Everyone wants to live a long time, preferably forever. Much of human art and most all of religion is based on that anxiety. So Google is on the case!
Google still earns most of its money from the ads that pop up with search results, but it’s also working on driverless cars, Internet-connected glasses, and stratospheric balloons that could help get more of the developing world online.
“Illness and aging affect all our families,” Page said in a statement. “With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives.”
Slowing the aging process promises considerable bang for the buck, because many illnesses appear to be the effect, not cause, of getting older, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and various forms of cancer.
Not to be too self absorbed, but speaking for many late baby boomers, I sure hope they get results in, say, the next twenty years or so.
Ending, or even slowing down, human senescence would be an unmitigated disaster.
But better QOL for longer/for a greater proportion of our lifespan would be cool.
Every few years, as investment slows down, Google will announce that they are on the verge of a spectacular breakthrough. New money will arrive; the CEO will collect his annual bonus, and the shareholders will be able to dream a little longer.
Haha I always think that too – “H-hey, this would be great if you guys, uh, perfected it within my lifetime..”
As an early baby-boomer, I figure it’s too late for me anyhow. That’s not necessarily such a bad thing. Longevity, per se, is overrated. We’ve done tons of stuff that will extend the human life span, but often without the quality of life that makes it worth living.
I fail to see how this is net negative.