What possible benefit could a purposely limited life span produce?
Different theorists following the programmed aging concept have developed theories proposing many different benefits in the following broad categories: First, that a purposely limited life span increases the chance for group survival (e.g. kin, herd, larger population, even species) and thereby reduces the chance of extinction. Second, that a limited life span enhances the ability of a species or population to evolve or adapt or allows it to adapt more rapidly to changes in its environment producing a competitive advantage. Aging or other design-imposed life span limitation is obviously adverse from the viewpoint of an individual organism. Theorists generally agree that an organisms evolutionary need for additional life span declines following the age at which it is first capable of reproduction.
