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What does the community think about lifespan extension technologies? The need for an empirical base for ethical and policy debates
Author(s) -
Lucke Jayne,
Ryan Bree,
Hall Wayne
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2006.00173.x
Subject(s) - life expectancy , psychological intervention , life extension , population ageing , empirical research , psychology , quality of life (healthcare) , public policy , gerontology , expectancy theory , extension (predicate logic) , public health , social psychology , value (mathematics) , population , public relations , political science , medicine , economic growth , nursing , environmental health , economics , philosophy , epistemology , machine learning , psychiatry , computer science , psychotherapist , programming language
Objectives: This paper examines public understandings of possibilities for increasing life expectancy, interest in taking up lifespan‐extending interventions, and motivations influencing these intentions.Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with 31 adults, aged 50 and over.Results: Participants believed that technological advances would increase life expectancy but questioned the value of quantity over quality of life. Life in itself was not considered valuable without the ability to put it to good use. Participants would not use technologies to extend their own lifespan unless the result would also enhance their health.Conclusions: These findings may not be generalisable to the general public but they provide the first empirical evidence on the plausibility of common assumptions about public interest in ‘anti‐ageing’ interventions. Surveys of the views of representative samples of the population are needed to inform the development of a research agenda on the ethical, legal and social implications of lifespan extension.