Lichtenberg's Hourglass Question

Martin Bartels

21 July 2022

 

Sometime in the late 18th century, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg jotted down a question in one of his many notebooks, which remain a valuable and often amusing source of inspiration to this day:

"If man, after he had lived to be 100, could be turned over again, like an hourglass, and so grow younger again, always with the ordinary danger of dying; what would the world be like?"

Now, more than 200 years later, it dawns on us that his question was not absurd.

The Fountain of Youth was a legend, now it seems to come closer to reality.

Serious scientific research is directed towards interventions in the human organism that are intended to significantly prolong human life. Concepts such as "eternal life" or "infinity" are more easily coming into play. This may be understood as an invitation to metaphysical reflection, but that is not the goal here.

 

Tuning in

A recent article describes the disappointment of a lady who, many years before, had the benefit of "Fountain Therapy" to arrest her age. On the occasion of the upcoming video exchange with her 1,562 descendants to celebrate her 400th birthday, she has planned to end her life. And on this day she learns that she cannot currently get an appointment for taking that officially authorised “cocktail” which is the only way to stop the effect of the "therapy" and allow her to pass away. 

 

A few distinctions for clarification

When it comes to ageing therapies, we can distinguish between five cases:

1. Alleviation of the symptoms that burden the last years of life.

2. Bringing the ageing process to a halt.

3. Reversal of the ageing process.

4. The immortalisation of only the human brain, outside the body and with electronic means.

5. The creation of a purely virtual existence.

The aforementioned 400-year-old lady belongs to category 2. Lichtenberg had category 3 in mind. We will leave category 1 out of consideration because it is not critical, and also category 5, which is not on the agenda here.

 

Very short and very long lives

The life expectancies that nature determines for living organisms are highly variable. When making comparisons, we can only marvel. Here are a few examples:

• While the mayfly “Dolania americana” has a lifespan of only 5 minutes,

• the “Aldabra giant tortoise” lives over 150 years https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/aldabra-tortoise,

• the “bowhead whale” may live over 200 years,

• large colonies of the black coral Leiopathes glaberrima have been estimated to be over 2000 years old,

• a conifer Fitzroya cupressoides or “gran abuelo” , recently discovered in Chile, is about 5400 years old,

• the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii is deemed ‘immortal’, for it regenerates after its death.

 

Research

The progress of civilisations is largely due to the study of nature by scientists and the application of the knowledge gained from this research.. Humankind’s goal is thus to harness the laws of nature for their own practical advantages. Once one law is overcome, a new target is set. In developing the art of flight, for instance, Otto Lilienthal and the Wright brothers closely studied, challenged and ultimately used the physical laws of gravity. Today the aircraft industry is thriving.

Since scientists know that the life expectancy of every living being is biologically determined and extremely diverse, it is suggestive that they also look for possibilities to overcome that limitation. This this goes well beyond simply improving the chances of a longer and happier life, for example, through a healthy lifestyle.

The ambitious wider objective is to intervene in the hitherto unalterable "coding" of organic life. New research focuses on the understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that steer ageing and ultimately the recreation of youthful DNA in ageing people.

As a working hypothesis, scientists have started considering ageing as a curable illness. There has been a successful trial to restore the vision of ageing short-sighted mice to a youthful state. If this approach proves to be sound and extendible to other parts of the body, humanity will come closer to the old dream of the fountain of youth.

Which methodology will ultimately achieve the best results is an open question. However, we can now expect that in the foreseeable future researchers will manage to stop or even reverse ageing processes. The determination of the researchers and their financial backers strengthens the chances of success.

 

Is life extension desirable?

We know from experience that completed scientific developments with desirable goals will not usually end up on the shelf. Therefore, it makes sense to think about the implications now:

• Demography: The world's habitable areas are limited and are struggling to feed a population that is growing beyond 8 billion people. In the age pyramid, the proportion of old and no longer productive people is increasing. A general life extension would exacerbate the existing challenges. This would result in an additional economic burden on the productive younger generations.

• Social justice: Measures to prolong life will carry a price tag. This means that as long as the medical intervention is expensive, wealthier people are more likely to be able to afford it. Conflicts with the principle of equality are likely. Richer nations will find it easier to provide such medical resources to their citizens.

• Balance of mindsets, young and old: It is certain that a society in which the percentage of older people increases will tend towards more conservatism and less support of innovation. This will slow down technical progress and affect economic strength.

• Human nature: If it is possible to stop or even reverse physical ageing, this does not mean that it is also possible with mental processes. The prolonged exposure to technical or cultural changes in living conditions and the development of the mentality of younger generations puts pressure on ageing people even if they are willing to adapt. Such pressure affects the enjoyment of life.

• The commercial perspective: The prospect of artificially prolonging life is attracting prominent investors, and the term "extension industry" is in the air. Thus, medical advances may not be propelled by the principle of humanism, but by the attraction of a lucrative business. If life extension is viewed as a commercially viable service, the classic concepts of supply and demand come into play. It is not enough to assume that the market will determine a price for each year of life extension. Beyond that, the demand function will at some point lead to a maximum price and then fall again. This will answer the question of the desired length of life extension or reversal.

• Douglas Adams: One may find the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy funny, but there is also a lot of wisdom hidden in it:

“Infinity itself looks flat and uninteresting. Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity – distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless.”

 

Conclusion, if any

There are no compelling arguments that can be used to answer the question of whether the introduction of more or less powerful fountains of youth would be reasonable. But on reflection, perhaps a feeling creeps over you that Douglas Adams called "the long dark teatime of the soul".

 

 

 



The stumbling block

The issue of immigration is stirring up emotions all over Europe, but in order to consider the appropriate rational response, we need to first distinguish between the different forms of migrations. In fact, only one of the four categories of immigration distinguished below is to be classified as a challenge:

 

  1. Migration of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI)

Let's start with the probably smallest group of migrants, which is also the least debated: very wealthy people who are able to move from one country to another with ease. Members of this group seldom encounter rejection and in some cases are actively sought after by countries.


HNWI can weigh up their motives and choose their targets according to their criteria. These include, for example,

  • security for personal life and wealth
  • personal freedom
  • quality of life
  • quality of the healthcare system
  • landscape or climatic preferences
  • tax rates
  • family ties
  • cultural affinity
  • language
  • quality of schools and universities.


Protection of wealth is frequently a major motivation for migration among the super wealthy and countries with low or no income tax are popular in this regard. On the other hand, while certain countries encourage HNWI to migrate to them, the benefits are not always as great as they might expect, especially when the migrant’s assets do not always accompany them to the country they are settling in. Furthermore, with laws that say an individual faces taxation if they spend more than 182 days in a country, those wishing to avoid this, simply rotate through different countries each year thus avoiding paying any income tax at all.


The number of migrants from this group is increasing, and the countries concerned are well known.

This group of migrants does not pose major challenges to European states. 


 2. Migration within the European Union: everyone with an EU passport

Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union guarantee the freedom of every EU citizen to take up a job in any other state of the Union and to settle there with their family. This freedom of choice is a cornerstone of the European Union. It has led to significant migratory movements, which, due to the enlargement of the Union into Central Europe, have been accelerating gradually since the 1990s. In most cases, families put down roots in their new place of residence and do not move back to their countries of origin, although they maintain ties there.

The disadvantage of this migration is that citizens whose education took place at the expense of their home states now move to member states with higher wage levels and better career prospects, in effect creating what is known as an internal ‘brain drain’ scenario, where talented workers move out of the country of origin, depleting the national workforce. The receiving states thus strengthen their national economies at almost zero cost to them and at the expense of domestic countries responsible for their education and socialization.

These implications were clear from the outset, but the net benefits from a large economic area with free movement of people, capital and goods outweigh the drawbacks. Free movement has had a predominantly positive impact on the prosperity of citizens. Changing this structure and enacting new restrictions on internal migration would have a negative impact on the powerful new industrial structures that have emerged over the years.

Traditionalists should be very careful when they argue against free migration within the Union as there is a long-standing practice of it within the continent. The last two centuries have seen massive migrations within the area that now makes up the European Union: the countries of origin were mainly Italy, Poland and Greece. These movements are themselves a valuable component of European identity and increased wealth.


 

 3. Migration from outside the European Union: skilled labour

While the world population is still increasing, a simultaneous decline in birth rates has been evident worldwide for many years. The trend is more pronounced in Europe, where population numbers are increasingly moving towards shrinkage.

European economies today face an irreversibly negative trend with an average in the area of 1.5 births by women  combined with an increasing shortage of skilled labour. The labour bottleneck is particularly severe in the areas of construction, healthcare, science, information and communications technology, engineering and mathematics. For Europe, the scarcity of skilled human resources reduces the economic strength of a continent that has few natural resources and is compelled to rely on competitive industries to prevent its decline.

Clearly it is not possible to fill the gaps in the labour market out of the continent's existing population. This would not change even if Europeans could be persuaded to sharply increase the current birth rate. In that unlikely case it would take at least two decades for a generation to become visible in the labour market.

Many industrial processes and services can be designed through additional automation in such a way that even fewer human resources are needed than now. This may mitigate the bottleneck somewhat, but would not eliminate it.

If there is no quick turnaround, Europe’s economies will inevitably enter a shrinking process.

The only possible countermeasure is to enter the global competition and attract talent for the known gaps in the labour market. This has been crystal clear for a long time, but fear of traditionalist and conservative voters’ sensitivities has led to most governments to only address the issue in the abstract and try to cook the necessary debates on a low flame. Slogans like "We are not a country of immigration" earn significantly more public applause in Europe than "We urgently need lots of immigrants". Yet everyone knows from their own experience that when a tooth hurts, it is better to go straight to the dentist. Postponing the treatment makes the pain worse.

Nevertheless, increasingly fierce competition at the international level has developed to bring as much talent as possible into the countries. In the process, even industrialised countries are taking skilled workers and students away from each other. The expression "skills wars are the new trade wars" is not an exaggeration.

The fight for human talents is not much different from the struggle for other scarce resources such as raw materials or technical components. The difference is that the competition for material things is rarely a source of cultural friction. Imported goods and commodities don’t arouse sensitivities among traditionalist voters. When it comes to human migration however, public decision makers tend to tread more cautiously and thus do not give the issue the visibility which corresponds to its actual relevance.

The Europeans are now operating a "Blue Card" system, which allows people from outside the Union to take jobs offered to them and apply for nationality after five years. This is a relatively arduous path for applicants. The “Blue Card” approach is less attractive than the more successful American "Green Card" system in which holders are granted permanent residency from the outset, and after five years they can apply for US citizenship.

Under the present circumstances the winners in the competition for talent are likely to be those countries that have a tradition of continuous immigration, have a long history of selective immigration and have the lowest bureaucratic barriers for immigrants who fit into their labour markets. These would be, for example, Canada, the USA and Australia.

 


 

 4. Migration from outside the European Union: refugees, skilled or unskilled


The right to be granted asylum is not only enshrined in national constitutions and laws, it is also based on:

The right to asylum protects people irrespective of their origin who are exposed to political, racial or religious persecution in their home country. These rules, born out of painful historical experiences that includes the societies of Europe itself, are more than set in stone. All European national states are firmly bound by them. Debates about their abolition are as pointless as those about the abolition of gravity. Yet they are common.

The legal criteria do not extend to refugees who seek to migrate to another country for economic or climatic reasons and who are therefore unlikely to be regarded as refugees from a legal perspective. In order not to be classified unfavourably, refugees may exaggerate or embellish stories of persecution in their country of origin. It is difficult for the authorities of the receiving countries to properly verify the truth of such statements.

The examination procedures are complicated and take a long time. Even if an application is rejected, expulsion to the country of origin tends to be the exception. Suffice it to say that the length of procedures creates new social realities as applicants more or less take root, children are born and are shaped by the national school system.

 


Growing influx of refugees


The number of refugees is considerable and on average it has been increasing strongly over the years. According to Eurostat's findings, the number of asylum seekers in the Union in 2022 was 881,220 persons, up by 64% compared with 2021. Once individuals have been recognised as eligible for asylum, a second wave of immigration begins when family members are allowed to join them.

Some member states of the Union pursue a restrictive policy by enforcing the legal requirements very strictly or selectively, or even by infringing them. This leads to greater refugee flows to those countries that comply more closely with the rules.

As the authorities of the countries with the highest numbers of refugees become increasingly overloaded with examination procedures, processing times are getting longer. The accommodation of asylum seekers in camps is pushing municipal administrations to the limits of their capacity.

Xenophobic currents in the public debate are gaining support. Surprisingly, part of the growing opposition consists of former refugees and their descendants born or raised in the country who have obtained citizenship and successfully achieved social status in their new homeland.


 

Counterproductive impulses


When frightened or even traumatised people from a different cultural background enter a European country for the first time, their first impressions have a powerful influence on how they think and feel. In the case of many refugees, their first experiences are often crowded refugee camps, questioning, long waiting times, further questioning, etc. Bureaucracy weighs them down, and there is no end in sight.

While they are in limbo for a long time, the idea that dealing with bureaucracy is the way to a better life is imprinted in the immigrants' minds. This puts people on the wrong mental tracks and impairs their chances to settle in an industrial society. While they may become adept at filling out forms, they are missing essential cultural impulses and opportunities to learn and improve on valuable skillsets for an industrial economy.

 

The material interests of the immigration countries

If the member states want to maintain their prosperity, a proper discussion on immigration would mean that all four categories need to be considered.


The first two categories (HNWIs and citizens of other EU countries) do not pose major problems.

The third category ("Blue Card programme") is presently far too small. So a more thorough approach is needed.

This thorough approach could involve giving priority to pre-skilled immigrants from outside the European Union. Labour offices and companies know exactly which human resources are needed. This can be done with low bureaucratic barriers, high-quality language courses to introduce immigrants to the national mentality, help in finding accommodation and schools for children, advice on access to banks and tax advisors, and perhaps even tax holidays for a few years. The threshold before obtaining citizenship should be low for people who prove to be valuable contributors. Employers can be involved in the process of accelerating integration as they themselves have a legitimate interest of their own and will be supportive.

The approach to dealing with the fourth category (asylum seekers) can be to abandon the illusory goal of carefully assessing at the outset whether an asylum seeker has a legal right to stay. Any person whose identity has been verified, who has not already applied for asylum in another member state of the Union and against whom there are no security concerns, should immediately be offered a language course and a first job determined by the labour authorities. This is inconvenient for the applicants, but it provides them with a primary orientation and momentum. It is also more beneficial to their human dignity than the endless dependency on bureaucratic processes. If they prove themselves within a year, for example, they should be given a residence permit and the right to choose a job. This would also give a chance to people who would not be entitled to asylum but who fit into the labour market.

Formal procedures for asylum applications would be resumed only for applicants who cannot be integrated into the country's labour market. Applicants who do not meet the criteria for asylum should be included. Delinquent applicants should be excluded.

For the labour market, the reason for entering the country is not relevant. What counts is a committed and reliable workforce. So the primary responsibility here should lie with labour ministries and administration, while the overburdened immigration authorities are given some air to breathe.

War-disabled, traumatised and seriously ill people should continue to be given special protection and attention. Unfortunately, their number is not small.


Canada, a country with not quite 39 million inhabitants, is an example of a country that derives and updates its demographic needs very accurately from the labour market. There are numerous national and regional programmes that make it easy for needed immigrants to quickly gain a foothold in the country. And the country additionally uses the pool of asylum seekers to enrich the labour market.

“ . . . the Government of Canada is maintaining its target of 485,000 permanent residents for 2024 and completing the final step to reach 500,000 in 2025. Starting in 2026, the government will stabilize permanent resident levels at 500,000, allowing time for successful integration, while continuing to augment Canada’s labour market.”

 

Conclusion


The demographic gap in European countries is a well-documented fact. The EU's population is ageing and shrinking, and there are not enough people to replace the working population.

This demographic contraction will lead to a decline in economic performance and prosperity. The only way to avoid this is through well-managed immigration.

Traditionalists and xenophobes are against immigration, but they have no realistic solutions to the demographic gap. If we give in to them, we will condemn our economies to decline.

To develop a successful immigration programme, we should look to countries with a long history of immigration . These countries have shown that it is possible to manage immigration in a way that benefits both the host country and the immigrants.






Authorship disclosure:

Fully human generated