Scenario planning for longer life spans


Humanity’s gradual increase in life span may be our greatest achievement, writes Joel Garreau, Lincoln Professor of Law, Culture and Values at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in a Future Tense article for Slate magazine. The typical person born today worldwide “can expect to live to nearly 70, up from her 30s in 1900.”

In the United States, increased life spans pose an existential threat to government budgets, to our health care system and to the workforce as we know it. Garreau argues that the future is “impossible to predict,” but that creating a set of scenarios can help us “think rationally, systematically and long-term about the future,” and be prepared for the enormous effects of longer life spans on policy, society and the economy.

In his article, Garreau details four scenarios that policymakers and citizens need to consider for human longevity in 2030 – “only 17 years, or less than one generation, from now.” Will developments in biological, genetic, neurological, information, nano and implant technologies radically increase our life spans and the number of years that we are able to work and care for ourselves? Will information technologies allow us to predict and prevent serious illnesses cheaply and easily before symptoms appear? Will we live decades longer than now, but be forced to suffer through a long, slow decline in our health and wellness? Will we live in a world without retirement? Will our technology advance faster than we age, rendering us immortal? For answers to these questions and more, visit Future Tense.  

Future Tense is a collaboration among ASU, the New America Foundation and Slate magazine that explores how emerging technologies affect policy and society. On Oct. 4, 2013, Future Tense will host an event in Washington, D.C. on how increases in human life span could transform public policy, society and the economy. For more information and to RSVP, visit New America’s website.

Article source: Slate magazine

More ASU in the news

 

'Death is just as beautiful as life:' What is Day of the Dead and when is it?

Biden visits Indian Country and apologizes for the ‘sin’ of a 150-year boarding school policy

Arizona’s future hinges on water, so why isn’t it a big campaign issue?