By Theodore Dalrymple, the pen name of Anthony Daniels, a British physician and contributing editor of City Journal. At the end of the second millennium, we take medical progress for granted.
More research equals more knowledge equals better health.
And we assume, almost as if it were a human right, that an increase in life expectancy is part of the natural order of things. We are not entirely wrong in our assumption, at least in relation to the future. A combination of changes in lifestyle and improved medical care probably accounts for this. Our lives will almost certainly continue to become longer and healthier yet. But when we project our assumption of never-ending progress back into the past, we are mistaken.