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Dateline: December 31 2032If you’re young enough, you may never die. Seriously.Think about it: if average lifespan keeps increasing every year, then as long as you are younger than that you have an excellent chance of living another year. And next year, the same and so on.Eventually there will be diminishing returns to medical science and optimal nutrition, but if you live in a highly developed economy, you may live indefinitely. Unless you are killed in an air crash or earthquake, of course.But for most of us, death by misadventure has become extremely unlikely. Automated cars, planes and trains have reduced fatal accidents to almost zero, and emergency medical response is top notch everywhere. Even extreme sports such as mountaineering and deep-sea diving are incredibly safe, with all the latest technology. Accidents are so rare they make the headlines.One of the major contributors to longer average lifespan is the Connected Life — what used to be called the “internet of things”. With smart sensors tracking our every physiological micro-aberration, and nanobots keeping us healthy, remedial action is always at hand to prevent disease or calamity.Advances in genetic reprogramming are completing the picture for a never-ending life. We’re getting better and better at turning back the clock, at least for essential organs and functions; that’s important for physical and mental health.So, let’s celebrate. Here’s to a happy, extra New Year. /First published in Mindbullets December 28 2016Too old to rock ‘n roll, but too young to dieThe agony of being in your 120sDateline: December 19 2037It’s tough being 122. If you thought puberty or being a 20-something was challenging, just wait until you get to 120-something.You’ve got the body of a 90-year-old; so what? It’s still an effort to get out of bed, and those neuroprosthetic implants keep your mind sharp, but the constant software updates are literally giving you headaches.Slowing and reversing physical aging has become more than a science — now it’s an industry, and once you’re on that bandwagon, you’re hooked for (the rest of your) life. It’s been a breakthrough in medical science, treating ageing as a disease at the cellular level.But let’s face facts: you can’t just get involved when you feel like it. If you want to have the benefits of a younger body and a youthful mind, you’ve got to be committed to an endless regime of personalised supplements and strict optimum nutrition — and that’s just for starters. The “age vaccine” is also a bundle of genetically modified viruses, to cut and paste your DNA, and that has to be “updated” every few years.The big problem comes in with lifestyle changes; we bold oldies are so busy with life, we’ve got no time to enjoy living. Everything that’s really great about life is bad for us, and staying alive is just so much work, it’s tedious. And then there’s the cost of life. No wonder some people want to check out early.It’s really tough when you’re too old to rock ‘n roll, but far too young to die. /First published in Mindbullets November 25 2015Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
