My View: Life in the fast lane... time may be short but I like it that way

"Guys, I'm sorry, but I just can't read this. My eyes are getting worse and worse at the moment."

Despite wearing his glasses, which, honestly, have the same strength lenses as the Hubble telescope, I could see he was really struggling. So I pushed a candle across the table at him. After a few seconds of tilting the candle at different angles, he piped up once again.

"No, no. It's just not working. I really can't see a thing."

And with that he flagged down one of the waiters and asked for the lights to be turned on. Within seconds, the atmosphere was shattered. What had been a room oozing with character and ambience was now a room so intensely lit that I had to put on

my sunglasses.

"It's just my age. It's horrible getting old, you know. Everything starts to break," said father.

And that got me thinking. Do I want to get old? Do I want to watch and feel as my body and my mind dribble into senility? And what if my generation is given the chance to live forever? Would I want that? This, strangely, isn't as far fetched as it sounds.

Advances in science and medicine are resulting in breakthroughs in the cure for life. In fact, it is not unreasonable to expect something in the next 50 years to massively change the way we live and die.

So would I want an unlimited life span? That would depend on the body I would inhabit as a 323-year-old. If it were the body I have now – an active, youthful, 20-year-old, then maybe so. If it were the body I would have in 70 years' time – leathery, weak, slow and pained – then maybe not.

At the moment, I have my looks (subject to opinion), good health and energy. I have a strong desire to live, to see things and do things. But is that because I understand my life to be finite? Is it knowing there is so much I want to do but with so little time in which to do it that gives me my energy and youth and excitement?

I think so. Removing the certainty of death would remove the urgency of life. Life is time – days, months, weeks, and years. Without time, we would have no routine, no pattern to follow and no future to look forward to. What's more, you would never have a once-in-a-lifetime experience because there would always be the time to repeat it. Nothing would seem memorable.

Scientists may, indeed, be able to discover the way for long life, but I don't think they will be able to find the cure for age.

I would rather live fast and die young. Science may be very clever and very powerful, but given the choice, I'll take my chances with death.

Life is short, but I like it that way.