Generation Alpha Does Not Want to 'Live Long'—The Real Question Posed by an Ageless Society

Humanity has finally reached the threshold where it can control 'aging'.

Embedding sensors in the brain to communicate intentions without moving the body.
Printing cells to create blood vessels and organs.
Removing senescent cells to extend the time spent living in good health.

These are no longer science fiction.
Technically, 'people living beyond 100 years' is beginning to become a reality.

So, how does Generation Alpha (born after 2010), who will live in that future, perceive longevity?

Interestingly, a survey by the Nikkei newspaper shows that 70% of Generation Alpha answered that '100 years old or less is fine'.
The generation that will be the first to live in an ageless society does not necessarily want to 'live longer'.

This sense of discomfort is the core of this article.



We adults tend to think this way:
Wouldn't we be happier if our lifespans were extended?

Certainly, if we live longer, the time we spend with family and the time available for research and creation will increase.
But Generation Alpha is more level-headed.

They already know.
That 'living a long life' and 'being able to live comfortably' are two different things.



Current social systems are designed on the premise that lifespans are short.

・Education is for the young
・Working is for those in their 20s to 60s
・Life after retirement is for the remainder of one's days

The pension system was also created in an era when the average life expectancy was in the 60s.

If it becomes common for people to live to 90 or 100 while remaining healthy, this design will not hold up.
The longer our lifespans, the more it becomes a society where you cannot survive unless you keep working.

It is possible that 'longevity' will not be a 'blessing',
but rather an 'endurance test'.

Generation Alpha may instinctively sense this.



The real problem of an ageless society is not medicine or technology.

The problem is that the premises of life remain outdated.

Learn once, work once, retire once.
This linear life model cannot withstand a life of over 100 years.

What is needed is a life where one learns many times, changes roles many times, sometimes stops, and sometimes goes back.
The very concept of 'retirement' may disappear.
There is research suggesting that for every year of healthy life expectancy added, GDP increases by 4-5%.

Health is no longer just individual happiness; it is becoming the nation's productivity itself.



But even so, the question remains.
Why do people live so long?

How do we affirm time that has no utility?

How do we give meaning to a life where the end is pushed further away?
Generation Alpha will be the first generation to live in an 'ageless society'.
However, it is we adults, who have not yet become ageless, who are designing that society.



What this article is asking is not,
'Can humanity become ageless?'

It is the question: 'Can we prepare a society where people can remain happy even after becoming ageless?'
Technology will advance. Almost certainly.

But what determines the future is not technology, but philosophy and systems.
The shortness of our imagination is far more dangerous

than the length of Generation Alpha's life.
※ This article was written as a personal reflection based on the content of a member-only article from the Nikkei newspaper.