Imagine blowing thousands of candles on your birthday every year, becoming
wiser and more risk-averse and being able to erase the flaws and mistakes that we
have been too ignorant to stop in the past and especially with advances in
bioscience and technology one can imagine a post-COVID-19 future when most
diseases are cured and our life span will increase substantially as scientists make
new discoveries every minute.
Recently, scientists discovered bacteria that had been buried beneath the ocean
floor for more than a hundred million years and was still alive.
So maybe there is a possibility after all for us to be able to live for thousands of
years. But even with shrewd strategies, survival is by no means guaranteed.
Accidents are inevitable, and treatment centres will continuously be busy
repairing nonfatal damages due to routine mishaps.
Increasing our fertility period in proportion to our life span will bring the risk of
overpopulating Earth. And to keep the population in check, we would require a
public policy that limits the birth rate to the desired level. Alternatively, travel
ports could launch people into space to balance the birth rate and maintain a
terrestrial population suitable for the available supply of food and energy.
Now,can’t one imagine a life that lasts a billion years, during which stars turn on
and off in the sky just like light bulbs. Against the backdrop of that long-term
perspective, our current concerns about the world would seem as naive as the first
thought in the head of a newborn. But the thought of being able to easily check
off everything from your bucket list does seem exciting doesn’t it?
~ Aisha Goel | 7B
