Pro-aging trance

Pro-aging trance, also known as pro-aging edifice,[1] is a term coined by British author and biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey to describe the broadly positive and fatalistic attitude toward aging in society.

Overview

According to de Grey, the pro-aging trance is a phenomenon in which many people gloss over aging and age-related death through irrational thought patterns. One possible explanation is that the thought of one's own body slowly but ceaselessly deteriorating is so burdensome that it seems most sensible from a psychological point of view to persist in the position that aging is a necessary process and nothing negative or even positive until there is a realistic chance of being able to seriously do something about it.[2][3] It is striking that, in defending their point of view, those affected often commit logical fallacies which, from experience, would not be expected of them in a different context.[4] From a cognitive-psychological point of view, the pro-aging trance is therefore a form of self-deception.

Pro-aging consists both in the belief that the aging process is inevitable and will not be prevented by future developments, and in the view that any victory over aging would have mainly negative consequences. Examples cited include boredom, unresolved problems regarding current pension systems, and dictators living forever,[5] but there is no juxtaposition or weighing of these potential disadvantages with the benefits of eliminating aging (such as saving about 100,000 lives per day).

De Grey assumes that robust rejuvenation of mice in the laboratory will provide a paradigm shift in society in this regard.[6]

Issues

The pro-aging attitude is problematic because it takes time for people to break out of it and the development of comprehensive anti-aging therapies is delayed if there is no political and public acceptance of these therapies.[7] Low research funding is one of the most significant aspects of this.[8]

Furthermore, aging is not socially perceived as a disease to be fought,[6][8] which is why it is more difficult to get support for fighting it than for fighting cancer, Alzheimer's disease, or similar diseases. De Grey sees the reason for this in the rhetoric of many gerontologists during the 1950s, -60s, and -70s, who usually drew a line in public communication between age-related diseases and aging itself, even though the former were merely late stages of aging and therefore should not be viewed independently of the aging process.[9]

See also

Literature
  • de Grey, Aubrey (2006). "Strategie per un invecchiamento transcurabile ingegnerizzato (Modest and dramatic human life extension: the how and the why; in English, translated from Italian by Bruna Tortorella)". In Donghi P (ed.). Alterando il destino dell’umanità (PDF). Rome: Laterza & Figli. pp. 49–63. ISBN 8842080489.
  • Klein, Julia M. (January 25, 2008). "Forever Young". Obit Magazine. Retrieved April 4, 2009.

References
  1. de Grey, Aubrey (February 2009). "Cracks in Social Gerontology's Pro-Aging Edifice". Rejuvenation Research. 12 (1): 1–2. doi:10.1089/rej.2009.0841. PMID 19236163.
  2. Love, Dylan (2018-09-19). "Aubrey de Grey is working to cure aging whether you like it or not". TNW | Contributors. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  3. Corbyn, Zoë (2015-01-11). "Live forever: Scientists say they'll extend life 'well beyond 120'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  4. Bagalà, Nicola (2018-10-26). "Emerging From the Trance | Lifespan.io". www.lifespan.io. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  5. Aubrey, de Grey. "A roadmap to end aging". TEDGlobal 2005.
  6. "Aubrey de Grey on Progress and Timescales in Rejuvenation Research". Fight Aging!. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  7. Wray, Britt. "The ambitious quest to cure ageing like a disease". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  8. Peikoff, Kira (2018-01-31). "Anti-Aging Pioneer Aubrey de Grey: "People in Middle Age Now Have a Fair Chance"". leaps.org. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  9. de Grey, Aubrey; Rae, Michael (2007). Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs that Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-36706-0. OCLC 132583222.
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