Speaking of concerns, I’m a bit concerned that the discussion about what might go wrong or how to prevent this or that hypothetical problem might draw attention away from another, possibly even more important question: Why do we strive to make rejuvenation a reality? There’s not much point in doing something if it doesn’t yield any benefits, especially if that something requires as much hard work as this cause does; so, what are the expected benefits of rejuvenation?

The benefits are many; some are obvious, and some are less so. The ones I’ll discuss in this article are the ones I see as obvious—tangible, immediate benefits for the people undergoing rejuvenation.

Whenever the topic of increasing human lifespan is discussed the concern is sometimes raised that a longer life would mean a life spent frail and decrepit. This is sometimes known as the Tithonus error and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the aims of rejuvenation biotechnology. The concern is based on the ancient Greek myth of Tithonus which might be thought of as a cautionary tale warning seekers of an eternal life of its alleged inherent dangers.