100 Plus

By Sonia Arrison

Basic Books

Published in 2011

Reviewed by Wanda J Stapleton

The author, futurist Sonia Arrison, is a Technology Analyst at the Pacific Research Institute in Silicon Valley. Her thoroughly researched book, 100 Plus, documents how and why we will all soon get the chance to live much longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. In fact, she says that the first person to live to 150 years has probably already been born.

During the Cro-Magnon era (roughly 33,000 BC) life expectancy, she says, was only 18 years. In America today, life expectancy is 80 years --- going up because of life-extending discoveries made possible by cutting-edge advances in science and technology. So, in the future, living past 100 will be the rule, not the exception.

I’ll bet we all know persons today who are age 100 or close to it. My sister-in-law in Texas is 104 years old. Some of the volunteers at a Medical Center, where I volunteer, are in their 90s. One is almost 100, and they’re all still working.

LIFE-EXTENDING DISCOVERIES

Improving health and extending life are now common by use of surgery, gene therapy, antibiotics, vaccines, vitamins and many medicines --- medicines now mass produced and inexpensive. For one example, the drug which beat malaria, a disease which once “killed more than one million people per year in poorer regions of the world.”

Speaking of surgery, we probably all know someone who has had a massive heart attack and had up to six bypasses in their heart --- bypasses made possible by stripping veins from the legs and using them for bypasses in the heart. My daughter just had that done, six bypasses. Modern medicine is truly a miracle which saved and extended her life.

Another medical breakthrough to combat heart disease is explained by former Vice President Dick Cheney. In his recently released a book titled Heart he gives details about the heart transplant he received last year (2012).

Cheney got his heart from a human donor, but the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Winston-Salem, NC) NC is creating replacement body parts. This Institute reports that “our scientists were the first in the world to successfully implant a laboratory-grown organ into humans.” Growing new hearts, livers, breast tissue, bone, and bladders are some of the many projects being spearheaded by Wake Forest Institute.

POPULATION DECLINE

Surprisingly, living longer doesn’t mean a population explosion because couples are having fewer children. Many couples have fewer than two children, thus are not even replacing themselves.

One reason might be the availability of contraceptives. In fact, contraceptives are free for those who will get health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Also, children are expensive and no longer an economic benefit, which they were when labor was needed on the family farm.

100 PLUS

In conclusion, Sonia Arrison has persuasively argued and elegantly written an important book for our time.

An excellent overview of what extreme longevity means, the direction it may take, and the questions we could find ourselves asking. Well-written, insightful and fun. It covers current research and discussions, makes logical projections, and then paints a canvas of possibilities in a whole new world.

WOW! Thank you Sonia Arrison for writing this book! When it arrived my wife saw the cover and started to read the amazing Foreword by Peter Thiel and was super interested. We then proceeded to read it together each night and discussed the topics covered in each chapter. With all the craziness of daily life (child, work, etc) it was an amazing chance for us to read, discuss and bond. What we appreciated the most about it was how thoroughly it was researched and then communicated in writing style that was easy to read. All the amazing stories, historical references and inspiring ideas about the future had us excited for each page. It is pretty clear that we are all going to live longer than the generations before us. Its about time that we start having an open discussion about the implications having millions of people who are living beyond 100 years old. The author poses a number of great questions to think about. Some that we particularly resonated with us is "What would you want to study if you were able to live to 150 years old? How would your career choices change?" Are you doing everything you can today (nutrition, exercise, relationships, passion) to ensure that you will be happy healthy when you turn 130? I just wish she would create an Audible Audio Edition! : Keith & Michiko

The best thing about 100+ is that it documents the increases in healthy longevity that are already happening right now. Refreshingly, it treats widely held cultural and religious values with legitimate respect, without resorting to the typical elitist/dismissive tone others have taken. 100+ carefully covers new ground on topics that I've not seen covered in detail before - such as how longevity will affect the future of childbearing and the family - based on little known trends and science happening right now. This book is also the best survey of the field of life extension to date, giving useful and actionable insights on such topics as population growth, the environment, economics, medical trials and advances in biotech without burdening the reader with red-herring issues like immortality or demonizing the "opposition".

The book is an easy and compelling read and even though I've read extensively on the subject, each page of 100+ offers up new facts with real value - no filler or arm waving here! Highly recommended.

David Gobel

CEO

Methuselah Foundation

This book is very comprehensive about considering everything associated with radical (or modest) life extension. The author walks us through early civilization's struggle with understanding and curtailing aging. The author looks at contemporary research success stories and promising roadmaps for understanding and arresting (if not reversing) the effects of aging in human beings. The coverage of research topics are accessible to casual readers having no special backgrounds. The author considers implications of a long-lived society from family dynamics , religion, ,economics, employment and other crucial touch points in our social fabric. I'll admit that I wanted more of a dive into the most promising research areas. This book is a good gateway into further more focused reading into those topics. Now that we are CLEARLY living in a time of rapid technological advancement with artificial intelligence and other machine learning methods (review is occurring after GPT-4 has been released for almost a year) , I really expect some serious breakthroughs within ten years - for all our sake :-). Death does not have to be a biological certainty. It would almost be criminal to not tackle aging like a treatable condition when we have (or gaining) the scientific countermeasures to address it boldly with conviction. We got this!

This is an incredibly fascinating and surprising book. Sonia is very skilled writer who is able to describe complicated scientific innovations in a way that is easy to understand. The book contextualizes the implications of these innovations by discussing their social, ethical, political and religious affects on our society. Backed by statistical analysis, I often found myself very surprised about the conclusions she was able to draw. It offers a lot of "food for thought" and an amazing outlook at what our future may hold as medical science advances. I have already recommended this book to several friends and family members and all of them have been as intrigued by it as I was.

100+ reviews what is happening in genetics, in replacement surgery and general health care and then goes on to discuss what these added years will have on government finances, personal finances, work place situations and what multi generational families will have together. It neither portrays a bleak picture nor a utopian future for the prospects of greater longevity. The book was interesting but not enlightening.

100 Plus strikes a great balance between the research and depth that policy wonks enjoy, and the compelling stories that draw everyday readers in. Arrison is thoughtful and comprehensive in her discussion of longer human lifespans, and the impact they will have in our world. No stone is left unturned as the author contemplates the economic, environmental and even religious repercussions for people living longer, fuller lives. The importance and relevance of longevity research to the human race will only grow over time, which makes this book all the more a recommended primer on the topic. 100 Plus is lively, literate, and fun to read - and I am sharing it with family and friends.

A very good book on aging. Excellent.

Informative and up to date information backed by a lot of scientific data. Good read for anyone looking into the new world :)