Extra Time: 10 Lessons for an Ageing Society - How to Live Longer and Live Better. Camilla Cavendish

      

Copyright

      HarperCollinsPublishers

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      First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      FIRST EDITION

      Text © Camilla Cavendish 2019

      Illustrations © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      Cover design by Steve Leard © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      Camilla Cavendish asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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      Source ISBN: 9780008295158

      Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008295189

      Version 2019-04-25

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

       The New World of Extra Time

1 The Death of Birth

       Demography tips the balance of power

2 Younger Than You Thought

       The stages of life are changing

3 Just Do It

       If exercise and diet was a pill, we’d all be taking it

       4 No Desire to Retire

       Don’t give up the day job

       5 New Neurons

       Old brains can learn new tricks – and they must, to keep in shape

       6 In the Genes

       Immortality isn’t here yet, but anti-ageing drugs are on the way

       7 Out of the Ghetto

       Everyone needs a neighbourhood

       8 Health Revolution

       Robots care for you, humans care about you

       9 Finding Ikigai

       Purpose Is Vital

       10 Generation Hexed

       We need a new social contract

       Epilogue

       A Different, Better World

       Endnotes

       Further Reading

       Acknowledgements

       List of Searchable Terms

       About the Publisher

Dedication

       In memory of Richard Cavendish,

       1930–2016

Introduction

       The New World of Extra Time

      IN 2018, A DUTCHMAN began a court battle to make himself legally 20 years younger. Emile Ratelband, 69, told a court in Arnhem in the Netherlands that he did not feel ‘comfortable’ with his official chronological age, which did not reflect his emotional state – and was preventing him from finding work, or love online. He wanted to change his date of birth from 11 March 1949 to 11 March 1969.

      Doctors had told him that his body was that of a 45-year-old, Ratelband argued. ‘When I’m 69,’ he said, ‘I am limited. If I’m 49, I can take up more work. When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I’m outdated.’ His friends had urged him to lie, he claimed, but ‘if you lie, you have to remember everything you say’.

      Ratelband compared his quest to be identified as younger with that of people who wish to be identified as transgender – implying that age should be fluid. He said