Our Quest for a LONGER LIFE

EVEN today few would contradict this reflection on the brevity of life, though it was written some 3,500 years ago. People have always found it unsatisfactory to taste the prime of life briefly and then to grow old and die. Therefore, methods to prolong life have proliferated throughout history.

In Job's time Egyptians ate the testicles of animals in a vain attempt to regain their youth. One of the prime objectives of medieval alchemy was to product an elixir that could lead to longer life. Many alchemists believed that artificially produced gold would give immortal life and that eating from golden plates would prolong life. Ancient Chinese Taoists reckoned that they could alter the body's chemistry to using such techniques as meditation, breathing exercises, and diet and thus obtain immorality.

The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon is know for his insatiable search for the fountain of youth. An 18th century doctor recommended in his book Hermippus Redivivus that young virgins be kept in a small room in springtime and their exhalations collected in bottles and used as a life-extending potion. Needless to say, none of these methods had any success.

Today, some 3,500 years after Moses recorded Job's statement, man has walked on the moon, invented cars and computers and investigated the atom and the cell. Yet, despite all such technological advances, we are still "short-lived and glutted with agitation." It is true that in developed countries the life expectancy had increased dramatically over the last century. But this is mainly the result of improved health care, more efficient hygienic measures, and better nutrition. For example, from the mid 19-century to the beginning of the 1990's , the average life span in Sweden rose from 450 to 75 years for men and from 44 to 80 years for women. But does this mean that man's urge to live longer has been satisfied?

No, because even though in some countries more people live to see old age, the words Moses wrote years ago still apply: "In themselves the days of our years are seventy years; and if because of special mightiness they are eighty years . . . for it must quickly pass by, and away we fly." (Psalm 90:10) In the near future will we see a change? Will man be able to live significantly longer? The next article will discuss such questions.

Next time: How Can the Quest for Longer Life SUCCEED?

Watchtower, 2001