[ExI] 08-Longevity Dividend: Health and Disability

[Morris Johnson]

Health Canada and the FDA  argue that  aging is not a disease but a natural,
unstoppable, inevitable process ; I would argue the middle ground,  that
aging is a progressive biological disability worthy of more than
palliation".   "Oh dad you are one sick puppy…everybody  since the
dawn of  civilization
until the 20th century  who ever  claimed there was a cure for aging has one
thing in common, they are dead.  "Putting  Humpty Dumpty back together again
" won't cure aging"   Well kids, for over a decade I have been mentored by
fellow members of The *World Transhumanist Association* ,  an international
nonprofit membership organization which advocates the ethical use of
technology to expand human capacities (
http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/ ) .  WTA supports the
development of and access to new technologies that enable everyone to enjoy
*better minds, better bodies* and *better lives*. In other words, WTA wants
people to be *better than well.  From what I have learned I think there is
good reason to be optimistic about the future.
http://www.wfs.org/MArch-April08/WF2008_preliminary.pdf*

 Idiot-Savants show the  computational feats a mind can accomplish when its
structures are organized in novel ways. (
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html
).
Breaking  the communications barrier for autistic brains will bring
happiness and purpose to imprisoned personalities.  Every technology
designed to make life indistinguishable from normal for the disabled can be
adapted to enhance the abilities of the able bodied.  For example scientists
pushing themselves harder to be smarter are now  major consumers of ritalan
a drug popularized for hyperactive kids.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2006/07/07/heinbaugh.blind.reader.affl
,  http://www.knfbreader.com/  document the dividend digital technology is
now able to provide to blind persons.

Disabled persons at this stage of technology might resemble movie cyborgs
because the mechanical and electronic devices are clunky; but they do work.
Raymond Kurzweil's "universal language translator" device and software  and
( http://www.physorg.com/news130152277.html )  a baseball cap wired to allow
EEG to control household electronics devices ,  for physically disabled
individuals, for home care for the elderly, medical monitoring, and exercise
training are disjoint technologies that are breaking new ground  (
http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/matsuoka)  .     Oscar
Pisorius (
http://womensbioethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/bionic-athletes-stepping-out-of-debate.html
)  made able bodied athletes feel disadvantaged,  like he did before his new
legs.  (http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20080504/ ).

 One may think of disability as a critical catastrophic fault supported by
long creeping degenerative processes.
http://www.gsexperience.com/gseblog.html  and
http://www.gsexperience.com/archive/index.html  describe a potential
mechanism for a systemic disease (spalting)  which may develop in humans who
survive well beyond what we consider old and pose monumental new health
challenges.   Fortunately large scale Anti-Aging Research funders are
popping up in every country. Example ( http://www.bg-rf.org.uk/  ) The
Biogerontology Research Foundation (BGRF) understands that the current
scientific understanding of the ageing process is not yet sufficiently
exploited to produce effective commercial  medical interventions.  BGRF
funded research is building on the body of knowledge about how ageing
happens, and develop biotechnological interventions to prevent or remediate
the molecular and cellular deficits which accumulate with age and which
underlie the ill-health of old age. Addressing ageing damage at this most
fundamental level  provides an important opportunity to produce the
effective, lasting treatments for the diseases and disabilities of ageing
that are required to improve quality of life in the elderly.  BDRF addresses
both the symptoms of
age-related diseases and the mechanisms of those diseases.  USA Lawmakers  may
07, 2008 introduced legislation designed to speed the development of new,
safer therapies for brain and nervous system disorders and injuries, which
affect an estimated 100 million Americans and costs an estimated $1.3
trillion annually to treat.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=legislation-introduced-to    According
to http://www.Chronicdiseaseimpact.com<http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/>forward
planning to eliminate future disability can have a significant
payback.  The difference in 2050 USA GDP for eliminating disability at all
ages is projected to be 5.668 Trillion (17.6% of 2050 GDP) per annum.

 Biomarkers may soon predict disabling diseases like alzheimers before even
the sufferer is aware of it.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20783/?nlid=1079&a=f    Raymond
Kurzweil

(  http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1  )views the body as a
complex software program coded as DNA..  It's the millions of feedback loops
from all the subroutines and derivative epigenetic material that make us
what we are as much as the mere 100K "Kernel" of "source code " within our
genes   Ray believes that the convergence of nano-cognitive
biological-information (NCBI) technology into a new "singularity" technology
and its commercialization is about 10-20 years away.

 Feb 21, 1963 John F. Kennedy said "It is not enough for a great nation to
have added new years to life.  Our objective must also be to add new life to
those years".   To put myself at risk of being partisan , we need to repeat
the pledge to "put a man on the moon before the end of the decade" in the
form of a new pledge " to end physical and mental disability for the average
global citizen before 2025".   Governments around the world must put
pro-life ahead of pro-death and lead by consorting with technologists and
futurists and not by fashioning "Garbage in , garbage out" health policy
created and implemented by permission from "Idiot-Savant" pollsters and
"spin doctors".  Don't  laugh that's how it works.


Harrison Ford at the end of Indiana Jones saga (4) says "A prize greater
than a city of Gold is knowledge".   As we prevent disability we enhance the
wisdom of  old age to become a true asset.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>
.
You may send your feedback attention "Pharmer Mo" at
extropian.pharmer at gmail.com
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