What would you do with a gift of 5 extra years?

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We discuss interventions to increase the life span on the blog quite a bit – which makes you ponder what would you do if something actually worked in humans and you were given an extra 5 years of healthy life?

I found this blog piece over at PickTheBrain which covers this question from the reverse perspective of if you only had 5 years left to live – go check it out here.

What would you do if you were told you had five years left to live? I prefer to use this rather than Steve Job’s single day, because most of us, with a day or week left, would spend them seeing family and saying goodbyes.

But five years is different. Five years is long enough to accomplish almost any goal you might have, however ambitious. And you wouldn’t want to spend five years partying hedonistically, or eating your favourite meal every night.

Rather that thinking about only have 5 years left to live maybe you can ask yourself if given an extra 5 years due to some longevity intervention/treatment what would you do? A question – be it only 5 years left, or an extra 5 years, that at least makes you take a step back and think a bit.

4 comments for “What would you do with a gift of 5 extra years?

  1. CC
    January 26, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    I just hope that the cosmetic industry can catch up – make a product that actually works, that really ‘reverse’ the effect of time on your face.
    Else I hate to live 5 longer years of being old and ug……

  2. Ward
    January 27, 2009 at 9:17 am

    CC,

    yes in an idea world we can also look good during the extra 5 years – but really this is the least important thing to fix. More so, relish and do something of worth if given the gift of 5 extra years.

    Do you think the cancer patient who lives an extra 5 years really cares what they look like compared to the alternate of dying? Well maybe us vain humans would care.

  3. CC
    January 27, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Yeah…looks would be the least of people’s concern after major illnesses such as cancer. They should change laws like the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) of 1998 stating that ‘health insurance companies and self-insured group health plans that cover mastectomies to also provide benefits for mastectomy-related services, including breast reconstruction surgery.’

    And those survivors, especially children survivors, of disasters, they don’t need reconstruction or cosmetic (however you call it) surgeries – time to teach those snowflakes that looks aren’t important.

  4. Ward
    January 28, 2009 at 9:57 am

    CC,
    I think you took me the wrong way. I am not against appropriate corrective surgery as you outlined in your comment. But worrying about a slightly more wrinkled face when you live an extra 5 years should be the least of your concern – cherish those 5 years.