Life Extension Essay Example
Life Extension Essay Example

Life Extension Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (1079 words)
  • Published: October 12, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Introduction I. Attention Getter: Do you know who Ponce De Leon is? Many just know him as the guy who searched for the Fountain of Youth. He was an old French conquistador. Well believe it or not, there is a modern day Ponce De Leon and he is still searchin for that key to immortality, only now he uses science to search, and he goes by the general term of biogerontologists.

II. Thesis: A biogerontologists is someone who researches life extension, and life extenstion pertains to an increase in the maximum or average lifespan in humans by slowing down the aging process.It has many positive and negative viewpoints, such as benefiting humanity overall and curing some fatal diseases that we are all currently as risk of. There is also a list of negatives. First off, accordin

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g to a forum on Care Cure Community, the procedure has an estimated cost of $50,000 for the surgery, and then another $50,000 for the rehabilitation. With this price in mind, the benefits of the surgery is obviously only available to an elite few of the upper class of America.

Now should the lower and middle classes, and even some of the upper class live with the hardships that the rich can avoid just because they have money?Of course, then next question asked is “Is it okay to play God? ” Now again this will benefit the human race, increasing the average life span and cure many painful diseases, but is that okay? Is it right to chose when you die? These are questions you all must ask yourselves. Main Point #1 I. Basic Information a. Life extension is an increase i

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maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing down or reversing the processes of aging. b. Eating healthy or good diet habits, exercise, and avoidance of hazards such as smoking and other self harming habits are some simpler ways of life extension.

And then of course there is the surgical option. c. The only widely recognized method of extending the maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. d. The newest process of life extension, which is still in the works, can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues. e.

I actually visited s website that offers this procedure, as well as a wide range of other cosmetic surgeries and products. www. lastinglooks. com really just appeals to the self-conscience person, which, I assume, is the target market of life extension.Main Point #2 I.

So the main point I’m trying to prove is “Is it fair given the obvious range that this privilege is available to? ” a. Obviously this will help humanity, but it will only available to the incredibly rich. b. The extremely high cost obviously sets a limit on who this is available to, which isn’t fair. c.

This sends the message that in our society, we force the poor to live with the same hardships and problems that the rich can easily avoid. Main Point #3 1. There are four main ethical arguments against life extension, genetic modification, overpopulation, poor health, and elitism. a.They can basically change when a person dies, what disease they do or don’t have, and even cure a baby from mental retardation before he

is even born. i.

Now this obviously has many positive aspects to it, but the ethical debate comes into play. 1. Is it right for people to now play God, to determine their fortune and misfortune? 2. With all the extremists that we allow in our society, there will surely be something to be said.

Protests and active movements will constantly try to stop what good or bad is being done. b. Overpopulation is the next problem. According to an article on life extension at www.

enophilia. org, the defense is overpopulation actually suffers from more people being born, not people living longer. However either way, more people will be alive and the world will be overcrowded. c. Poor health is how people live longer than they wish to, often pass the point where they wish to die. They are kept alive in terrible health, so it is basically a miserable life.

d. The last point is elitism. This is how the procedures will only be available to the elite, or the rich. The site’s defense is that after many people us it, the price will dramatically decrease, and it will be available to all.Even if many people use it, to start off only the rich will be available to use it. Conclusion I.

There are many arguments for pro or against life extension. As John Scloendorn puts it in his article Making the Case for Human Life Extension: Personal Arguments, “All it takes is being alive is good for the living person and not being alive is not good for anyone. “Granted these statements are true, I consider his view of the topic incredibly vain and short sighted. Yes

being alive is good, but he takes no other look at what effects this causes.

I firmly believe against life extension, as it clearly favors the rich, gives people the right to play God, and it also creates a strain on the economy. There is no telling how our economy will react, given that we have not seen people that normally live to the age of 150, therefore there is no telling how our economy will react. It could easily end many of our resources, given the obvious problem of overpopulation if this were to happen. II.

Life extension, been looked for for years now, and its never been found, and according to Joan Hamilton in her article “Who wants to be a 150-year-old? we’ve been saying we’re on the brink of finding it for years, we’ll most likely continue our Ponce De Leon-esque search for this ‘Fountain of Youth,’ this key to immortality, and the way things are looking we’ll probably find it. Now, the only question that lays unanswered is “is it a good thing? ” With all that I have said, its still your choice, but I am completely against Life Extension, and we as people living in fear of our society, need to get out and petition, vote, and protest against these activities. We can’t just sit and let what happens happen.We have to go and make our voices heard, but that’s up to you.

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