If medicine improves and allows people to live much longer lives, how will we provide for everyone?

Hi Sophie,

Really interesting question you have posed. Based off of your comment above, you seem to be concerned about the environmental impact of a growing population where people live longer and longer lives. So there's a term for the population that the earth can environmentally support, and that is called the "carrying capacity". Thomas Malthus put out a theory in the 19th Century that there is a finite population that the earth can support and and anything leading that could lead to mass famine, disease, and starvation. Thankfully Malthus' prediction has yet to come true but it is a real worry. The resources on earth are finite, that is true, but human ingenuity is pretty incredible.

We human have so far been able to invent ourselves out of ecological issues before ( think about the advent of nitrogen based fertilizers and the Green Revolution). While the problems and issues that we face ecologically and environmentally are great, I choose to believe that our intellect, creativity, and ingenuity will save us...it has in the past at least. Also, what is limiting us to staying on Earth? We humans are explorers, perhaps one day interstellar space travel will actually be a reality and we will be able to inhabit other worlds, the possibilities are endless.

Keep thinking creatively and push yourself to think outside the box, our future depends on it.

Best,

Austin

Hi Sophia such a wonderful question. To give you an example of how life expands to accommodate everyone we have homes, apartments, cars, jobs, careers, colleges, food that seem endless. We grow as the community grows. We also have programs for the elderly (some states have meals on wheels which is lovely). Life expands for us and accommodates our needs. We have senior living residents, Perpetual Home Care In-Home companion and Personal Senior Care, etc). The good news is that we need not fear our increased life expectancy as we are increasingly able to maintain our bodies in a fit and healthy state and more and more of the illnesses associated with old age come under our control. Living until the age of 90 in 50 years time, will be a very different experience to someone living to that age 50 years ago. In February this year, a US scientist estimated that retirement age could reach 85 by 2050. Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University claimed that anti-ageing advances could raise life expectancy by a year each year over the next two decades. As we get older healthier, then there is no reason why we should not continue our active, productive lifestyles for longer. This would have substantial benefits; we could extend a mortgage over a longer period, we would have longer to invest in a pension, and simply have more time to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.

(Excerpt) Viewed globally, the lengthening of life spans seems independent of any single, specific event. It didn’t accelerate much as antibiotics and vaccines became common. Nor did it retreat much during wars or disease outbreaks. A graph of global life expectancy over time looks like an escalator rising smoothly. The trend holds, in most years, in individual nations rich and poor; the whole world is riding the escalator.

Here is a link to assist further with your wonderful question...https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/what-happens-when-we-all-live-to-100/379338/https://www.theguardian.com/zurichfuturology/story/0,,1952688,00.html. God Bless!