{"id":298,"date":"2019-12-17T18:58:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bio-ethiks.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2019-12-17T18:58:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:58:39","slug":"tithonus-and-the-fallacy-of-eternal-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bio-ethiks.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/17\/tithonus-and-the-fallacy-of-eternal-life\/","title":{"rendered":"TITHONUS AND THE FALLACY OF ETERNAL LIFE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, a man in Indonesia celebrated his 146th birthday.[1]\u00a0 \u00a0The human life span has expanded by decades.\u00a0 For centuries the average life span was about 40.\u00a0 Age 50 made you an honored elder.\u00a0 Now humans\u00a0 who celebrate their 100th birthday rarely make the news.\u00a0 Advances in medicine, nutrition, and basic sanitation have made this possible. But University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologist S. Jay Olshansky has the radical idea that living longer should not be the focus if we fail to also live better as well. [2][3]<\/p>\n

Tithonus<\/h3>\n

According to the Greek myth, the goddess Eros persuaded Zeus to grant her lover Tithonus eternal life.\u00a0 However, she failed to ask for eternal youth as well.\u00a0 So Thinonus grew older and older, and yet never died.\u00a0 His body became frail and weak. As he got smaller and more frail, he begged Eros to return him to his mortal state and let him die.\u00a0 But the goddess did not have the power to grant his wish.\u00a0 He lived on, and continued to waste away until he became so small and shriveled that he became the first grasshopper.[4]\u00a0 Rather than being a joyous extension of life, immortality became a curse and he begged for death.<\/p>\n

Today<\/h3>\n

Increased longevity has brought on an increase in health and economic issues that our current social systems have not caught up to.\u00a0 Susan Golden of Stanford University said that longer lives require a wellness-based approach that needs to start in childhood.\u00a0 She claims that in Denmark, the primary care physicians are paid more than specialists, reducing the economic incentive to manage illness and focus on preventative lifestyles instead.[2]\u00a0 Her article covered provided interesting insight into some of the pluses and problems of the search for longevity and presented some possible solutions to the Tithonus fallacy.<\/p>\n

It is simply common sense that what we seek is an extension of the quality of life, not merely the quantity.<\/p>\n

Additional Reading and Footnotes:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. ‘World’s oldest man’ celebrates 146th birthday and says patience is key for long life<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Human Lives Might Be Long Enough Already<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Shifting focus from life extension to ‘healthspan’ extension<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Some translations say Tithonus became a cicada, others say a cricket.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Two years ago, a man in Indonesia celebrated his 146th birthday.[1]\u00a0 \u00a0The human life span has expanded by decades.\u00a0 For centuries the average life span was about 40.\u00a0 Age 50 made you an honored elder.\u00a0 Now humans\u00a0 who celebrate their 100th birthday rarely make the news.\u00a0 Advances in medicine, nutrition, and basic sanitation have made…<\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[42,3],"tags":[44,49],"yoast_head":"\nTITHONUS AND THE FALLACY OF ETERNAL LIFE — b\u012b\u014d-eTHiks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bio-ethiks.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/17\/tithonus-and-the-fallacy-of-eternal-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TITHONUS AND THE FALLACY OF ETERNAL LIFE — b\u012b\u014d-eTHiks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years ago, a man in Indonesia celebrated his 146th birthday.[1]\u00a0 \u00a0The human life span has expanded by decades.\u00a0 For centuries the average life span was about 40.\u00a0 Age 50 made you an honored elder.\u00a0 Now humans\u00a0 who celebrate their 100th birthday rarely make the news.\u00a0 Advances in medicine, nutrition, and basic sanitation have made…Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.bio-ethiks.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/17\/tithonus-and-the-fallacy-of-eternal-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"b\u012b\u014d-eTHiks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-18T02:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.bio-ethiks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Grasshopper-on-leaf.jpg?fit=900%2C675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bio-ethiks\" \/>\n<meta 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