Longevity is long life or existence. Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the basic shortness of human life and included thinking about, and conceiving, methods to extend life (indefinitely). Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientific community but also for writers of travelscience fiction and utopian novels.
Different people have different lifestyles. But it appears that it matters most where in the world (rather than how) you live. Health care and hygiene seem to influence life expectancy more than any other factor (from the CIA World Fact Book):
First World: 77-81 years
Second World: 65-77 years
Third World: 35-60 years
Even habits such as smoking do not seem to have a major influence: Japan, a country with a high rate of tobacco consumption, has the highest life expectancy in the world (80.91 years, CIA Fact Book 2002). Hong Kong, a dense 7 million people city with constant stress, follows Japan closely (79.8 years, CIA Fact Book 2002).
Food and lifestyle make rather a small difference (all from
CIA World Fact Book 2002):
It is believed by some anti-aging proponents that life expectancy in First World countries will have risen to 100 years by 2030, and to 120 years by 2060. However, the mainstream view (such as the US Census Bureau) is that life expectancy will be in the mid-80s by the year 2050 (up from 77 today) and top out eventually in the low 90s, barring major scientific advances that can change the rate of human aging itself, as opposed to merely treating the effects of aging as is done today.
