The 104th Installment
Living at a Time when People Live to 100
by Shigeomi Koshimizu,
Professor, Master Program of Innovation for Design and Engineering
These are uncertain times, but there is one certainty. Lifespans will grow longer, and we will enter an age in which many Japanese live to 100 or more. This is the most certain change that will occur, and the one that will impact us most significantly. Yet many (including me!) are not ready for this monumental change to come. In light of this, I have made "thinking about the products and services needed for a time when people live to 100" the theme for this year's Project Based Learning (PBL). Every day I talk with my project members about what solutions might work. I hope everyone is looking forward to the PBL results presentation session in February next year.
In any event, when living to 100 becomes the norm (I never imagined that I would live to 100, myself), we will have no choice but to think about how to spend the second half of our lives. The first thing to mind might be the doubt that we can even be happy living that long. If all that happens is medicine moves forward, making it more difficult to die and simply expanding the average lifespan, then thanks but no thanks. If health is essential for a happy life, I want the healthy years to grow, as well. On the subject, I'd like to talk about an interesting article about our lifespans from the first book written by Kunihiko Takeda, who has become well known from his appearances on Fuji Television's Honmadekka!? TV.
He explains that there are three patterns that govern when our "death switch" is flipped—that is, when our time comes.
(1) Flipped based on laws surrounding a number of experiences
(2) Flipped in parents for the sake of their children
(3) Flipped when unable to contribute to others
In the case of (1), the idea is that the number of times our hearts will beat is predetermined, and our time is up when that number is reached. No doubt many of us have heard the seemingly plausible theory that those with faster heart rates die sooner than others.
In regard to (2), that parents die for the sake of their children, the book uses many examples involving organisms, such as the life of salmon. According to the book, giving birth and raising offspring is the greatest thing any organism does, which is why parents risk their lives to birth their offspring and then die after the offspring grow up. Parents essentially pass on the baton of life.
For humans, on the other hand, finishing raising offspring doesn't mean they die soon after. Their life afterwards is about as long as it was before they finished raising offspring. Perhaps it's important to think about people having a “first life” that comes to an end after they raise offspring and then having the courage to live out a "second life" as if they had been born again.
For (3), the switch being flipped when no longer contributing to others, is when people feel that contributing to society provides the meaning in their life, yet they no longer contribute. It's true that we lose sight of our reason for existence in our "second life" if we aren't contributing to society. We can feel no longer needed by people, become depressed, and simply age. It is not illness that takes us; the "death switch" gets flipped when we no longer have a reason to exist in society. On the flipside, doing something to contribute can give us zest for life, bring joy, make us healthy, and extend our lifespan. Maybe there is something we can learn from this about how to live in an age where people live to 100. Working to better myself so as to make a difference in the world is my focus.