Postsurvival economics.

Until now all economic systems have dealt with survival. How to pro­vide for people's basic needs: food—shelter—clothing.

The basics of all economics have not changed in hundreds of thou­sands of years. The economics of Neanderthals and the economics of a modern complex society are essentially the same. The details have grown more complex—but the basics are unchanged. How to provide for people's basic needs—survival needs.

Something unprecedented is happening in economics.

We are going beyond mere survival.

The new economics—the economics of the coming decades—deals not with survival. The new economics wants to insure our immortality.

Some of the fastest-growing areas in economics today (and certainly in the years ahead) are technologies and resources that directly or in­directly aim at the indefinite extension of each human life.

What are some of these glamor areas of modern economics? Molecular biology—bioengineering—biochips—prostheses—body re­construction—geriatrics and gerontology—life-extending products— medical technology—life support technology—life suspension.

Other areas of postsurvival economics: supercomputers—robots— androids—replicants—ultraintelligent systems—memory transfer and so on.

Some of these technologies are already multibillion-dollar industries. The others are on their way.

The new economics does not strive to keep people alive for a few decades. It aims to extend each life indefinitely.

Up-Wing economics is not content with cradle-to-grave protection. It wants to do away with the grave.

The new economics goes beyond mere survival.

What we have here is the beginnings of a twenty-first-century Eco­nomics of Immortality.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 775