Fantastic Voyage

Here's an attempt at adding some spice to the blog.

I'm reading a book right now called Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever.  It's by a technological forecaster, Ray Kurzweil, and a family practitioner, Terry Grossman.  The authors are extremely optimistic about the future of medical technology to not only radically extend our lifespans, but eventually to eradicate death altogether.  My friend Collin recommended the book to me.  He is interested in the religious implications of this new trend of "radical life extension."  Of course, all religions have tended to shun on the human attempt to transcend death.  According to religion, immortality belongs to the divine realm and not to this one.  At the very least, immortality is attainable through one's spirit, but not through one's body.  I think it is all very fascinating, and it seems like a place where science and religion will really butt heads over the years to come.  Medicine is always about extending life, and all of us subscribe to that goal to an extent.  We would never go to a doctor to find ways to live a shorter, less fulfilling life.  But there is something about trying to avoid death that seems to fly in the face of the religious messages we hear again and again.  So, where do you all place yourself in this issue?  Do we need to have a balance between the two positions of religion and medicine?  What is the proper age to want our bodies to last until?  What is the point of having our bodies in great shape?  For the authors of the book, it is so that they can live long enough for the technology to arrive to allow them to live indefinitely.  I think that it is also interesting to think about it in terms of other people: I may not want to live forever, but I want all of you and Grandpa and Grandma, etc. to all continue living for a long, long time.

Anyway, thought that might give some food for thought.  I actually really recommend the book to all of you, not only because it has some thought provoking statements on life extension ("The idea that aging and dying are inevitable is deeply rooted, but this age-old perspective will gradually change as gene therapies are successfully demonstrated over the next two decades."), but also because they give a lot of information about the science behind how our bodies work, and what sort of things to do to optimize our health.  For instance, I knew that omega-3 was a good supplement for our heart issues, but this book explains the differences between different kinds of fats, and notes that much of the reason that an omega-3 supplement is important in todays world is that the less beneficial omega-6 fat outweighs omega-3 in a typical American diet by as much as 25-1.  Apparently the relationship was much more balanced a hundred years ago before fast food and the abundance of artificial foods.  The point is that the supplement is good, but it is most beneficial if the bad fats are drastically reduced as well.  Anyway, the book has some good stuff in it, and is thought provoking to boot.

So, please everyone, share your thoughts on life extension, and what for you is the very purpose of good health.