Bridging Generations: Our Ageless Future

“The difference between the sick and the well is the most profound difference in all of mankind.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

From bridging generational divides to redefining life’s stages, longevity technology will change our world. Longer and healthier lives will largely dislodge short-sightedness and its accompanying ills.

But how?

Yes, most of us would rather avoid sickness. Yes, we all want to see our loved ones stick around. These benefits are just the beginning; life extension’s full implications are rarely discussed. Maybe because we are not accustomed to thinking ahead, or maybe because it is still such a new, and tragically taboo, idea.

Malian writer Amadou Bâ, bemoaning his homeland’s withering oral tradition, noted that “when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.” This is universally true.

Only a fraction of the human experience is preserved in print or film. For that matter, only a small part of a person can be preserved. Even a brilliant book is a poor substitute for flesh and blood.

Max Planck said science advances “funeral by funeral.” People and institutions can, and often do, become stuck, but death should not be the remedy. Closedness is not inevitable. Of course, learning is easier when we’re young; our joints, like our minds, are flexible. These are pliable; they can, and almost certainly will, fall under our control.

Gene therapies, like BioViva’s BV-702, are here already. Gene therapy could be the key to letting us grow chronologically older while remaining biologically youthful.

And you may think, sure. That works on a physical level, but what will it do to old attitudes?

Seeing is believing, after all. A lofty declaration is easier to ignore than very real technology. Railroads, radios, telephones, and the internet are all considered life-changing technologies; modalities like gene therapy will, in the most fundamental way possible, change how we live.

When people stop seeing themselves as doomed to obsolescence, they can let go of outdated beliefs. Generations are not as neat and discrete as popular media suggests, but it is impossible to ignore the differences between the young and the old, just as it is impossible to ignore the chasm between the sick and the well.

What happens when these walls crumble?

As generational distinctions become less pronounced, ageism will dissipate until it disappears altogether. It will have no basis in reality, leaving it as laughably antiquated as controversies about the efficacy of hand washing or the shape of the earth.

People with different backgrounds will find camaraderie as existence becomes an ongoing journey of discovery, as our temporal horizons extend outwards.

When did you last hear someone say they are “too old” to do something? They are “too old” to go back to school, switch jobs, start a family, pick up the piano. Unfortunately, this is more than gloomy self-talk; it is not a self-imposed limitation.

Aging makes it hard to master a second language or pick up a new instrument. But what happens when its dictates no longer bind us?

We define who we are largely by where we are in life. College is not the same as grad school, and neither are like retirement. Once age and its effects are tamed, it will no longer determine our roles, aspirations, and activities.

Longevity technologies will give us the freedom to chart our own courses without the constraints of aching knees or social condemnation.

Yes, productive years can be prolonged, but life extension is so much more than an economic imperative. Any field, whether it’s fine art or engineering, there is room for fresh and time-tested insights.

As they won’t be hobbled by the infirmities of old age, retirees may be motivated to volunteer, mentor, and teach. More than anything, people want to be useful; they want to share, create, and explore. Regenerative modalities like gene therapy empower them to do these things.

At no other point have we had the opportunity to live on our own terms. It goes beyond the individual, the workplace, or our communities. Effective interventions in this sphere will change the world more profoundly than anything that has come before them.

The fear of mortality aggravates the worst parts of human nature. “I’ve got mine” is a fine personal philosophy for the short run. Self-interest may motivate us to succeed, but it can become malignant when there is, in essence, a predefined termination point.

While longer lives will not instantly transmute malice into virtue, they will make most of us think before acting. Most importantly, we will have the time to plan, think, dream, and relax.

When age becomes irrelevant, we will enter a more collaborative and harmonious epoch, where strife gives way to solidarity and limitations to abundance.

Authored by Adam Alonzi

Adam is a writer, independent researcher, and video maker. He is the Marketing Director for BioViva Science. Visit adamalonzi.com for more.