Or the hundred thousand people who died from aging in the past 24 hours: was it good for them as individuals? How about their families and companions?
In short, I don't think you've thought your position through particularly carefully.
Can you imagine being a part of the younger generation when immortality is discovered or extended longevity? Would jobs ever open up, or promotions be available? Nobody will retire at the top, so there will be extremely little turnover. How can the young hope to surpass the old if the old hold all the keys and never let go?
Sure, aging is scary, but have you really thought through all the implications of curing it? Heck, have you even thought about why it exists in the first place? There are many cancer lines that never age, so why haven't organisms evolved that never get old? If you have an answer, I'd love to hear it.
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/03/we-age-because-th...
And the fundamental mechanisms of aging got their start in single celled life, very early on.
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2005/02/aubrey-de-grey-5....
None of which is a good reason for suffering aging when we could do something about it: it's just the mechanistic explanation for what is.
Octogenarians wasting away in nursing homes unable to feed themselves or remember their children is the polar opposite of "beautiful".
Let me put it this way: Octocentarians clinging to life and hoarding resources to themselves would be a tremendously ugly thing in my eyes.
Curse those doctors and cancer researchers.
hoarding resources to themselves
The economy is not zero-sum. If we cure aging, 80 year olds will be producing goods and services of value rather than living off welfare.
However, I think even a few small changes to mental capacity or an extension of life expectancy beyond 2-3x will make the recipients something other than human. Our brains have many quirks that limit our ability to reason, understand, or act rationally, but those quirks are essential to our humanity and our ability to love. I think for this reason alone, few will elect to have very drastic changes made to their minds or their lives.
