Perhaps, like me, you were a fan of Robert Heinlein’s awesome works of science fiction. During my Heinlein hey-day, I was compelled to read everything I could find written by him. Heinlein was one of many binge-reading authors who spoke to me on some level. Others, including Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Robert Silverberg, Carlos Casteneda, Tom Robbins, and Orson Scott Card, all helped to serve as guides for my perceptive constructs. A philosophy of perception, a world view, an appreciation for my own perspective and the limitations and gifts of same, were all formed in some portion by binge-reading these authors.
Heinlein lent a litany of colors to my perceptive palette, including the idea of a terribly long life. Tom Robbins touched on it too in Jitterbug Perfume, but Heinlein devoted a multi-novel theme to that idea. Why not live for hundreds of years? To what extent do our own self-limiting beliefs allow aging and ultimately death to take us, when it is not necessarily inevitable? What if, by belief, and by taking action based on belief, we can live well beyond what is considered normal, maintaining youthful vigor and stamina well in multi-century lifespans? This concept has been one I have considered for many years.
Lazarus Long was Heinlein’s character who exemplified the idea across many of his novels. Born in 1912, Long managed to live over two thousand years with the aid of periodic rejuvenation techniques. The specifics of the rejuvenation techniques are not explored in detail, except for a couple of hints: 1) They are painful. Pain is an aging goad. So something must be done to alleviate the pain without pain-killing drugs, which have too many side effects. 2) Pain is something we remember. So the elimination of pain was a simple process of administering a different sort of drug, a powerful one he called Lethe, which interfered with memory formation for a period of time. Essentially, Lethe (which was named for the mythical river of forgetfulness) prevented short term memories from forming….and since pain is something we remember, there is no pain. The ‘now’ of pain was forgotten as quickly as it formed, hence, no pain. The otherwise painful specifics of the rejuvenation process could then continue.
Having experienced and acutely remembered some moments of severe pain in my own life, and having witnessed the pain inherent in so many medical processes, I think there is something that rings true of Heinlein’s analysis. The river of forgetfulness might be a stretch….but then again, perhaps that too will one day become a medicinal choice with far fewer side effects than current pain-relief alternatives may offer. Though it may be a bit ironic that the rejuvenation process, which helps to restore and augment our memory, requires memory loss in order to be truly effective.
So why not stay vital? Why not live for hundreds of years as a vital human being?
A bevy of recent announcements in this age of exponential innovation point to the real possibility of dramatic life extension. Just this past week, published studies for immune system repair and general cellular health restoration were published.
How about a fashionable exoskeleton to restore strength and balance to those wobbly legs and aching joints? Or a wearable collagen suit to restore youthful skin and glow? Our bodies, inside and out, are soon going to be able to enjoy the fruits of rejuvenation that kept Lazarus Long going.
And what about our brains? Aren’t we all slowly spiraling into the abyss of an inevitable age-related dementia? Maybe not. Between over-the-counter nootropicsm, cognitive therapies, and even AI-enhanced cognitive prostheses, not only might we enjoy the multi-century vitality of life, we might even enhance our innate capabilities beyond what any of us may have realized to date. In my previous post I offered the idea of telepathy realized by tractable technologies. What not this, and other super powers?
There is a new rejuvenation coming — one which will allow some percentage of the vast number of our aging population to remain vital, youthful, and productive. The disruptions coming from such demographic booster shots will be at least as acute as any we have seen to date from this yet nascent Network Age. And like other innovations I’ve optimistically covered over the past few years, sign me up! I’m just getting started!
