There is really no reason that the human body should “wear out” as long as it can repair and renew itself. Something other than time must be at play to cause the inevitable effects of aging. The programmed theory of aging believes that aging and death are necessary parts of evolution, not of biology. If a species did not have the genetic capacity for aging and death, then it would not be forced to replicate to survive. Individuals in the species would just keep on living until a climate or other change wiped them all out. The key point here is that if biological individuals live forever, there would be no evolution.
Aging, therefore, must be inherent in the organism and not simply a result of environmental factors or disease. So aging and death, according to this theory, are not a result of wear and tear or exposure, but are a programmed, natural and necessary part of genetics. In short, we are programmed to age and die.
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