Question

Extended Life: Imagine that you have been given the only existing dose of an experimental drug that will allow you to live up to 150 years old. For most of that time you will be healthy and active. No one else on earth will have access to this drug so they will continue to have normal lifespans as you continue to live. What would you do with your extended lifespan. Be sure to address the following questions: How will this affect your life plans? How will this affect your career choices? Will this affect your decision to get married? Explain. Will you have children if you know that you will outlive them? Explain. Will you seek out close friendships with people that you know will die long before you do? Explain. Will you continue to take your health seriously if you know you have so much extra time? Explain. Is there any value to having a normal lifespan? Explain. What lessons did you learn from this thought experiment?

Answer 1

Don’t click links in this app a lot of people use them to spread viruses and the like. If I were given a drug which extended my lifetime to such a high degree, it would affect my life in many ways. I would consider my plans more loosely and allow myself more time for things; I would plan my career slowly and take my time to learn and do what I want rather than forcing myself to choose a career young. I’d experiment and find out what I like; if I have a dream job I’d go for it when, otherwise, I would’ve chosen something more stable. I would probably still get married although I’d be more careful, as I’d live long enough to see them die and have to live without them the rest of my long life, which would affect me a lot. This goes for other people too; relationships would seem much more precious because of how short they are for me. I’d care a lot more and be ready to protect my friends because their lives would seem so temporary to me. I would still seek close relationships of course, they’d just seem much more fragile and precious to me. I would probably not have children though I don’t plan on it anyways, but outliving them would make me sad. Either way if I want to have children in the future it wouldn’t matter that much how long I lived. I would take my health seriously until I get old enough that a normal person would’ve died; then I’d be more reckless since if I die, it’ll just be the same as if I never had the experimental drug. I would enjoy a longer life which sates my curiosity, allows me to take my time, and allows me to spend more time doing things I love and trying new things. However, a longer life span would mean outliving those I love— and as a result having to deal with much more grief and loss than if I lived a normal lifespan. Longer lifespans would give more of the human experience; an experience full of every range of emotions. If I were to live 150 years rather than 90 or so, the only difference would be that I experience more of both grief and happiness; that I go through more losses and more joys, more ups and more downs, than normal. But to some the human experience, even with all of the losses, would be worth living even a little longer. This thought experiment provides a lesson about fragility of human lives, and how that makes lives seem much more precious and important. It also provides the question of what the human experience truly is— a rollercoaster with ups and downs, no matter how long it is. In my opinion, something worth having in any way possible.