80 years? 90?

是 80 歲嗎？90 歲嗎？

120?

120 歲？

Longer?

還是要更長壽？

And do you think you'll change your mind once you reach that age?

而你認為當你活到那個歲數時，會改變你的初衷嗎？

Fifty thousand years ago most humans died very young.

在五萬年前，大多數的人們都很早死。

As we learned how to use the resources around us to treat ourselves, this got better and better.

而當我們學會使用環境裡的各種資源來改善生活後，這一切就逐漸好轉了。

Today, humans are living longer and healthier lives than ever before.

今天的人們活得比過去更長壽和健康。

But this has an unforeseen consequence.

但這有個難以預料的後果。

We spend an ever-increasing part of our lives being sick and in need of care.

在我們的一生中，處於生病與失能的時期越來越長。

Most of us will die in a hospital bed, which is depressing enough by itself.

我們大部分人都會死在醫院的病床上，這件事本身就足夠令人沮喪了。

But we also have to witness the same happening to our loved ones.

而我們還必須目睹同樣的事發生在我們所愛的人身上。

Except, maybe we can stop this forever.

除非，我們有辦法能永久地解決這個問題。

The most effective way to treat a disease is to prevent it.

對於疾病來說，預防勝於治療。

It saves many more lives if you stop a million people from smoking, than coming up with better chemo therapies.

如果你能說服一百萬人戒煙，那會比找到更好的化療方法還能拯救更多生命。

So why not put a halt to the cause of all disease: the process of aging.

所以我們何不去對付一切疾病的源頭：衰老過程呢？

In a nutshell, aging is caused by physics, and not biology.

基本上，衰老源自於物理性機制而非生物性機制。

Think of cars: Parts wear down from rubbing and grinding, metal rusts, filters get plugged, rubber cracks.

以汽車為例：零件的損耗來自於機件磨擦，金屬鏽蝕，濾網堵塞以及橡膠劣化。

Our bodies are worn down by trillions of tiny physical processes.

我們的身體被數以兆計的微小物理流程所折舊。

Oxygen, radiation from the sun, our metabolism.

比如說：氧氣、太陽輻射、身體代謝等等等。

Our bodies have many mechanisms to repair this damage, but over time they become less effective.

我們的身體有許多機制可修復這些損傷，但是隨著歲月流逝，身體的效率日益低下。

So our bones and muscles weaken, our skin wrinkles, our immune system gets weaker.

於是我們的骨頭與肌肉不再強健，皮膚皺紋日增，免疫系統也越來越差。

We lose our memory and our senses diminish.

我們的記憶衰退了，也不再耳聰目明。

There's no such thing as dying of old age.

死亡從來不是因為年老。

We all die because one of our important parts breaks.

人們都是死於體內某個重要器官的報廢。

The older we get, the more damaged and fragile we become until one or multiple diseases take over and kill us.

當我們活得越老，累積的損耗越多，我們就更加脆弱，直到一個或多個疾病發作，奪走我們的生命。

Unnoticed by most of us, longevity research has made some unprecedented advances in the last few years.

大多數人尚未察覺，在過去的幾年裡，長壽研究取得了一些前所未有的進展。

For the first time, we're starting to understand the mechanisms behind aging and how to manipulate them.

我們開始了解衰老背後的機制，以及如何控制它們。

Aging is neither mystical nor inevitable, and we might be able to stop or delay it during your lifetime.

衰老並非莫測，亦非必然，在你的有生之年，我們或許可以實現停止或延缓衰老。

We'll discuss the science behind it and how scientists are trying to stop it in another video.

我們將在另一個影片中討論這裡面的科學，以及科學家的研究方法。

But first, if we could, should we end aging?

話說回來，如果我們能做到停止衰老的話，我們應該這麼做嗎？

Is this a good idea?

這真的是一個好主意嗎？

The end of aging or life extension makes many people uncomfortable.

停止衰老或是延長壽命的想法讓許多人感到不自在。

We're born, are young, become older, and then we die.

人生中有生老病死。

This has been the natural order for literally all of human history, and getting old is a good thing, right?

這一直以來是人類歷史中普遍的自然規律，而且變老是一件好事，對吧？

We celebrate the idea of living long enough to experience old age.

我們讚揚活得夠久來體驗老年時光的想法。

We even call them the golden years.

我們甚至稱之為黄金歲月。

But the reality is that everybody wants to become old, but nobody wants to be old.

但事實是每個人都希望成長，但沒人真的想要變老。

Think of the Greek myth of Tithonus for example.

以希臘神話提索奧努斯為例。

Tithonus was the lover of the goddess Eos and probably an amazing dude.

提索奧努斯是女神厄俄斯的情人，而且八成帥得沒天理。

Because she begged Zeus to grant him immortality, so they could spend eternity together.

因為女神請求宙斯賜予他永生不死，這樣他們就可以永遠在一起。

But she forgot to specifically ask for eternal youth.

但是她忘了說清楚要永保青春。

Tithonus was granted eternal life, but he kept aging, unable to die.

提索奧努斯確實獲得了永生，他雖然不死，卻一直變老。

After a few hundred years, he was reduced to the size of a grape, babbling on senselessly forever.

好幾百年以後，他縮小到一個葡萄的大小，無意義地胡言亂語到永遠。

Thousands of years ago, humans already feared never-ending old age.

好幾千年前，人們已經害怕永遠沒有終點的老年期。

But ending aging does not mean getting weaker and weaker.

雖然停止衰老代表著日益衰弱的停止。

If you become too old, it's too late.

但如果你已經太老了，那就為時已晚了。

A 90 year old who stopped aging would die anyway after a few years.

一個 90 歲才停止衰老的人不管如何都會在幾年後死亡。

Too much damage has been done to his internal machinery.

他的身體器官已經累積了太多的耗損。

There are already too many surfaces for disease to attack.

以至於有太多的缺口可被疾病攻陷。

Instead, the concept of life extension promises to end diseases, and with them, the end of a fixed maximum age.

相反地，延長壽命的概念確保終結疾病，藉此不再受限於固定的壽命極限。

We don't know how much we could prolong our lives.

我們不知道我們的壽命能延長到什麼程度。

We might make every human healthy to the currently accepted maximum age of around 120, or we might stop biological aging and disease indefinitely.

我們也許可以讓每個人都健康地活到現今普遍接受的最大值：約 120 歲，或者我們可以無限期地阻止生物性衰老以及疾病的發生。

Nobody knows at this point what's possible.

目前還沒有人能說得準。

Okay, but even if we could achieve that, should we?

好吧，然而即使我們可以做到，我們又該做嗎？

Well, life extension is really just another phrase for medicine.

好吧，其實延長壽命在醫學上只是另一種說法。

All the doctors are doing is trying to prolong life, and minimize suffering.

所有醫生在做的都是在努力延長壽命極減少病痛。

The vast majority of healthcare resources are spent on the consequences of aging.

絕大部分的醫療資源都被耗用在老人病上。

Nearly half of your lifetime healthcare costs will be spent during your senior years, and another third during middle age.

你生命中將近一半的醫療費用會花在你的老年期，另外三分之一則花在中年時期。

We are actually already trying to prolong life with our current medicine.

我們實際上已經在試著用現代醫學來延長壽命。

We're just doing it very inefficiently.

我們只是做得很沒效率。

Trying to stop aging from happening is not less natural than transplanting a heart, treating cancer with chemotherapy, using antibiotics or vaccines.

試圖阻止衰老的發生並不會比移植心臟、癌症化療、使用抗生素或者疫苗更不自然。

Nothing humans do nowadays is purely natural anymore, and we enjoy the highest standard of living ever as a consequence of that.

現在人類生活中已沒有什麼東西算得上是純自然的了，然而那也是我們得想有史以來最高生活水準的原因。

What we're doing right now is waiting until it's too late and the machine is failing.

我們現在所為只不過是束手等待，直到為時已晚身體倒下。

And then we use the vast majority of our resources trying to fix it as well as we can, while it breaks down even further.

在身體機能持續崩壞之際，才來使用我們手上絕大部份的資源去盡可能地修復它。

But life extension still feels hubristic.

但是延長壽命的議題聽起來自大了點。

Most people assume that they will want to die once they reach a certain age, and this might still be true.

許多人認為自己總會活到某個想迎向死亡的歲數，而這想法可能依然是真切的。

The idea of avoiding death entirely is off-putting for many.

完全逃避死亡的念頭對許多人來說是令人厭惡的。

The end of biological aging would not be in the end of death in any way.

生物性衰老的停止在許多方面並不意味著永生。

It's more like a summer evening when you were a kid, and your mom called you inside.

這更像是你小時候的某個夏日午後，你媽媽叫喚著你回家。

You just wanted to keep playing, have a little more fun during sunset before you went to sleep.

而你只是還想再玩一下，在你上床以前，多享受一些黃昏時光。

It's not about playing outside forever, just a little longer, until we feel tired.

那並不代表你不想回家，只是想要多玩一點，直到覺得真的累了。

If you imagine a world without disease where you and your loved ones could live in good health for another 100 or 200 years, how would this change us?

如果你想像一個沒有疾病的世界，你和你所愛的人能健康地再生活 100 或 200 年？這將會帶給我們什麼轉變？

Would we take better care of our planet if we knew we would be around longer?

如果我們知道我們將在這世間停留更久些，我們是否會更在乎我們的地球？

If we could work for 150 years, how much time would we spend figuring out what we're good at?

如果我們能再工作個 150 年，我們會花多少時間來找到自己的長處？

How much more time would we spend learning?

我們會花多少時間在學習上？

Would the intense feeling of pressure and stress many of us are feeling right now, go away or get worse?

現在我們大多數人所感受到生活壓力的緊張感是會消失還是變得更糟？

So asking again, if you could choose how long to live right now, in good health and with your friends and family, what's your personal answer?

所以再問一次，如果你現在可以決定你要健康地活多久，和親人朋友們一起生活，你自己的答案會是什麼？

What would you like your future to look like?

你想要的未來是什麼樣子？

But maybe you're still unconvinced.

但也許你還沒有被說服。

Some nagging feeling remains.

某些不得安寧的感覺還縈繞不去。

That is the Reaper whispering into your brain.

那是死神在你腦中的耳語。

Watch my video to hear what he says, and why you shouldn't listen.

來看我的另一部影片聽聽他說了些什麼，以及為何你不該聽他的。

Your eternal future may depend on it.

你的永恆未來可能就靠它了。

Go watch the other part over at CGP Grey's channel, and if you're not already subscribed, subscribe.

請到 CGP Gray 頻道觀看其他影片，如果你還沒訂閱本頻道，快訂閱吧！