Discussion 1.
How has health technology contributed to longevity?
Technology has helped reduce the amount of people that die to diseases and injuries commonly associated with elderly people. There is a problem however, and that is if they were to completely eradicate one disease, like heart disease, then another one will take over and become more prevalent. There is one study that seems to have more promising effects and it involves injecting a specific protein, one associated with the young, into elderly. The reported effects were that the body would heal itself of anything that was deteriorating due to age (Allen, 2018).
What are the economic, sociological, psychological, and healthcare implications of an aging population that could live indefinitely?
There are some negative effects that would come from people that lived indefinitely. One of them would be that the healthcare system would not be able to keep up with that many people. As more people are born, and more people get sick but not die when they are older, then the healthcare system would need to spend more money to treat more people. The same can be said for the economy. The more people there are, they more resources they need to survive. In the end, while it might be nice at first, I believe that living indefinitely would create more problems than solve them.
What is the cautionary tale about technology and aging that is told by Vonnegut’s short story, “The Big Trip Up Yonder?”
The cautionary tale of the story is similar to what I mentioned above. Once you solve the problem of aging, you run into other problems, like the world population increasing to the point to where families are crammed into homes that they can no longer fit in. In the story, this creates contempt among the younger generations, and they end up coming up with a plan to kill the older generation (Vonnegut, 2017).
How long do you think we should live? Should we live indefinitely or should there be limits? Justify your response.
This is a difficult question. While I would love to see my family live longer, I believe that tampering with the inevitable would cause issues to arise. If I had to put a number on it though, I would say that everyone should live till we are around 100. I would think this would give people enough time to experience everything that they would like. If technology was able to couple this with the eradication of diseases, then I think it would be even better.
References
Allen, M. [TEDx Talks]. (2018, June 1). Thriving Longer: The Future of Aging | Dr. Mark Allen | TEDxPaloAlto [Video]. YouTube.
Vonnegut, K. (2017). The Big Trip Up Yonder. Van Haren Publishing.
Discussion 2.
How has health technology contributed to longevity?
Technology is the main factor of why we live as long as we do. Without the health technology that we have developed, our world would be a bunch of teenagers with multiple diseases floating around. With technology, we now have the ability to study what our body needs and how to prevent/cure life threatening diseases.
What are the economic, sociological, psychological, and healthcare implications of an aging population that could live indefinitely?
If live was indefinite, there would be many possibilities of impacts. Since the population would only grow and never decline, most of the impacts would be negative. The economy would not be able to keep up with the overpopulation. There would not be enough food and resources to share among the population. There would not be enough jobs (depending if people would actually want to work). Houses would be overcrowded, which would lead to mental health problems due to no private time. The healthcare system would be flooded with multiple diseases, as well as not enough doctors to help the population.
What is the cautionary tale about technology and aging that is told by Vonnegut’s short story, “The Big Trip Up Yonder?”
Living forever is not as good as it seems. In the story, the grandpa lives with his next of kin, and their next of kin, and their next of kin (super crowded household). The food they eat is made of seaweed and other imitated food (probably due to food shortage of an overpopulation). The grandpa grew tired of living with this family and had them all put in jail just so he can focus on himself.
How long do you think we should live? Should we live indefinitely or should there be limits? Justify your response.
(Warning: Kinda morbid?) I think we should be able to choose when we die before we actually die. I think science is working towards extending lifetimes but why? Why be stuck in a wheelchair for x amount of years? Why wait for a life ending disease to kill you? There is actually a huge debate on physician-assisted suicide (purposely ending your life with professional medical health). I personally would be satisfied if I made it to ~70. The thought of always needing help to get around or assisted with daily things does not excite me. Personally, I see no benefit of living forever. What would you even do? There would be no drive in your life because you have forever to do things.
References:
Vonnegut, K. (2009, October 13). The big trip up yonder. Project Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30240/30240-h/30240-h.htm
less
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
