Fight Aging!

I notice some thoughts from Colin Farrelly, who came to support as much progress as possible in longevity science from a very different original position to my own:

As a political theorist interested in aging and longevity science, I am in a minority among researchers in the field. The literature on distributive justice, multiculturalism, equality, liberty, deliberative democracy etc. is voluminous and detailed. Little has been written on science and justice, let alone a marginal field of scientific inquiry like biogerontology.

And thus I suspect many theorists think my interest in aging is odd, if not frivolous. When there are so many pressing problems in the world today the idea of fixating on aging has little, if any, intuitive appeal. A fews ago I use to think this same way. But after pondering these questions, learning some biology and following the pace of scientific discovery in the field of aging research, I have come to now hold the view that the stakes at risk in these debates are very important indeed. I would go so far as to suggest that tackling global aging is one of this century's most important challenges. And because very few people see aging as a problem the challenge of tackling aging is an even bigger problem than it would otherwise be if we all saw it for the problem it really is.

We live in a world in which most people don't give much thought to degenerative aging until it happens to them, and once in that unfortunate position, they don't give much thought to what might be done to stop this from happening to everyone. Consider how easy it is for a state-level politician in the US to raise a million dollars from the public at large (done in under a week in some cases that spring to mind) versus how hard it is for even a noted researcher in the field of aging research to do the same. Yet that politician doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things; he cannot create new technology, he will be fat on bribes and gone in a few years, and all his actions will be unimportant in comparison to the daily toll of death and suffering caused by aging:

While you were reading this sentence, a dozen people just died, worldwide.

But people have their hobbies, their sports teams, their politicians. The hundred pressing distractions from grander matters. Beyond the more valid daily concerns relating to putting bread on the table, so very many motivated folk throw themselves into things that will never change the world - which is their choice, and a free society is founded upon the right to choose as you will. But persuade even a fraction of these people to see the scope of age-related death and suffering, and the great potential of medical technology to alleviate these harms within a few decades ... well, then we'd be off to the races. No barrier or limitation can long withstand the attentions of a large and motivated group of humans.