Longevity
Longevity is long life or existence. Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the basic shortness of human life and included thinking about, and conceiving, methods to extend life (indefinitely). Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientific community but also for writers of travel science fiction and utopian novels.
Different people have different lifestyles. But it appears that it matters most where in the world (rather than how) you live. Health care and hygiene seem to influence life expectancy more than any other factor (from the CIA World Fact Book):
- First World: 77-81 years
- Second World: 65-77 years
- Third World: 35-60 years
Even habits such as smoking do not seem to have a major influence: Japan, a country with lots of tobacco consumption, has the highest life expectancy in the world (80.91 years, CIA Fact Book 2002). Hong Kong, a dense 7 million people city with constant stress, follows Japan closely (79.8 years, CIA Fact Book 2002).
Food and lifestyle make rather a small difference (all from
CIA World Fact Book 2002):
Scientists are working to extend our life, mainly with these
ideas:
It is believed that life expectancy in First World countries will have risen to 100 years by 2030, and to 120 years by 2060.
Longevity in fiction
(Please add to this list).
See also:
Referenced By
20th century/Life expectancy | Chinese Astrology | Chinese Zodiac | Chinese zodiak | Life expectancy | Life expectancy at birth | Life expectancy in the 20th century | Life extension | Life extention | Professor Hubert Farnsworth | Vietnamese zodiac
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