Finding the chase and cutting to it

but what is the cost?

The modern world is wonderful.  Washing my clothes takes just 20 minutes of my time and all in the comfort of my own home.  The modern washing machine has more computing power than the first super computers and more powerful motors than the first cars.  The average washing machine, with proper maintenance and care, last a good 15-20 years.

Fixing a washing machine is a skilled job and mostly done by replacing failed parts.  Even the most complete rebuild barely takes a day.  Just like the economy, there are no quick fixes.

Electric washing machines have evolved greatly since the first ones appeared in the early 20th Century and have enabled not only our cleanliness to be greatly improved but also a high standard of living to be enjoyed by all for relatively little money.

Why the talk of washing machines?

However complex a modern washing machine is, it can be fix for very little.  If you lack the practice, it is time consuming, but not difficult to get one of the most ignored machines in the house going again.

Mammals, not just humans, are infinitely more complex.  Yet many expect our doctors to be adept mechanics able to fix anything.

Using a wide range of chemicals, not to mention the basic fact we are all now well fed and clean.  This makes our survival to old age extremely likely, even if we do have an infection.

Ah, but that’s thanks to penicillin, surely.  Well, yes, but if you’re body isn’t healthy, antibiotics don’t work that well.  Very basically, they work by infecting your body with a second infection which combats the first.  You have to be strong for that to work well!

Resistance is futile

Then there are the super bugs: those that can fight antibiotics and their kin.  I am not a pharmacologist but I wonder if bugs like MRSA and VRSA were always waiting to evolve.  Maybe widespread antibiotic use helped to speed that process along, but what was the likely hood of that existing at some point any way?

So what?  You’re pointing out the obvious….

I ramble, apologies!  Life evolves even machines and systems evolve.  Since 18th Century, the world has seen enormous changes in the way we live and even the quality of air we breathe (and since the clean air act, 1956, in the UK preventing soot and noxious gases being produced in huge quantities, our air is pretty good), the food we eat, the water we drink.

The way we do business also needs to evolve.  My concern, during the on-going recession is that we chuck out the baby with the water in terms of education, medicine (and I mean that as opposed to health – research is risky and time consuming, being able to have a safety net to ensure research can thrive is important) and social welfare.

We are realising that people still die of old age, regardless of when that is and that, all bar a few conditions, old age is relatively short in the article Can the power of thought keep you young?, Dr Ellen Langer shows that basic health means you can do more, including work, as you age.  The pace may need to slow down, but there’s no reason not to have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 10th career as you get older.

Old age, and our perceptions of it, need to evolve along with everything else.  But if that’s the case, do we need to examine our reproductive strategies and consumption, from everything from food and land as well as fuel consumption, at the same time.  The Earth has limited resources.