Outliers: The reluctant centenarians

Medical advances have made it possible for many of us to live to see our 100th birthdays, but more than half of adults don't think they want to blow out that many candles.

A study from the Pew Research Center conducted this year found that 56% of respondents said they believed they would not want to take advantage of medical technology that would allow them to slow the aging process and live till at least 120 years old.

Moreover, 69% of respondents said their ideal life span would be between 79 and 100 years old.

The study, part of the Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project, comes as extreme old age may soon be not-so-extreme thanks to medical advances. But the findings suggest that it's not old age that gives most people pause, but the drug industry.

There's certainly optimism for the future: Only 10% of respondents said they thought our graying population is bad for society, and 56% believe their own lives will get even better over the next 10 years. Even when it comes to extreme life extension, just more than half of respondents (51%) said they worried it would strain natural and social resources and be limited to the very wealthy.

But respondents were more skeptical about the medical advances they'd need to make that happen. Only 24% of respondents said they were confident that new therapies are thoroughly tested before being marketed, and 41% believe medical treatments “often create as many problems as they solve.”

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