Institute For The Future

Demographics: Extreme Longevity

A growing number of scientists are working to uncover the biological clues as to why we age—and what we can do about it. In an age of accelerated technological change, it’s easy to forget that demographic changes, particularly those related to age and longevity, are slow. However, they are relentless and can have a tremendous impact over the long term. A population that regularly lives to be 110 or 120 in robust, active bodies must confront some fundamental questions about how societies are structured. Economic issues of retirement, financial planning, and social security may be the most obvious, but basic questions about human relationships may be more profound. What does it mean to be married for “as long as you both shall live,” when you may be living for another 100 years? What kind of relationship can one have with great-great-great-grandchildren or –grandparents?

How does it change people’s behavior if they know that they could live for a century, or (potentially) centuries? Do they become more conservative? More adventurous? Do they start thinking long term? Does society stagnate, or is the concept of “stagnation” itself an artifact of short-term thinking?

These are the questions we will be asking with greater frequency in the coming years.

Check out the 2007 TYF perspective, Demographics: Extreme Longevity, for more. This perspective includes an analysis of prospective and standardized ages, the culture of longevity, calorie restriction for a longer life, the biology of ageing, and much more. The perspective also includes an interview conducted by Jamais Casio with Aubrey De Grey of Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research Center on Ageing and Nick Bostrom, Director of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute.

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Look here for a complete set of all 2007 perspectives