Will my kids be immortal?

I have four kids, ages 8, 6, 4 and 4, and the question is: will they die? Or will technology advance far enough, fast enough, to make them immortal?

Right now the typical lifespan of an American is something like 70 to 80 years. So the question boils down to this: what will the typical lifespan be in 2070? And, by that time, is medical science advancing so rapidly that we eventually figure out how to achieve immortality before they actually die?

Here is one scenario. The kids live long enough to Discard Their Bodies. Let’s say this happens in 2050 or 2060. By discarding their bodies they significantly increase their natural lifespan to say 150 years. Then, prior to 2150, we figure out how to do brainuploading, or regenerate the natural substrate or something that makes them immortal.

There is some slim chance that today’s adults will get in just under the wire. Technology might advance fast enough for you and I to be immortal. If we made it a national emphasis (like the moon race was) there would be a better chance, but I see no evidence that it could be made a national emphasis. I’d say the odds are 50/50 that today’s children will be immortal.

Their children, however, have a very good chance of being immortal, unless we do something stupid like blowing the planet up (see previous post).

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Marshall Brain is an IEET fellow, and the author of The Day You Discard Your Body, Manna and the founder of HowStuffWorks.com.