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Medicine Science

Bioethicist At National Institutes of Health: "Why I Hope To Die At 75" 478

Posted by samzenpus from the end-of-the-line dept.
HughPickens.com writes Ezekiel J. Emanuel, director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the US National Institutes of Health, writes at The Atlantic that there is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. "It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic." Emanuel says that he is isn't asking for more time than is likely nor foreshortening his life but is talking about the kind and amount of health care he will consent to after 75. "Once I have lived to 75, my approach to my health care will completely change. I won't actively end my life. But I won't try to prolong it, either." Emanuel says that Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible. "I reject this aspiration. I think this manic desperation to endlessly extend life is misguided and potentially destructive. For many reasons, 75 is a pretty good age to aim to stop."
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Bioethicist At National Institutes of Health: "Why I Hope To Die At 75" More

Bioethicist At National Institutes of Health: "Why I Hope To Die At 75"

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  • The WHO (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gbjbaanb ( 229885 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:13PM (#47966737)

    "hope I die before I get old".... until I get old, that is, and then I expect to scrap life along as much as humanly possible.

    • Re:The WHO (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mr D from 63 ( 3395377 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:20PM (#47966821)
      We'll see how he feels when he's 75.

      • Re:The WHO (Score:5, Insightful)

        by amiga3D ( 567632 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:28PM (#47966897)

        I can't say how I will feel at 75 but already at 55 I'm thinking that I'm not all that desperate to live forever. What's the point of living when their is no real enjoyment? When it hurts to get out of bed and you can't go and do what you want when you want? When you aren't living but just existing and waiting to die? I can see his point easily enough. I'm pretty sure that if I get cancer after 70 I'm just going to start the bucket list. I don't want to be 90 laying in bed waiting for someone to come change my diaper.

        • Re:The WHO (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Jhon ( 241832 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:40PM (#47967055) Homepage Journal

          "What's the point of living when their is no real enjoyment?"

          This is not some "universal" state -- there will be less things to enjoy, but most likely there will still be enjoyment.

          "When it hurts to get out of bed and you can't go and do what you want when you want?"

          Then you change your expectation of yourself. You DON'T go and do what you want WHEN you want. You rely more on others and your world will grow "smaller". So long as long as the pain can be managed...

          "When you aren't living but just existing and waiting to die?"

          That's something else. If you are stuck on a machine completely unable to interact with the world around you, then yes. But that needs to be two-way -- there must be someone on the OTHER end of that (family or friends) who want to interact with you.

          "I can see his point easily enough."

          I can UNDERSTAND his point. I don't AGREE with it. I'm not saying "forced life" under any condition, of course.

          "I'm pretty sure that if I get cancer after 70 I'm just going to start the bucket list."

          My mother-in-law has cancer. She's 80. Aside from age related dementia (and the limitations that come along with that) she's doing great and enjoying her home, garden, family and life in general.

          "I don't want to be 90 laying in bed waiting for someone to come change my diaper."

          Ever read "Tuesday's with Morrie"? I like his outlook on life when HE came to having someone else wipe his arse.

      • Re:The WHO (Score:5, Interesting)

        by CrimsonAvenger ( 580665 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:43PM (#47967075)

        My parents are both 75+.

        And still doing fine.

        Yeah, they've slowed down a bit, and have some aches and pains they didn't have 20 years ago. But they still walk the dog a mile or so each day. And Dad still mows five acres (give or take, the treeline could have moved some over the last decade) of his yard weekly.

        I think this bioethicist bozo is forgetting that "75" is life expectancy at birth. If you make it to 75 today, odds are good you've got another decade or two in you*. And if you're born today, by the time you're 75, you should have four or five decades left*.

        * barring unpredictable things like terminal cancer, of course.

        Note that my wife's parents were both born in the early 1920's, and both lasted into this decade. Arguably, they'd have both been better off to have died a year earlier than they did (in both cases, their last year was pretty bad), but that still meant 85+ good years starting from before the Great Depression....

        • And if you're born today, by the time you're 75, you should have four or five decades left*.

          Based on current trends and short of a major breakthru there is no way someone born today will live to be 120-130.
          We've gotten pretty good at extending the quality of life and even getting more people past the 100 goalpost but
          we've made little or no progress on actually extending life to any significant extent. 100 seems to be the age that
          no matter what you do and how healthy you appear to be that you start having multiple system failures.

        • Re:The WHO (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @05:39PM (#47968949)

          My parents are both 75+.

          And still doing fine.

          Mine are dead. Doing okay for charcoal, I suppose.

          As humans, I think that we tend to not see far past our noses. Your's being healthy hale and hearty parents doesn't really mean much, because as I note, for every human living a wonderful happy and healthy existence well beyond normal, there are those who don't.

          And if this gentleman doesn't see much utility to living past 75, well, that's his business. If you want to fight kicking and screaming too the last breath, well, that's yours.

        • You are absolutely correct about life expectancy. At birth, per the Social Security Administration's actuarial tables, men have a life expectancy of 76.1 and women 80.94.

          From there it never appears to go down (it is flat a couple of times, age 9-10 for both genders; add actual age and expectancy then diff over time). At no point is your full life expectancy, per standardized tables, at or below 75. At 75 the men and women life expectancy's are 85.89 and 87.77 respectively. Women are expected to live lon

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by dywolf ( 2673597 )

        a lot of medical professionals carry this opinion, or a similar one, precisely because they see, every day, what the reality is of old age.
        and they dont change their minds; rather they are one of the largest grous with settled views on it who already know what they want and how they want to go.

        • a lot of medical professionals carry this opinion, or a similar one, precisely because they see, every day, what the reality is of old age. and they dont change their minds;

          So, there are a bunch of 75+ year old ex-medical professionals that are ready to die? I somehow find that hard to believe. Those same medical professionals also see, on a regular basis, 80 and 90+ year olds that live quite enjoyable lives. The 'reality of old age' differs for everyone, medical professionals should know that better than anyone.

          • Re:The WHO (Score:4, Interesting)

            by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @04:14PM (#47968089)
            I think the problem comes from medical professionals only or almost always dealing with the people who are having terrible health problems. If the only time you see older people is when they're in pain or suffering from horrible illness, you wouldn't want to be old either. I suspect that as many of them actually age they find that they still enjoy life and that when they retire they're able to spend time with their families and grandkids and that being old isn't a constant state of suffering or misery. However, medical professionals are only exposed to the worst of old age, so it's hardly surprising that they have such a negative outlook.

            It's easy to sit back from my position and say that, but I would imagine that my opinions would change if the vast majority of my day were spent being confronted with what happens to people who don't take care of their bodies or experiencing other illnesses that aren't currently preventable. If nothing else, one would think that this would motivate medical professionals to take good care of their health, so they can avoid finding themselves in that position.

      • His crystal will be red by then, it's not like he's going to have any choice about it.

    • I have always said I don't want to live longer. I want to age slower.
      Your body changes as it ages. I want I slow down those changes

      So you have 20-30 year old body until you get to 40. A 30-40 year old body until age 55. A 40-50 yer old body until age 65. A 50-70 year old body until early 70's and then drop off rapidly until you die.
      You won't live any longer but you can live better and enjoy being young longer. We age oddly compared to our lifespan. Though it is recent based on medicines. The downside is t

    • Except they were 37 and he's 57.

      Most people are dead by 82 anyway (about 87%).

      And almost everyone is dead by 90 (98.4%).

      The last few years can be miserable and suicide is more common among the elderly.

      While some desperately cling to life the loss of function, increasing pain, and loss of dignity takes the joy out of life for many.

      There are two cases..

      My grandmother, who was religious, who was basically unable to move and had to be wheeled out to the sun area of the nursing home every day, who suffered fear

  • I agree, 100% (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NitzJaaron ( 733621 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:16PM (#47966767)
    The thought of living to an age where I can no longer contribute anything of value to society, while simultaneously becoming a drain to those I love - both emotionally and financially - is not appealing to me at all.

    • Re:I agree, 100% (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Feyshtey ( 1523799 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:36PM (#47967013)
      Who determines when that time comes? Maybe it's 65. Maybe it's 55. Hell, for some it's in their 30's when they start getting fat and lazy.

      Basically what this dickhead is saying is that if you're not valuable to someone for some tangible product, you should just die. He's probably also of the opinion that if you get Muscular Dystrophy in your 30's you should just check out. If you're born with Downs Syndrome, and will always have to be cared for you should just be aborted at birth (murdered). It's not like a severe mental handicap provides the ability to make a "rational" decision to take yourself out of everyone worries about you.

      This philosophy relies on the premise that if you aren't providing money, or food, or talent in some field of productivity, that you are also unable to provide (and receive) love, joy and positive experiences. The philosophy is callous and inhuman, ironically coming from a man who will tell you all about how we should behave exactly in a specific way if it can "save just one life".

      Emanuel is a dyed in the wool liberal progressive the likes of which Bernard Shaw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3lBdyFvPps) would be quite proud of.
      • This is the evil that Emanuel is describing from Bernard Shaw, a Fabian Socialist who defended the actions of the Nazi's.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WBRjU9P5eo

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Yakasha ( 42321 )

          This is the evil that Emanuel is describing from Bernard Shaw, a Fabian Socialist who defended the actions of the Nazi's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

          Did you not read, or not understand Shaw's writings on Eugenics? Do you even understand the context of that clip? Since neither clip you posted mentions it (and in fact the first seems to distort it), and neither do you, one can best assume that either you don't understand the context, or are purposefully omitting the context because you know it hurts your comparison "argument".

          Shit, did you even bother to read Emanuel's article? He very specifically states

          Since the 1990s, I have actively opposed legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

          and

          I am talking about how long I want to live and the kind and amount of health care I will consent to after 75.

          [emphasis his]. He even specifically sta

      • He's most certainly a liberal in the sense that he says that you should have the freedom to choose. That's a bad thing? Also, you call it "callous and inhuman", and indeed, deceiving oneself instead of admitting the truth is most certainly a very human trait, but that still won't fix some people's declining health. And yet, in the Great Famine of 1315, many elder people voluntarily starved themselves to death so that they wouldn't be a burden for the younger generation. Altruism also happens to be a human t

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by clarkkent09 ( 1104833 )

          I thought liberals are about heavy regulation, not about the freedom to choose.

          • "Liberal, a.: Of political opinions: Favourable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy."

            So yes, it is about freedom to choose (which seems to be pleonasm to me - is freedom about anything else than choosing?). In general, I got the impression that political liberals are in favor of regulation mostly when lack of regulation turns the situation in that particular area into a libertarian hell (by not limiting freedom of others to limit yo

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by dywolf ( 2673597 )

        No. that is not what he said.
        What he said was specifically about him and HIS plans and viewpoint.

        He did not call for these same things to applied to any one else.
        He did not call for people to be terminated at birth.

        You are attributing a lot of FALSE statements to him.
        You are not insightful.
        You are a troll.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Jhon ( 241832 )

      If you don't want to be a financial drain to those you love then you must try to make sure you have assets available for yourself should you require them at that age. Or, when the time comes you move to a state where whatever aid is available to you (SS, SSI, whatever) brings more bang for your buck.

      Or ENJOY the fact that your family is taking care of YOU now. The whole circle of life thing.

      My mother retired to AZ. She had zero money saved, got a mobile home for $500 in 'decent' condition and had $1700/m

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fche ( 36607 )

      Ezekiel is one of the architects of obamacare. Expect nothing inconsistent from him with the idea of getting the old (expensive) people to just go and die already; that's the only way that obamacare can survive (and even that's a long shot).

  • His Life (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:16PM (#47966773)

    His choice. I for one intend to drink every bit of snake oil that I think will keep me alive a little longer, until such time that I decide I don’t want to live any more. George Carlin pretty much summed up my views on all this stuff with his "And don't be pulling any plugs on me either" bit.

    Worried about tax dollars pointlessly keeping my mostly useless ass alive (yay for socialized medicine)... hell no. I’ve paid taxes most of my life, many of which have been wasted on stupid nonsense, they can waste a few on me.

    I get it if people are in pain, or feel like they can no longer contribute anything, and sitting there watching TV all day just isn’t doing it for them. If you are tired of life, fine, I’m all for giving people the option. On the opposite end you’ve got my Grandfather who is well into his 80’s and just finished remodeling his bathroom, and my friend’s Grandmother who while physically is showing her age, can still hold her end of a conversation, enjoys spending time with people, plays cards, etc.

  • Only 5 years of retirement (Score:5, Insightful)

    by irrational_design ( 1895848 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:17PM (#47966783)
    If I'm lucky I'll be able to retire by 70. 50 years of work and then 5 years of retirement? That sucks.

    • Re:Only 5 years of retirement (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:28PM (#47966909)

      Enjoy your life, don't wait for your retirement. I don't see an especially good chance of ever being able to retire. Plus there are a lot of things I want to do while I can comfortably walk for eight hours a day, see, hear and smell well, and take a hit or two.

    • Most people get a lot less.
      This guy is being pretty optimistic that not only will he even last to 75, but that he will be mostly functional at that point.
  • "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them." Ian Fleming, author of James Bond

  • I propose the Extreme test. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:19PM (#47966813) Homepage
    Every year, past 70, take up a new extreme sport. One day you will simply forget to pull the parachute cord. Go out with a bang, doing something that will make the news "80 year old surfs Tsunami"

    • Or for those who want to keep working and be productive:

      If you are a liberal, do volunteer work saving lives in Ebola-infested areas or some other place with a humanitarian crisis in Africa or Middle East.

      If you are a Republican, volunteer for an army tour of duty in Afghanistan or Iraq or Syria. Yes being old could be a problem. However those powered exoskeletons could make you strong.

      • why assume that one or the other would not be willing or wanting to do the other you listed?

        • why assume that one or the other would not be willing or wanting to do the other you listed?

          Shhhhh! Quit challenging his political stereotypes! People over 75 get cranky when you do that...

  • If you have good genes and have taken care of yourself 75 can be a no-brainer. Personally I'd prefer a wait and see approach and see how things pan out. My mother is a vibrant 80 yr old who's currently having a lot of fun trekking around the planet. Sometimes you get lucky.
  • I will be the most badass octogenarian ever! Take THAT! Punks. Now get off my lawn. http://singularityhub.com/2009... [singularityhub.com]
    • That's fine until the brats from next door hack into your exoskeleton and make you do the Gangnam routine for 48 hours straight.
  • To say you shouldn't work as hard at living longer because you don't want to live to 80+ is a bit off. For all you know, your body may require all that preventative effort just to reach 75. Not only that, when you start closing in on 75 you might find yourself feeling differently about the topic. Furthermore, the quality of life through advanced science and medicine may differ significantly from what it is now.

  • Right... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ceoyoyo ( 59147 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:25PM (#47966869)

    Because exercising, eating well and being mentally engaged don't help keep you healthy to an older age.

    • Along this same line though is that since this guy is convinced 75 is his limit I bet his health starts falling off at 70 in order to make that come true. He has a good chance of convincing himself and becoming a self fullfilling prophesy.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        There's actually some decent research on that point. A surprising number of people die very close to the age they expect to, more than can be explained by genetics. The placebo effect is a powerful thing.

        I'm convinced I'm immortal, so things might be interesting in forty or fifty years.

    • The funny thing is mental exercise doesn't strengthen the brain. The brain is not a muscle; it doesn't become stronger with use.

      People think I'm a genius. It took me forever to realize, of course, they're right. Of course I'm a genius. It all makes sense. I didn't put my brain on some kind of mind-treadmill to get this way; it just is.

      Being a genius is all about technique. The brains of great memorizers like Dominic O'Brien or Ben Pridmore are exactly like the brains of the average human. The br

  • Ageing can be seen as a treatable disease. (Score:3)

    by Zeio ( 325157 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:30PM (#47966933)

    I don't think there are many dreams of futures without some form of life extension.

    Some wax poetic and philosophic about how life extension is like the One Ring stretching out Bilbo and Gollum, but with a properly enlightened society with strong family ties multiple generations co-habiting could provide an awesome view of the past, living history, to help teach the next generation.

    I see ageing as a currently inescapable fact of life. I also know there are 400 year old clams. I think we should attempt to treat ageing as a disease, who that each life is valuable and worth saving and cherish the time the elders spend with the young to bring a different (but sometimes wrong and thought provoking) perspective.

    There was an episode of TNG (Half a Life) where people who got to a certain age killed themselves. I was strongly in favor of letting the scientist live, but the show used the family and social norms and mores to make this a hard show to call black and white on.

    So let's think to do the opposite of Logan's Run. Lets dream big and not run to the grave like its a cradle.

  • Despite smoking 30 years and not smoking for 30 years, my father died six weeks after his 75th birthday. He lived a fairly active life until the last few months of his life when he started taking morphine for his throat cancer. He retired on his 60th birthday since most of his brothers died before their 65th birthday. He did pretty well with his pension and social security benefits.

  • Speak for yourself, Mr. Emanuel (Score:4, Insightful)

    by c0d3g33k ( 102699 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:31PM (#47966951)

    You lost me when you assigned an arbitrary number as your cutoff rather than defining the cutoff on reasonably definable measures of physical and mental health. I exercise, eat healthy, avoid smoking and drugs etc. because these activities provide *measurable* benefits to my health based on measurements made by my doctor. Not to mention that I feel better.

    Does the fact that I do things that measurably improve my health and prolong my life as long as possible mean I am "obsessed"? Does "I don't smoke, overeat, take drugs or engage in dangerous life-threatening activities (extreme sports, for example)" mean I am obsessed? I find it completely rational, and my insurance company sure loves it because I'm a low risk according to their actuarial tables. Because science.

    If I take your advice, I should just sit around and passively wait to die after reaching a certain age rather than doing things that measurably increase my ability to be "vibrant and engaged". Sorry, but no thanks. Save me a place when I get to the Pearly Gates - I might be a little late to the party. And when I get there, we're going to blow the roof off of that sucker.

  • Bah (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Charliemopps ( 1157495 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:33PM (#47966975)

    I hate fatalism. My goal is to live forever. I'll go out kicking and screaming every bionic body part I can get.

    Watch this: https://www.ted.com/talks/aubr... [ted.com]

    You can all die if you want, leave me out of it.

  • We have isolated proteins that regenerate heart tissue, we know some of the proteins we need to make to clean up the plaque that causes alzheimers and we ever have cures for many other diseases. The biggest problem we have is one of production since some of these proteins are just very hard to make. I have made some advances in the field that will save a few tens of thousands of people ever year right now and I am starting more advanced education to help save millions.

    I don't like the idea of living with a

  • I understand, but FTS (Score:3)

    by RedLeg ( 22564 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @02:36PM (#47967003) Journal
    I have no desire to be a veggie, to feel my mental faculties drain away from me as I age. I can imagine nothing worse.

    On the other hand, 75 is an arbitrary number. I'm 53, and will match wits with any of you. Both sides of my family have had folks live past 100, the most noteworthy being the oldest living graduate of the US Military academy. I will tell you that in his last days, he enjoyed playing poker one night of the week, drinking bourbon and branch, and hosting a weekly bridge game, all for gentlemen's stakes. I would not EVER have put money on the table and played against him, as he was sharp as a tack until the day that he died.

    He, and the other members of his generation, lived to their 90s and beyond without the benefits of our modern understanding of health.

    I fully expect, and am planning to enjoy my 100s.

    75? Pfthhh!

    -Red

  • We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic

    Not everyone is a director level excutive at a major organization. For a huge chunk of the population, feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic is basically their entire life. If that life isn't worth living, then probably most lives aren't worth living.

  • The only problem with being 70 is attracting pretty 16 year old girls to my bed. If I lived in Thailand it would not be an issue but in the US those 16 years olds just reject little old men. They are just not right.
  • Lets see what he does in 2032.
  • He seems to be arguing that diet and exercise do not improve quality of life before 75. I have news for this arrogant egghead who is obviously spoiled by his own good health: many of us NEED to focus on these things to maintain a decent quality of life before 75. It's not some silly obsession to cheat death. We must do this precisely because the modern sick-care system sustains the cushy status of bioethics "experts" who do very little to rein in the food and pharmaceutical companies who are responsible for

  • We look with pity at the elderly.
    It is because when we are a kid and are traumatized by the fact that we will die.
    We get older, we get gray hair, then we will die.
    As a kid when we get that idea it puts us into shock and really scares us. While we learn to deal with it, the initial fear is still there.

    Wanting to die young seems more comforting as you won't see it coming.
     

  • The worst part about super long lifetimes will be the old thinking that comes along with it. When old people die, it makes way for new people and new thinking. Imagine some of the cronies in public office living to 150 years old.

  • I feel kind of frustrated when I see humans say things like "75 is a pretty good age to go". Really? Why not 60? Or 50? Or 40? We shouldn't be aiming to die when at some arbitrary count of how many times the earth has spun around the sun. We should be aiming to make life worth living for people at any age, and we should be aiming to eliminate this pointless "aging" business entirely.

    My great grandmother is 104. She plays board games with her friends, takes walks with them, and is a sharp-witted lady (pretty

  • If I'm 90 and still with it mentally and physically, as I certainly would *like* to be, please don't kill me.

    On the other hand, if I get into a terrible car crash tomorrow on the way to work, despite being quite young, if I'm in severe pain, unlikely to ever not be in severe pain, and basically crippled to the point where I can't do anything, please do kill me.

    I don't see where age (*directly*) has anything to do with it. Obviously the chances of your life sucking too badly for one reason or another go up w

  • Personally, I'd like to survive long enough to be able to extract my brain and place it into a self-contained support system. It'd of course have to have a substantial sensory input/output system to allow me to interact with my 'surroundings' ie a networked virtualized world. I think this is the only realistic way to 'download' your consciousness to a machine. The brain is simply too complex to abstract to a computer...why not just preserve and support the brain itself? It'd solve all the strange philo
  • I watched both of my parents succumb due to Alzheimer's and if you have seen that disease up close and personal like I have you really don't want to go there. I really didn't expect to live as long as I have. That may be something common among those of us that grew up in the "duck and cover" generation and then took that year in South East Asia back during that unpleasantness. There is a song by Jimmy Buffett that sort of says it all to me -- the title is Pacing The Cage.

  • I've already selected the sword I will use to separate his head from his body.

    There can be only one

  • False Premise (Score:3)

    by JerryLove ( 1158461 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @04:24PM (#47968201)

    "It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic."

    For example: See the cast of the Expendables.

    Emanuel says that Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible.

    I believe this assertion to be false. Doing mental puzzles will not make you live longer, and exercise mostly prevents causes of death like falling or having a heart attack.

    People don't do these things to live longer... they do these things to live better. So that, when they are 75, they won't be... how did the OP put it? "feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic"

    My grandfater was still running his store in his 70s. My grandmother was daycare to several of her great-grandkids. One of my martial arts instructors is in his 80s (and I would lose a fight with him). The premise is BS, and the "75" number is arbitrary. Further: it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he isn't exercising, if he isn't eating well, if he isn't keeping his mind active, he is more likely to be "feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic".

  • Health is cheaper, less painful. (Score:3)

    by gestalt_n_pepper ( 991155 ) on Monday September 22, 2014 @05:20PM (#47968759)

    The reason for the diets, supplements and exercise aren't to extend life, but to enhance life's quality.

    You can be 75 and a cripple, in pain and bankrupted by health care costs or...

    You can be be 75, run marathons, be fairly pain free and pay relatively little for health care.

    I know people in both situations. To some degree, it's your choice.

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