-
Essay / Radical life extension is unethical and unrealistic
The idea of life extension challenges the circle of life: we come into this world, we live, and we leave. It is not okay for people to break this law and it is completely unethical. Radical life extension poses many threats to our society and would disrupt our way of life. This idea has many disadvantages, especially for lower-income classes. This practice would exacerbate the problems we already have with health care and life-prolonging treatments and would widen the economic class gap even further than it is today (Andersen). Sooner or later, life extension will only be available to the upper class and the entire lower class will continue to die at what is now a normal age. Radical prolongation of life also decreases the value of life. Dvorsky quotes Mckibben when he says that life would have no meaning without death and that the human race would lose the sense of sacrifice. The brevity of our lives is what motivates us to accomplish everything we can with the time we have. He even goes on to say that it would take away the honor of life. There would be no reason to fight for your own country or give your life for someone, because who wants to shorten this new longevity? Without knowing that death is not too far away, society will become relaxed and ungrateful for the life it has been given. We would start to get bored with our life because eventually, days would become routine and life would end up becoming boring instead of routine. life as we know it now, knowing that we have a time limit to accomplish the things we want. When talking about this practice, some people use the word “posthuman.” They say that a radical expansion of life diminishes the value of life and that ultimately middle of paper......ss. “Radical life extension raises complex social, economic and political issues.” Extend human lifespan. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At issue. Rep. Excerpt from “Radical life extension is already here, but we're doing it wrong. » The Atlantic (May 21, 2012). Opposing viewpoints in context. Internet. December 2, 2013. Blow, Charles M. “Radical Life Extension.” New York Times August 8, 2013: NA(L). Opposing viewpoints in context. Internet. December 2, 2013. Dvorsky, George. “Radical life extension: an overview”. Extend human lifespan. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At issue. Rep. from “Popular Arguments for and Against Longevity.” IEET.com. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Internet. December 2, 2013. Wade, Nicholas. “Arguments about life and the need to die.” New York Times March 7, 2000: F4. Opposing viewpoints in context. Internet. December 2. 2013.