| If you are 50 years old—or younger, give or take a few years either
way—in
good health, and unafflicted by any genetic time-bombs that might finish
you off before your
average three-score-and-ten years, your chances of living to see the 22nd
century are extremely good—if you so desire.
Actually, that's a statement qualifying as 'cautious' or even 'conservative', because it's quite likely that, given the provisos listed—plus a few others, such as, say, the continuance of our species and a civilization which nurtures the spirit of scientific enquiry and technological development—you might not have to die until you actually choose to do so or some unfixable injury is inflicted upon you. Even ten years ago, such a statement would instantly have consigned one instantly to membership of a fringe cult. Today however it is rapidly becoming accepted by 'mainstream' thinkers, to the extent that some opponents of the idea are assuming an air of shrill hysteria. Significant human life-extension is almost upon us. Indeed, for all practical purposes it already is a reality, since most people who read these words will be directly and personally affected by the technologies which are, in effect, around the corner. You may not know it, but you probably are in effect already emortal.
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