Wednesday, June 9, 2021
In Greek myth, Tithonos, prince of Troy, had an enviable life for a while. He was taken as the lover of Eos, goddess of the dawn. Things we going so well that Eos begged Zeus to grant immortality to Tithonos. And Zeus did – with a catch. Eos forgot to ask for eternal youth, so Tithonos lived forever, but was condemned, like the rest of us, to continually waste away, getting older and less functional with each year.
Our own society is obsessed with retaining youth as long as possible. Chemical, biological, and mechanical technologies abound to make us seem younger longer. Even some electronic technologies have entered this market. But the designers of digital tech could make an enormous difference in our lives by working to facilitate and improve our most advanced years, rather than pretend that we can just leap from youth to immortality.
Residents in Alameda, San Leandro, and part of Oakland have started early voting in the June 29 special primary election for the 18th Assembly District seat.