Questioning the Inevitability of Death
Forty years ago one of my regular Co-Counsellors was a microbiologist. To our delight, we discovered that we both suspected that total recovery was possible and therefore questioned the inevitability of death. We cheered when Harvey1 came up with2 the pamphlet Is Death Necessary?
Last week I came across this quote from the Professor of Health and Ageing at Newcastle University: “None of our genes are programmed for ageing. We are programmed for survival. Life expectancy has increased over two centuries at a steady pace—there is no ceiling, and currently it is increasing at the rate of five hours per day . . . . What leads to death is an accumulation of cellular defects, caused by factors such as stress, the environment, and poor nutrition, whose effects can be mitigated by a healthy lifestyle.” Now all we need to do is introduce the magic of discharge, and we have cracked3 it!
Jean Turner
Darlington, County Durham, England
1 Harvey Jackins
2 “Came up with” means wrote.
3 “Cracked” means solved.