My son and I discussed this a few weeks ago as we watched his week old son sleep. I was born in 1957 and can look back at the things that have happened in my lifetime. Every orbital and beyond spaceflight has happened in my lifetime. Computers went from extremely expensive machines to a commodity. Transistors, jet travel, and a host of other things became part of daily life. I then look further to my mother (born in 1928) to think of the things she has seen, and to her father, who turns 96 this September. What wonders (and horrors) will Jason live to see?

Recently, I've read articles predicting that the average human lifespan might increase radically within the next couple of decades. Would that necessarily be a good thing? Imagine if you were a kid who knew could expect to live to 150 or 200 years old? What would your motivation be to accomplish anything? Would you even care to graduate high school before you were 50 or 60? After all, you might have to work for a century or more, so what's the rush?

According to my wife, in the Philippines, there's a condition called "Manana Fever", where procrastination is a way of life. Why do something today when you can put it off till tomorrow. I've seen it here in America, too. Imagine if a whole society was essentially immortal by today's standards. Would that society decline into stagnation? My guess is yes.

Getting old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative (dying).