Welcome!

There has been much philosophizing about increasing life span using new drugs, cloned organs, stem cell therapies, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, machine intelligence, etc. However, there has been very little investigation of the social and psychological implications of vastly increased life spans. Since laboratory investigations have already shown how to extend life spans for lower organisms by up to ten times, these developments could have dramatic implications for society in the near future. Some even argue that people alive today will be able to put off death indefinitely, if they take advantage of all new technologies as soon as they become available.

We will discuss the philosophical, social, and psychological implications of these new developments, for the individual, the society, and the human race as a whole. We will also consider what can be done to take advantage personally of these developments. If we compare the life span of people in the country with the highest life expectancies with those in the country with the lowest, we find that political and social arrangements can triple expected life span. Therefore, even just making effective use of social science knowledge can have a dramatic effect.

The Group is mainly for discussion. Presentations by researchers in the area and visits to laboratories in Copenhagen are an option.

This Group will be of interest to anyone that would like to live a longer and healthier life. If you can't bear the idea of living longer, perhaps you can pick up some hints on how to have more fun:-)