The future is created by people of determination, by their deliberate choice and action. Nothing else but human action will change the world; if we want the future to be a better place, then we must act. It is not sufficient to sit back and assume the matters you care about will be taken care of - because they won't be.

I thought I'd point out an example of a fellow who is looking ahead in life, making the choice to help bring about the future he would like to see:

I leave for Aruba tonight (overnight flight). By the time I come back I will be 21. That means I will never be denied the right to gamble or drink ever again because of age. It feels like an eternity has passed, and I’m just about to begin my poker career.

I made a post a while ago saying that I was going to donate a small percent of my live tournament winnings to a charity. I have been criticized some at 2+2 for saying this and “not following through”, but I haven’t played a single live tournament since January. I assure you, I am a man of my word.

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I have researched many charities, and I knew that I wanted to sponsor a charity that will make a long term difference. Also, thanks to Ray Kurzweil and Aubrey de Grey (see my earlier blog about Kurzweil), I have some pretty radical views about the future, and I wanted to pick a charity in line with this.

I did some research to see what causes Kurzweil endorses, and I found the Methuselah Foundation. Aubrey de Grey is the Chairman and Chief Science Officer, as well as a co-founder of the foundation. For those of you not familiar with the name, Methuselah was a man that supposedly lived to be 969 years old. The name is very appropriate, as the Methuselah foundation is trying to fight the aging process.

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I will be pledging 5% of whatever I win in Aruba (and this will continue for future tournaments I play as well) to SENS research. I would feel honored if other people were to read this post, and decide to do the same ... The potential of [the Methuselah Foundation] is too amazing to pass up.

Many more people have made the choice to step up and take action - to invest in a future of far greater health and longevity for all by funding SENS research or the MPrize. We are fortunate to live in an era of rapidly advancing medicine and biotechnology. The journey to working therapies for aging is just beginning, but real progress is possible within our lifetimes - if we set to work and give our support to those at the cutting edge.

Take a moment to think about what you want from the decades ahead. If health and vigor are on that list, then you will need to take action to ensure they are not stolen from you by the processes of aging.

Technorati tags: activism, advocacy, life extension, philanthropy, SENS

Posted by Reason at October 2, 2006 9:18 PM | TrackBack (1)