Another study. This one piles on top of the viewing average of TV audience (5 hours a day).
It shows shorter lives for those who watched too much TV.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100111/sc_livescience/couchpotatoesmayhaveshorterlives
Yet other studies show that we have a much longer life span than counterparts in 1900 (average 47).
So which version will hold the water? If we abstained from watching too much TV (Jay Leno pulled), than we could expect to break the 100 mark?
Or does it mean we will be watching TV in an assisted-living facility, while the Ibot doing the clean up (quiet please, I am watching. could you switch to Silent while cleaning?).
Either way, we will end up reading Kindle or Sony Reader in large “print”, or better off, since Singularity is near, have the Ibot do the reading of the Audio books for us, while cycling (they invented a cycle for two, with Robot in the back doing the pedaling).
Currently, in cyber sphere, we jealously guard our time and attention. Yet, the trajectory of a longer life span, and more bio-tech discoveries might challenge this Malthusian assumption about time shortage. We might end up with time abundance (with speedier broadband transmission, we will have finished downloading the WSJ before we come back from our bathroom break). No wonder Target is selling Dry-clean equipment, bread-making machine, Espresso machine, juice maker etc… trying to “insource” everything (while selling us the equipment manufactured offshored with outsourcing labor).
I envision a living arrangement at “the speed of thought” where we won’t see a real human being for weeks on end: pre-programmed alarm clock, espresso machine, bread baker, slow cooker, pre-recorded TV shows, e-mail alert, etc.. you got the gist. Magazines have titles such as “We – machines and women – did it”. Can you imagine Modern Times,
with Chaplin leaning out the window to milk the on-cue-just-walk-up cow, and pick the low-hanging grapes for fun!
Birthday, holiday E-cards all preset. No occasion for interfacing (or face-to-facing) with any walking human being.
Thanks to the Health Care legislation we can stay around a little bit longer to keep our Ibot in company.
Maybe we will buy “it” a Snuggie too (one for me, one for you, one for puppy).
After all, it’s an “Alone together” world we will be living in. No video phone or talking back. Just one-way couch talks by couch potatoes who occasionally while in pain, wish the above study come through for them so they can finally have a face-to-face with our Maker (Centennial Man).
I choose to watch (even it might shorten my life span) so I can strike a conversation at workplace water coolers. Unfortunately, it’s been a telecommuting arrangement. No wonder people start talking about the weather on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Lonely planet indeed.
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Thang Nguyen 555 