Every individual desires to live long; no one wants to die young and unaccomplished. World over, many in legends and reality have attempted to find pathways to immortality without much success. A look at the health products and cosmetics available in the market reveals that many are dedicated to promoting youthfulness. Such products are developed through scientific research, which takes time, money and other resources. Scientists should not invest in trying to make people live long life, but should instead focus on making people live healthy productive lives.
Focus on health will improve longevity. There are numerous illnesses afflicting populations which need more research to deal with. On the other hand, a healthy life is more productive and fulfilling than a long life with no quality. For this reason, it more reasonable for scientists to focus on way in which health and quality of life can be improved instead of elongating lives.
Changing longevity will affect the society as a whole. According to Than, long life will impact the values and opinions about life, youth and old-age (2013). He also maintains that a long life will not help solve the social ills that the society is experiencing now. Scientists should therefore not overburden the society by making people live long.
Changing the length of life will overburden the healthcare system and the economy. The healthcare system is already pressed as is. Dr Callahan says that longer life will overburden the economy since it is very expensive treating old-age illnesses like Alzheimer (2013). Making people live longer would be expensive.
The above are just a few of the many reasons as to why scientists should refocus their attention onto more pressing matters since longevity will only increase the burden of expensive treatment, and have a negative impact on the society .
Bibliography
Callahan, D. (2013). On Dying After Your Time. The New York Times. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/opinion/sunday/on-dying-after-your-time.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2016].
Than, K. (2006). Toward Immortality: The Social Burden of Longer Lives. [online] LiveScience.com. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/10458-immortality-social burden-longer-lives.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2016].
