elizabeth: …it’s true-only the supposed “elite” of the world would be able to attain this dream…so what’s the point? we dont like the state if our world now, why would we try and outlive it?

Assuming this is available only to elites depends on assumptions about how the gene is changed and spread, and other availability issues. For the sake of argument, let’s assume it could become relatively widely avaiable. In that case, if we lived significantly longer, we would have to deal with the consequences of our actions more immediately: for instance, if we destroy our environment or exhaust our oil supplies without finding alternatives, it would not be our grandchildren who would have to deal with that “eventual” future, but rather ourselves. Longevity would change the calculus of policy choices.

And maybe if folks lived longer, there were be a larger measure of far-sighted wisdom injected into public and personal decisions. That would be a refreshing change. I would hate for only a few elites to have this, though: there’d be no better way to concentrate unbelievable power in the hands of a few who have the equivalent of multiple lifetimes to pursue their goals.

Hm, that would be some good science fiction….