If You Could Live to 150, Would You?

This week on a Barbara Walters special, she explored the idea of longevity. There is a scientist who is trying to isolate a chemical from red wine that could help us live to 150 years old. But would you want to live that long?

Most people would say "sure, why not?" But wait. Think about this for a minute. Think about what would possibly happen if you lived sixty or seventy years beyond the average life expectancy. Barbara Walters says there are over 30,000 people in the US who are centenarians [people over 100]. She even visited a centenarian club, where people over 100 years of age congregated so they could meet others in their age group. There were people there who remember when the Titanic sunk in 1912. There were many women who will have the chance to possibly elect a woman for president, but who were preteens, or even teenagers when women won the right to vote. Although 100 years ago, Ford was rolling the first cars through assembly lines, most homes didn't own a car for many years. All of these centenarians remember the pain of the Stock Market crash of 1929, and the hard years of the Great Depression after that; in fact, most of them were in the job market. And when we entered World War One, some of the woman saw their boyfriends ship out to fight. Teddy Roosevelt was president when they were born. They all grew up without television and air-conditioning, and never dreamed of a computer age.

We can only imagine what the world will be like in another 100-130 years. Most of us would want to be around to see. But would you have money to live on, especially if there is no social security in the future. Sure, you would want to be with your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. But would there be anybody to talk to about rap music, the Beatles, life before cellphones, blackberries, or computers -- the simpler times? What about your spouse? If she/he were still alive, could you stay married for 120+ years? Would you still have sex? Feel the passion? How many friends and family members will you have buried? On the Barbara Walters special, we saw a 103-year-old woman caring for her seriously-ill 80-year-old daughter, who later died. How about it? Would you want to live to 150?