilist view. Nihilism rejects claims to knowledge and truth and declares that nothing is of value. From a nihilist point of view, morals are valueless and only hold a place in society as false ideals created by various forces.

Pragmatist view. Pragmatic philosophers suggest that rather than a truth about life, we should seek a useful understanding of life. To a pragmatist, the meaning of an individual's life can be discovered only through experience and the purposes which cause you to value it.

Existentialist views. Existentialism posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. Emphasizing action, freedom, and decision as fundamental, existentialists oppose themselves to rationalism and positivism and instead look at where people find meaning.

Humanist views. Humanists believe that human purpose is determined by humans, completely without supernatural influence. It is human personality that is the purpose of a human's life. Humanism affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. Posthumanism and transhumanism insist that the meaning of life is necessarily indefinite and ambiguous, and should be left to the philosophical inclinations of the individual; however there is a moral imperative common to all intelligent agents to improve their lives.

Logical positivist view. Things in a person's life can have meaning, but a meaning of life itself, i.e., apart from those things, cannot be discerned. In this context, a person's life is said to have meaning in the form of the events throughout his life and the results of his life in terms of achievements, a legacy, family, etc.

Jewish view. Jews believe the purpose of life is to serve God and to prepare for the world to come.

That’s a dozen, with a dozen more coming your way. Did any strike a chord with you? A few did with me. But I think my favorite is the most elegant. To be continued…

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"

Dear Future Centenarian,

What is the Purpose of Life?

One of the great philosophical questions of all time. You may or may not have given it much thought. If you’re going to live as long as I plan for you to live though, you’ll probably contemplate this question some time or another. You’ll certainly have enough time on your hands. I have spent a lot of time on this issue over the past 30 years or so and have an answer, at least for me. There may be no one-size-fits-all, but I will give you my answer next week.

Why do I bring this up in a longevity newsletter? The answer is simple. Without purpose, life loses meaning for most. If life is meaningless, at some point, especially as we evolve, virtually everyone will hit a dead end and may want his or her life to terminate. They will be bored, unfulfilled or so confused that they may lose all will to live. Life will be hopeless, and without hope, you have nothing.

When I was injured, my doctors did their level best to “cure” me of any hope for recovery… ever. Their rationale was I needed to cope, and false expectations would stand in my way of rehabilitation. But hope is what kept me from committing suicide. Hope is what helps me fight through my chronic pain. And hope is what put me on the longevity path that could ultimately same millions of lives.

Volumes have been written on the purpose of life. There are as many opinions as there are philosophies. There may be a time when most agree, but probably not… at least not in the intermediate future. So far, here are some general views:

The purpose of life is…

·         to realize one's potential and ideals

·         to achieve biological perfection

·         to seek wisdom and knowledge

·         to do good, to do the right thing

·         to attain spiritual enlightenment

·         to love, to feel, to enjoy the act of living

·         to have power, to be better

Then some people think:

·        One should not search for the meaning of life

·         Life has no meaning

Next week, I’ll tell you my opinion.

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"

Dear Future Centenarian,

You and your friends are invited to attend a unique FREE forum on Friday, June 27th, in Los Angeles.  Leading scientists and thinkers in Life Extension, Stem-Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine will gather at UCLA for Aging 2008 to explain how human aging might be modified to your benefit.  

Industry legends will participate. They include: Bruce Ames, Steve Burrill, Aubrey de Grey, Bill Haseltine, Bernie Siegel, Gregory Stock, Michael West and Dan Perry. They will share their insights and predictions with you. 

Aging 2008 will serve as the opening session for the Understanding Aging Conference to be held at UCLA on June 28 and 29th. The meeting is organized by the Methuselah Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by Dr. Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel. It is dedicated to extending the healthy human lifespan. If you have a scientific bent, you might want to register for the conference as well. The Saturday and Sunday conference does have a registration fee.

The Friday eve forum kicks off with a reception at 4:00 PM, with presentations at 5:00 PM, followed by a dinner at 8:00 PM. Aging 2008 is free with advance registration required. To register, click here.

This is a RARE OPPORTUNITY for you. I hope to see you there.

“One of the reasons humanity is not advancing more rapidly, is because we are losing our greatest resource through death, the human mind.”

-Robert Bradbury

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-960-6333/Fax 714-464-4135

kekich@maxlife.org

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"

Reason, from Longevity Meme points out some things we don’t need to know to cure aging.

Functional bridges preceded the tools and understanding of modern architecture, just as beneficial medical techniques preceded the biotechnology revolution. More knowledge and science brings better bridges and more effective medicine - but you can still do good and save lives at earlier stages in the progression of knowledge.

"Is a full understanding of our metabolic biochemistry important and useful? Yes, of course, very much so. Is this knowledge necessary for us to proceed to reverse and repair aging? No. We already know what the damage of aging is, at the cellular and molecular level. Knowing more about the way in which that damage twists our metabolism and controlling biochemistry will help, in the same way that modern techniques of architecture improve bridge building, but the absence of that knowledge does not hold back significant advances in the engineering of healthy longevity.

"The only present barriers hindering rapid and aggressive progress towards rejuvenation of the aged are those of will and funding. That is why we can all help to make a difference to the future of aging science - you don't have to be a scientist to help make will and funding a reality."

THE VALUE OF A LONGEVITY THERAPY

What are people willing to pay for a medical therapy that is expected to add healthy years to life? Following that trail will give you a good idea as to how the development and commercialization of longevity therapies will proceed over the next few decades. As it happens, good research on the value placed on life already exists:

"Studies of real-world situations produce relatively consistent results, suggesting that average Americans value a year of life at $100,000 to $300,000. So let's take the hypothetical of a longevity therapy that the consensus believes will add ten healthy years to the average life. Replacing age-damaged mitochondrial DNA might do that in humans, for example. This suggests that to bring a first widespread commercial version to the high-end medical practices of the world, the price tag on the therapy has to be brought down below $1-3 million, or the value of a decade of healthy life."

That's the story for first few years of availability, of course, in which investors are recouping their initial investments, and before competition and refinement of the technology has started in earnest. The price will fall rapidly and quality increase as many more groups enter the market. Competition is what drives the path to faster, better, cheaper.

"The stable state for a medical treatment is that in which many specialist staff are available, and a competitive marketplace exists to train those staff and supply needed raw materials. At that point, the cost is much the same for medical procedures across the tiers of specialist labor and complexity - it's largely down to the wages of those folk performing the work.

"Replacing mitochondrial DNA should be a hands-off outpatient procedure, once the technology is mature. Have a sample taken, send it off to the lab to work up a repaired genome and the viral vector, get injected with the vector that will replace your mitochondrial DNA with repaired versions, and then come back for regular testing for a couple of months. That is nowhere near as labor intensive as, say heart surgery today. So you could look at comparable procedures that require supporting individual lab work on the back end, such as limited genetic testing, and take a stab at the price tag in the $10-30,000 range."

"That's a hundred times smaller than $1-3 million, which seems fair for the progression from early version to mature technology, especially in this age of rapidly advancing biotechnology. It's also a hundred-for-one bargain on the consensus expectation of value of life gained, which is a pretty good deal - good enough to tempt a very broad customer base, and enough profit for a large and competitive industry to form."

By way of a reminder, safe whole-body replacement of mitochondrial DNA was first demonstrated in laboratory animals three years ago.

___________________________________________________

LOOKING FAR, FAR AHEAD

"First things first" is a good philosophy to live by, but it doesn't hurt to spend a little time thinking about what comes after the first step. Here, the first step is the comprehensive repair of aging through medical science, and rejuvenation of the old - a very big first step, but we know more than enough to get underway. If you're new to that concept, you might want to look at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence:

http://www.mfoundation.org/sens/

When step one is done, what, then, is your step two? You'll have a great deal of time to work on it. Personally, I'm up for pushing the boundaries of an enjoyable life out even further:

"I'm not going to try to convince you that the future will be a golden, wondrous place: either you accept the implications of the present rate of progress towards what the laws of physics make possible, in which case you've probably thought this all through at some point, or you don't. Life, space travel, AI, the building blocks of matter: we'll have made large inroads into bending it all to our will within another half century. Many of us will live to see it even without the benefits of medical technology to come: growing up in a 1970s urban area will be the new version of 1900s farmboy youth come 2040; a strange and primitive near-past erased by progress, for all that so many people still alive actually lived it, time travelers in their own lifetimes.

"If you project out the accident rates for life today, you'll see that an ageless human, sustained by foreseeable biotechnologies of cellular and biochemical repair, has a life expectancy in the 1000 to 5000 year range. Sooner or later that piano is going to fall on you hard enough that even advanced medical technology can't fix you up.

"Once you start looking at living for 100,000 years in much the same shape as you are today, it becomes apparent that almost any activity bears a level of risk that'll jump up and kill you. Eating, swimming, reading .breathing. Stretch out the time for long enough and the improbable and fatal will happen to you.

"The answer is to change the shape you are. Getting past step one, the repair of aging, gives you a few hundred years of comparative statistical safety. I can't imagine that much of the technology needed for step two will remain beyond the human civilization of the 2200s."

As I said, it's good to have spent a little time on speculative, realistic plans for the long term. But we can't forget that step one, the work needed to develop and commercialize the medicines of repair for aging, is by no means certain. It'll happen sooner or later, but "later" isn't so good for those of us reading this now:

We have a lot of work to do to ensure that the best scientific paths to rejuvenation are funded, and that capable research communities grow to take advantage of that funding. An amazing future is ascending to great heights ahead of us, and it would be a crime to miss out on it because we didn't lay the groundwork now.

Long Life,

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

kekich@maxlife.org

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"

.

Dear Future Centenarian,

Here’s your final chapter in my three part stress management series:

Last week, I mentioned two simple techniques to reduce the deadly chronic stress that you can’t avoid in the first place. #1 is…

Deep Breathing

It’s fun and easy. It’s also a proven technique that has worked for thousands of years in virtually every culture in history.

Simply sit or lie in a comfortable position. Close your eyes, briefly clear your mind, and then take a slow deep belly breath through your nose. Then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat while focusing only on your breath. If other thoughts enter your mind, simply let them pass through, and keep focusing on your breath.

When I first tried this, I had a hard time focusing on… or visualizing… my breath. After some trial and error, I came up with a way that works – at least for me.

I visualize the healing air I breathe in as gold and silver, relaxing recharging star dust. I see the exhaled air as smoky pollution… cleansing my body of toxins and stress.

I do this several times a day. To demonstrate how effective this simple technique can be, I did it last evening when I felt stress over an unpleasant task. When I started, my blood pressure was 117/75. Seven minutes later, I dropped it to 97/63. That’s simply amazing! Had I not taken my stress break, I would have eroded my health, functioning sub-par and frenzied. Instead, I jumped back into my task with renewed energy and motivation.

This is not a one-time event. I get these results regularly. Taking several stress-busting breaks every day could help you avoid 80% of all medical conditions. That’s the medical profession’s conservative estimate of the toll stress takes on you.

How often do you think what you are doing is so urgent and important that you can’t afford to take one minute off, let alone seven? Well I’ve got news for you. The best time to take a stress break is when you think you don’t have the time. That’s exactly when proactive relaxation breaks are the most productive way to spend your time. Not only will they improve your performance, but you could avoid a nasty hospital stay, or even a premature death as a side effect.

Technique #2

How about when you are hurting from muscle tension? Dr. Neil Fiore offers a 5 minute and 39 second solution. Here’s an outline, but even better, I have attached an MP3 file that walks you through it. Feeling tense now? Then listen and loosen up. You can find out more about Dr. Fiore at www.neilfiore.com/.

Dr. Fiore’s tension busting steps:

1. Sit up straight with your feet on the floor.
2. Notice your body, head to toe, starting at your scalp, to your jaw, neck, shoulders and so forth, down to your feet.
3. Notice any areas of tension.
4. Inhale fully, and hold your breath.
5. Tighten all your muscles, clench your fists, lift your feet from the floor and press them together, and suck in your belly.
6. Exhale and release completely letting all your muscles relax.
7. Repeat several times.

There it is. It’s much easier to relax tense muscles by tightening them fully first than by just trying to relax them. The secret? Tension to relaxation by exhaling. Now listen to Dr. Fiore’s audio.

Long Life,

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"

Dear Future Centenarian,

Last week, I showed you how to avoid chronic stress… or at least how to reduce it. The truth is, as long as you’re in action, you will always have some stress in your life. In fact, we simply don’t grow without stress. Some stress is good for you. It evolved as a survival mechanism. You get a rush of adrenalin when you’re faced with a sudden life threatening situation. You react faster, often without even thinking. Your strength can suddenly double for an instant.

But now that we’re civilized (at least technologically) we seldom face life threatening events (unless you live in Detroit). However, modern day life puts other pressures on you. Instead of being attacked by a wild animal, escaping and then relaxing for a week, we get stressed by the multiple processes of living in a complex world that I listed last week. And this stress isn’t over as fast as it occurred. Stressful situations may stay with us for days, weeks and even years. Or they maypop up one after another. They can make us feel helpless as babies. Sometimes they spin our lives out of control. This chronic stress is what kills us instead of saving us.

This week, I’m going to show you how to manage chronic stress without dropping out and meditating in a cave.

All you need to do is stop and get off the horse once in a while. Relaxation is not only fun and easy to do, but it will extend your life and help keep you from getting sick. Focus and intentional practice are much more effective than passive relaxation though. You might try meditation, yoga, prayer, self-hypnosis, deep breathing exercises, creative visualization, biofeedback and tai chi. Stress management can measurably reverse much of your stress-induced damage very quickly. You can even restore over taxed immune systems in ninety days or less. Best of all, your benefits accumulate. The longer you practice stress management techniques, the healthier you become.

Next week, I’m going to show you two basic simple techniques that work like crazy with minimal time and effort. In fact, they are fun. They’ll take you from a dysfunctional, tied-up-in-a bundle-of-knots condition to the relaxed, happy and productive super star you are meant to be in a matter of minutes. For now, here are some simple tips from Lifehack.org.

1. Make quiet time: Whether you meditate daily or just spend an hour a night with a book, you need to create a space where you can clear your mind.

2. Eat better: A good diet can help your body better deal with the effects of stress.

3. Make family time: Try to eat at least one meal a day with your family (or with friends if you’re single).

4. Talk it out: Bottling up your frustrations, even the little ones, leads to stress.

5. Prioritize: Figure out what in your life actually needs attention and what doesn’t.

6. Accept interruptions gracefully: Leave enough wiggle room so you can adapt to changes in your day.

7. Pay attention to yourself: Notice when you feel stressed, and determine the cause.

8. Love: Build relationships. Share yourself. Feel human warmth.

9. Learn How to Relax and Center. We’ll cover this next week.

Long Life

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

kekich@maxlife.org

www.MaxLife.org

Dear Future Centenarian,

I talk about, think about and try to live a healthy lifestyle designed to extend my life and preserve my health. But I know there are no guarantees. All we can do is increase our life extension odds to the best of our abilities. One way to do that is to manage the stress in your life. You can do everything else right. But if you are chronically stressed, that can undo all your other good habits. In fact, stress may even rob you of your chances to maximize your healthspan.

Simply put, chronic stress kills. It kills by way of weakening your immune system, causing heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s and more. In fact, 80% of all doctor visits in the U.S. are related to stress induced conditions. These include high blood pressure, kidney damage, colon cancer, ulcers, food allergies, digestive problems, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and more. Stress can affect every one of the trillions of cells in your body. In essence, chronic stress accelerates aging and makes you sick.

But even if you are stressed out, there’s good news. Stress management can measurably reverse much of the stress induced damage very quickly. You can even restore your over taxed immune system in ninety days or less. Best of all, your benefits accumulate. The longer you practice stress management techniques, the healthier you become.

Next week, I will discuss some simple ways to reduce stress. For now, let me share a simple observation with you.

I have concluded there is one overriding cause of stress. In fact, it may be the only cause. In one word, it’s “reaction”.

You probably know what thoughts and actions advance you forward in life. I hope you know what specific action or actions energize you and are most productive for you. What are you best at? Know these answers, focus on those related activities, and you will cut 90% of the stress out of your life. In other words, get “proactive”. Take control of your life one day at a time.

Is that how you manage most of your average day? Probably not. If you do, congratulations! But if you’re like me, you’re constantly faced with interruptions. Phone calls, emails, family emergencies, mail, unexpected guests, tax issues, bill paying, other peoples’ agendas, etc, etc, etc.

So how do you keep this insidious killer from robbing you of your health, happiness and prosperity? It’s actually very simple advice. Plan your days in advance, and stick to your plans. Fill your schedule with positive uplifting actions that move you toward your goals. Go back a few weeks in your daytimer and list all your counterproductive reactionary items. Do the same moving forward for the next two weeks. Every time you react to something, and every time you feel stress, write it down. Write down what you hate doing as well. Then record what you do but are not especially good at.

Now group these items and hand them off. Delegate them. Outsource them. Or just ignore the ones that won’t damage you if they don’t get done.

Second, work in peace, quiet and privacy. Shut distractions out during designated chunks of your day. Work your way up to all day if possible. Turn of your phone and email during these periods. Close your door, and leave specific instructions to not bother you except in an extreme emergency such as a medical crisis or anything else that is absolutely life or business threatening.

Once you master these habits, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do so years ago. Your business and personal life will prosper like never before… and you’ll live longer.

By the way, I was interrupted twice while I was writing to you, because I am not behind a closed door. Being distracted and then trying to refocus doubled the time it should have taken me to write this. I write to myself as much as to you. We all need to keep reminding ourselves, over and over. The rewards far outweigh the effort.

Long Life
 

Dear Future Centenarian,

This issue, we’re wrapping up common objections to extreme life extension. I send these to you for two reasons. First, you may have some of these questions lurking in the back of your mind. Second, some of your friends probably do, and if you decide to discuss longevity with them, now you are armed with responses if some of these come up.

Also, before I forget, if you have an interest in fitness, and specifically (but not exclusively) weight training, Shawn Phillips just published a must read book, Strength for Life www.SharetheStrength.com. It was released May 1 and is available on Amazon.com. I read his manuscript and endorse his book 100%.

Won't longer life spans threaten the Social Security system, Medicare and pension plans?

Yes, as they're structured today. But remember, average life spans have increased steadily and dramatically most of this century. In fact, U.S. average life spans increased by 29 years since 1900. Governments and industry successfully adjusted to it. The greatest burden on healthcare comes from the elderly. If aging is not tackled, societies will consist of a large portion of frail, elderly people, which will result in a serious financial burden. Our mission is to avoid having elderly patients and to keep them youthful and productive. So curing aging would be economically sound. People would live longer but also work longer and be more productive. Without the declining years of old age, healthcare and the economy would benefit from a cure for aging.

Sure, change sometimes hurts, but aren't millions of pre-mature deaths a high price to pay to keep retirement and entitlement plans static? Besides, shouldn't each individual be offered that choice for his or her life? Wouldn't it be immoral to suppress or withhold life extending technology, because some people want to protect the status quo?

What will we do with all the "old people"?

"Old people" can be our most valuable resources. We generally acquire more experience, knowledge, wisdom and skills as we age. Rather than putting us "out to pasture" or in nursing homes, wouldn't society be better off if we kept ourselves youthful and productive? On average, people spend more on medical bills during the last year of their lives than all the rest of their years combined.

You don't need modern technology. Won't meditation, yoga, exercise, supplements, faith and pure food, air and water accomplish the same thing?

Only to a degree. These can all help us live longer, but no one has ever been proven to live beyond 122 years. We hope to someday extend the maximum life span, while allowing people to be active and youthful well into "old" age. In the meantime, keep up your healthy habits. They will increase your chances of being alive and healthy long enough to benefit from amazing extreme life extension research.

Why hasn't the medical community gotten behind a treatment for "aging" by now?

Mainly because the vast majority of people don't see aging as a disease, let alone a solvable one. Imagine the urgency that goes into freeing victims trapped beneath a collapsed building. Aging is equally disastrous, but on a scale magnified by a factor of millions. Yet, because it sneaks up on us, and because hardly anyone recognizes aging as treatable, most people accept "natural" death... and die.

Won't only by the rich be able to afford extreme life extension technologies?

Maybe. But if so, only at first. Today, we experience about a 50% annual deflation factor for many, if not most technologies. And this factor keeps increasing. In other words, technologies get more affordable faster, at an ever increasing rate. Only the wealthy can afford many new technologies. But at that stage, they usually don't work very well. At the next stage, they are affordable to many people and work better. Soon, they work well and are affordable to most. Finally, they're almost free. The progression from mostly unaffordable technologies to very inexpensive is currently about a ten year process. Ten years from now, it will be about five years. And twenty years down the road it will only be about a two to three year lag.

Won’t life be boring if we live a long time?

If you’re bored now, maybe. But as we advance in every area of life, we see more and more opportunities and more and more diversity. This is continuing, not decreasing. Imagine the opportunity to spend active time with your children’s great, great grandchildren. How about embarking on a new career or going back to school and studying something you really love? I believe bored people have either lost hope or they are doing something outside of their passion. If you had an open-ended future to pursue your dreams, would you be bored?

I wouldn’t want to outlive all my friends.

This deathist phrase, at least to me, is an illogical reason for a death wish. First, if we have a choice, and your friends choose to die, why would you let them drag you along? Second, if you’re like me, you continually meet new people. Many become friends. And a few become close friends. How many new friends do you think you could make in several more lifetimes? How many people do you know who lost close friends or family members… or who went through emotional divorces and still found happiness and even new and better relationships? Heartbreak and loss eventually heal, and there are lots of interesting people in this world who would love to know you.

Simply put: Life is Good and Death Sucks.

Dear Future Centenarian,

Two weeks ago, we discussed the subject of common objections to extreme life extension. Let’s revisit a few in this issue with short simple responses. We’ll start with:

Why would anyone want to live forever?

"Forever" is a long time, and we're not suggesting that. Most people who enjoy life want more of it. Even most of those who claim they don't want to live longer than "natural" will go to the ends of the earth to cure themselves of cancer, heart disease and injuries when they get stricken. Modern drugs, surgical techniques and diagnostic tools are life extension technologies that few refuse.

Most who welcome death suffer from the ravages of aging that usually make life miserable toward the end of our lives. But we aim to avoid or reverse the negative side effects of aging. As long as your life is fulfilling, now or in the future, why would you want it to end?

Wouldn’t stopping aging simply extend my decrepit frail years?

Not at all. Our goals are keeping the young youthful and reversing the damage aging does to you if you are already affected by the ravages of aging. No one is interested in spending endless years in a nursing home. Age reversal will eventually mean transforming the elderly to a healthy youthful state. We aim to reset our or biological clocks while our chronological clocks keep ticking.

Shouldn't we spend our resources feeding the hungry, rather than keep people alive longer?

A knowledgeable productive human being is the ultimate resource. The elderly are the most knowledgeable people we have. By making them productive for extra years, many of those resources can be channeled to solving problems such as hunger. Besides, our planet can accommodate over 12 billion people before resources are taxed. This doesn't even account for future technologies such as seabed farming, mining asteroids, clean energy-saving technologies, mile high buildings (Frank Lloyd Wright designed one in 1956 that could have housed all of downtown Chicago. Imagine the views!), enhanced food production, nanotechnology and genetic engineering.

What's more, the exponential growth of information technology will affect our prosperity as well. The World Bank has reported, for example, that poverty in Asia has been cut in half over the past decade due to information technologies and that at current rates it will be cut by another 90 percent over the next decade. That phenomenon will spread around the globe.

How can you expect to solve something as complex as aging, when we can't even cure cancer?

For a couple of reasons. First, it may not be necessary to solve something as complex as aging in the near future. Fixing the damage aging causes may not be nearly as hard. That may be all we have to do to build a “bridge” between today and the day we can enjoy the benefits of technologies that control the aging process.

Second, we already have some pretty compelling clues as to what causes aging. Enough in fact, to put our version of a biological "Manhattan Project" to work right now. We even know how to extend average life spans by up to 20 years in many people using current low tech lifestyle modifications. Unraveling the aging mystery was an unrealistic project just a few years ago, but recent giant technology and computational leaps give us the tools to make it a reality. For example, some biological problems used to take years to solve, now they take about 15 seconds. These tools will only get better faster with exponential growth of knowledge and technology.

I’ll have a few more to share with you in the next issue. Meanwhile, keep your eye on the positive side of the pie.

 

Long Life,

David A. Kekich

Maximum Life Foundation

714-641-0700/Fax 714-464-4135

kekich@maxlife.org

www.MaxLife.org

"Where Biotech, Infotech and Nanotech

     Meet to Reverse Aging by 2029"