Adventures in Old Age

A candid look at aging, old age, and eldercare.

by Ira Rosofsky, Ph.D.

Will A Quantum Leap In Longevity Make Us Paranoid?

By Ira Rosofsky, Ph.D. on May 31, 2009 in Adventures in Old Age

Recently, I saw a commercial for a New York lottery game, Set for Life, in which you get paid $5,000 for each week of the rest of your life. The commercial showed a winner going through his life wearing a suit of armor. As long as he lives, he gets the cash, so his life becomes quite paranoid--one in which there is a literal premium in avoiding all accident or illness. Read More

What an interesting premise.

Submitted by Stephen Mason, Ph.D. on May 31, 2009 - 8:34pm.

How would we react to another century of life...and then some? I'm surprised that so few people seem to know about the rapidly approaching Singularity, when humans and machines will merge to begin the next phase of evolution. If you really want to know how we'll react to a significantly increased life span, I'd say that you won't have long to wait.

And yet, my recent column (Living Longer, Much Longer) drew a mediocre number of hits and only a single comment. I'm convinced that the public is simply not yet ready to consider the very real prospect of immortality.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/look-it-way/200904/living-longermu...

Steve Mason
PT Blogger

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Ira Rosofsky, Ph.D., is a psychologist in Connecticut who works in eldercare facilities and the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Old Age and the World of Eldercare.

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