TED ANKARA COLLEGE / 8-O
Should We Design Tech Innovations That Increase Life Expectancy ?
Ela Defne ERKAN
30
“ The quality , not the longevity , of one ’ s life , is what is important .” is a quote said by Martin Luther King JR . This idea states that the years we spend turning oxygen into carbon dioxide doesn ’ t matter as long as we make the most out of it . Still , in the world we live in , many people occasionally wonder what it would be like to live for a thousand years , or better , to be immortal , to feel like they can take back the moments they ’ ve missed or the ones they ’ re missing now just by thinking about this . Why do we do this ?
First , this makes us feel like we can decrease our hunger of having something no rich can buy , ‘ time ’. We are a very interesting type of specie , that even thinking about having something makes us happy . Secondly , our life circle is so limited that every living human just goes through ‘ birth , learning , school , work , work , work ’ and sadly die . Having extra lifespan besides this would be like having extra holidays for students . And we want that .
What if we had that technology ? Well , I think we should not . Just like any other thing , we will soon , after a couple of hundred years , get bored with this gift . This sudden change of mind-set can lead people to suicide or homicide . An additional fact is that even now , our population has covered all of the world . If people stopped dying today , there wouldn ’ t be enough resources for everyone in a month . Other than this , people ’ s appearance is something really important in our century . Women are simply eating makeup to look good and men are filling their face and hair with products . Supposing we stopped ageing after we reached the age of sixty or before starting elementary school . In conclusion , expanding our lifespan has a long list of problems . We can still feel like we are living a thousand years though , seize the moment while you can .