Living by Design

Technology and health 1. Where should we draw the line between treatment and enhancement? As technologies like gene editing, neural implants, and bioprinting advance, how do we distinguish between treating disease and fundamentally altering what it means to be human — and who gets to decide? 2. Will life-extension technologies widen or close the gap between rich and poor? If therapies that slow aging or reverse disease become available, will they be accessible to all, or will longevity become another privilege of the wealthy? What obligations do governments and corporations have to ensure equitable access? 3. How would dramatically longer lifespans reshape society? If people routinely lived to 150 or beyond, what would happen to retirement, inheritance, career paths, political power, and generational turnover? Would extended life enrich society or calcify it? 4. Does optimizing for a longer life risk sacrificing the quality of it? Technology can monitor our every heartbeat, calorie, and sleep cycle — but does constant health optimization create anxiety, reduce spontaneity, or turn living into a performance of self-management? At what point does the pursuit of more life diminish the experience of life itself? 5. Who bears moral responsibility when life-sustaining technology fails or is withdrawn? As AI-driven diagnostics, robotic surgery, and algorithmic care become standard, how do we assign accountability when something goes wrong? And how should society navigate the deeply personal decisions around end-of-life technology — who controls it, and when is enough enough?