The Purpose of Technology
The purpose of technology is to lift people up, cure the deaf, restore sight, and extend life itself.
Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research, by Laura Deming
The purpose of technology is to lift people up, cure the deaf, restore sight, and extend life itself. So says Balaji Srinivasan, academic and entrepreneur, and he backs up this lofty vision with evidence:
Technology is beginning to cure the deaf. Loud sounds, infections, toxins, and aging can all cause hearing loss by damaging hair cells in the inner ear. Researchers stimulated hair cell renewal in adult guinea pigs, restoring some of the animals’ hearing. These promising early returns hold hope that one day, we’ll have a cure for deafness.
Technology might restore sight one day. Our brains acquire more than 80% of the information about our surroundings via our eyes. Real progress is being made on artificial vision systems that might one day restore sight.
Technology helps lift people up. Tech programs and innovations that help lift people up abound. Balaji shares one, the trailer from Super 30—a story about inspirational Indian mathematics educator Anand Kumar who dedicates his life to helping 30 kids at a time. Large and small, stories of technology lifting people up abound.
Technology is extending life. The impact of tech on longevity is astounding. In 1776, life expectancy for men was 34; in 2021, it topped 70 for men and 75 for women. 95,000 people reached the age of 100 in 1990; we’ll have almost four million centenarians by 2050 and our biological “hard limit” (excluding disease and disaster) is projected to be 150 years.
In her incredible article, Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research Laura Deming simultaneously inspires, baffles, and simplifies. Her Longevity Fund has funded five companies, all of which have longevity drugs in trial today. Here are a few examples of how longevity technology is helping us live longer:
The garbage disposal unit of the cell worsens with age, improving it might increase a healthy lifespan (autophagy)
Eating less, in a variety of ways, can make you live longer - but is your body just using the number of calories as a signal? (caloric restriction)
Young blood makes old mice healthier, but why? (parabiosis)
Growth and insulin signaling are linked to aging (Insulin/IGF)
A fraction of your cells get older than the others, so we'd like to eliminate them (senescence)
A surprising number of things can increase lifespan when only changed in the brain tissue (hypothalamus)
Removing the ability to reproduce can increase lifespan (reproductive system)
Mitochondrial mutations impact lifespan in counterintuitive ways (mitochondria)
Sirtuins can change DNA and increase lifespan (sirtuins)
Considering the wider view of the purpose of technology is a great way to start 2021.
For more exploration
Read about artificial vision systems in A biomimetic eye with a hemispherical perovskite nanowire array retina:
Learn about Laura Deming’s Longevity Fund, watch her 13-minute talk on longevity research:
Watch the Super 30 trailer here about Indian mathematics educator Anand Kumar.
