That story contains all sorts of infantile ideas, for instance the idea that society chooses to sacrifice the elderly instead of the young.
If civilization had some choice in the matter they might well sacrifice the poor so the rich can live on. Sacrifice the weak so the strong can live on, etc.
Life extension is a realistic goal and I am all for it. But that story is full of ridiculous counterfactuals and it irks me that a bunch of dittoheads sit around and congratulate themselves for believing it.
It's a metaphor, the mapping will never be perfect. Nobody calls Aesop's sour grapes fable silly because real foxes don't eat grapes. Say the dragon demands elderly sacrifices instead of allowing a choice - problem solved. I'm sure you can find other flaws, but points like that are pulling at the fringes instead of engaging with the core concept.
If you're in favor of life extension, I don't understand why you're bitter about other people who support it. I admit it's a... fairly self-righteous community, but for projects like this the more traction the better.
If a metaphor has enough problems than it is not valuable.
Aesop's fables largely represent "conventional wisdom" and I think fables are effective at that because people aren't going to be inclined to tear them apart.
If you're trying to communicate something unconventional people are going to tear the argument apart at every weak point. The fable structure itself suggests there is some group of people for whom this is "conventional wisdom" and are talking to each other rather than the larger community.
What is practical for life extension?
Watch your blood sugar. Get exercise. Manage stress. Eat a quality diet. Get reasonable preventative care. Protect your skin from the sun. (e.g. my wife has great skin even though she teaches horse lessons and works outside because she always wears a hat.)
I don't really understand why but I think I look a lot better than the cohorts of people born around the time I was that I knew when I was a child, in high school and college. If I had to attribute it to something it is that my level of career stress has been high at times but it hasn't been incessant. I'd contrast that to some 40-somethings I know who are counting the days to retirement.
It's not impossible that some drug or supplement could have a significant impact but (i) scams will outnumber real results, and (ii) even real results will have tradeoffs. For instance Metformin seems good for many people but it seems to blunt the physiological benefits of exercise.
I think you can add some years, maybe decades, to your lifespan and healthspan, but extending your life to 200+ years like Louis Wu from Larry Niven's Ringworld novel seems fantastic and even that falls short of 'cheating death'.
