Who鈥檇 want the life of the 鈥渋mmortal jellyfish鈥�?
Cambridge philosopher says humans 鈥渘ot ready鈥� for life extension technology
Philosopher Stephen Cave has told HARDtalk that 鈥渨e're not ready for the consequences鈥� of humans living significantly longer lives and that 鈥渨e need to prepare鈥� for this prospect.
Speaking to Stephen Sackur, Mr Cave said that 鈥渘ever before in human history have we put so much talent and so much money鈥� into life extension research and there have been 鈥渟ome real breakthroughs鈥�.
The Director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Technology and Humanity acknowledged that he had 鈥渕oved from a position of scepticism鈥� to thinking that life extension is possible. He dismisses those who believe we may soon be living for a thousand years, but noted that 鈥渞esearch that's happening now could help people to live a few decades longer鈥�.
Mr Cave has co-written a new book, Should You Choose to Live Forever?, in which he debates this question with American philosopher John Martin Fischer. Cave noted that immortality is 鈥渟omething humans have鈥een pursuing for thousands of years鈥�, from the ancient Egyptians seeking an elixir of life to more recent scientific efforts.
The Cambridge academic said that 鈥渢here has been real progress in the last decades extending the lives of other organisms like fruit flies, nematode worms and even mammals like mice鈥�. Scientists hope that they will be able to learn from these achievements and make similar progress in extending human lives.
