Parenthood Can Help You Live Longer In Older Age, Research Suggests (theguardian.com) 193
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Parenthood could boost your chances of living longer in your later years, according researchers who believe the effect could be down to children helping with care and support. While previous research has shown that adults with children live longer than those without, the new study unpicks how the effect plays out in older age. Modig and colleagues used national registry data to follow almost 1.5 million Swedes born between 1911 and 1925 as they aged. The team found that while the risk of death increased with age for all adults, having children was linked to greater longevity. The results are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. At the age of 60, men who had children had almost two years more on their remaining life expectancy than those without, at 20.2 and 18.4 years respectively. A similar trend was seen for women aged 60, with life expectancies of 23.1 years for those without children and 24.6 years for mothers. By contrast at the age of 80, parents had a life expectancy of 7.7 years for men and 9.5 years for women, compared to 7 years for men without children and 8.9 years for women without children. The findings reveal that the benefits of having children became more pronounced with age -- an effect that was greater for men than women. Furthermore, the team found that having children had a stronger impact on the longevity of men who were not married than those with a spouse.
I don't care (Score:2, Insightful)
I'll never have kids, ever. They can fuck off.
Re:I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
I know a great many youngster even today who deeply resent our generation's wasteful and selfish way of living, the consequences of which we left to them, and that they'll have to sort out when we're gone.
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Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
My take also.
Re:I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
My take also.
Lived through that in the 70s. Thinking "the world we have today" warrants giving up altogether is thoroughly depressing.
To cheer up people with a realistic view on life I'd say:
Re:I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
compared to the 70's, the environment has been fixed
Re: I don't care (Score:2, Informative)
Not in China, Indonesia, India...
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I have a friend from China who is trying desperately not to go back. It's not a money issue - she's got huge stacks of cash - she doesn't want to subject herself and her kid to the environment - educational, and physical (namely the pollution).
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compared to the 70's, the environment has been fixed
Yes and no. Air and water quality is dramatically better. Many threatened species have recovered. Our roads, forests and parks are much cleaner. Younger slashdotters probably don't remember the amount of garbage we used to have lying around all over on the sides of roads, etc.; anti-littering advertising and enforcement, and adopt-a-road programs have made it much better. I recall a time in the 70s where I could make $2 ($9 in 2017 dollars) per hour walking down the highway collecting aluminum cans for recy
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The environment will be fixed. Even if it doesn't look that way right now.
You're on slashdot mate. The environment is fine. Big conspiracy, hippy illuminati, etc etc.
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To cheer up people with a realistic view on life I'd say:
No, but it's pretty damn consistent.
The environment will be fixed. Even if it doesn't look that way right now.
Tell China or India that.
Crackpot world leaders will eventually be replaced
Cause that's worked out so well for North Korea.
Education leads to less kids that on average are brought up better
Corporate Greed will ensure that automation and AI essentially eliminate any justification to educate a human, and it will lead to far less jobs.
Kids will teach a nerd one or two things about social stuff. Much like reading a chapter in life's manual.
Teaching nerds how to save Instagram videos to YouTube isn't exactly teaching things worthwhile. And we just discussed here how that social media "stuff" tends to create more issues and problems in the long run, so perhaps nerds would be better off not lear
Worse than it ever was, same as ever (Score:3)
Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
My take also.
I don't know of any time in history in which people didn't say exactly that same thing. Only which threat is looming changes: It's wrong to bring children into a world in which Nazi armies are taking over the world. It's wrong to bring children into a world in which the Communist monolith is spreading totalitarianism across the world. It's wrong to bring children into a world in which nuclear annihilation could occur at any moment...
Re:Worse than it ever was, same as ever (Score:5, Insightful)
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You seem to be stupid, because I very explicitly just did _not_ claim that.
I've been hearing all that since the 80s (Score:2)
The crackpots have been chipping away at the fixes.
Those same crackpots are stronger than they've been since the 40s...
They've noticed all that education and they don't like it. They're working on eliminating it and replacing it with religion and authoritarianism...
Kids will teach a nerd because what we used to call a nerd is now a neckbeard and they still mercilessly bully the neckbeard.
And the last thing I want to do is let my kids decide. They're kids. Th
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People with life views are full of life.
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We'll probably have to deal with global warming is some way later.
However, there are plenty of other problems that are just as damaging to us that are being addressed right now : nitrates, heavy metals, endangered species, waste disposal, etc... Even China and India seriously start considering it and it is not a stretch to think that a decade or two from now, they will be on par with the west.
And it works. Every now and then we hear an encouraging story. It may be the ozone layer reforming, endangered anima
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you just described almost every kid that has lived in the last 100 years
Re:I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
I know a great many youngster even today who deeply resent our generation's wasteful and selfish way of living, the consequences of which we left to them, and that they'll have to sort out when we're gone.
If that's the case no-one should ever have had kids.
Today, as an average, children are healthier, more likely to have food they need, will be exposed to less crime, have more protections, they're living in an age of more social acceptance, less likely to die in combat (sure, there are always wars, but this is an era of relative peace- over the last several decades globally wars are declining).
People have been saying for decades that the world is in decline and everything is getting worse, but the truth is: there probably hasn't been a better time to be alive. Every generation thinks the generation after theirs is ruined and going to be terrible.
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Today, as an average, children are healthier, more likely to have food they need, will be exposed to less crime, have more protections, they're living in an age of more social acceptance, less likely to die in combat (sure, there are always wars, but this is an era of relative peace- over the last several decades globally wars are declining).
That is great. Wonderful even; however, kids today have no path to making a living for themselves.
In the past, I would teach my son how to hunt and gather food. Today, all I can do is send him off to school and hope that he will find a job afterwards. The thinking is, "Nobody owes you a job", which is ultimately true, but then you straitjacketed my son and do not allow him to hunt and gather. How then is he supposed eat?
No. The ENTIRE reason modern society is such a terrible place to bring children into is
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Re:I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, bringing kids into a world where they can expect to live to near 90, with almost no chance of dying in a war or plague or starving to death would really suck.
Plus there's the whole "we can communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, in Real Time" thing. Can't imagine wanting to subject kids to that (an example: when I was a kid, my Dad spent a year in Vietnam. We got letters, occasionally (he wasn't much for writing). Today, if your father is in the middle of a warzone half a world away, you can video-conference with him using any number of internet tools).
Much better to have had kids back in the Civil War, right? Or WW1 or 2? Or maybe back in the halcyon days of the Black Plague? Or hell, any random famine year during the last 5K years....
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Even if you do like kids, bringing them to the world we have today isn't exactly a gift to them...
*Yawn*
I remember people saying this exact same thing in the 60s....and the 70s....and the 80s...and so on. People have been saying this since the dawn of time.
Everyone thinks the future sucks and it's a terrible place to bring children into it. I say bollocks, what a daffy fuckin' outlook. If you think it's so bad, don't have children. Get out of the way, let your shitty pessimistic genes die out, and make room for the rest of us who aren't scared to face the future.
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There's a Greek myth of a king asking a wise god, "What is the greatest gift man could receive?"
Answer: "To never have been born."
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There's a Greek myth of a king asking a wise god, "What is the greatest gift man could receive?"
Answer: "To never have been born."
I'd rather be able to live forever but to be able to forget stuff as needed.
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Guilty for what? The environment doesn't give a shit about its state. If everyone now living had your attitude, there would be no more humans who would care about the environment, so the state of the environment wouldn't matter.
You are a completely illogical being, and for that reason alone, it's a shame you passed on your genes. Oh well. Perhaps your kids will be better.
Re: I don't care (Score:4, Insightful)
Good thing that at least some of those people who shouldn't raise kids have the sense not to do so.
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Good thing that at least some of those people who shouldn't raise kids have the sense not to do so.
And it's growing. Many people have done a risk/reward analysis, and marriage and children have become something to avoid rather than do. If you marry, you are very likely to end up divorced, and if you have children, you will end up paying for them through their early 20's, perhaps longer.
And as we've seen from some of the comments, they will resent you.
A lot of sociologist types are kind of worried about this trend. Which is why we are seeing these kind of stories. Next up will be how married men make
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I don't understand. Were you born an adult?
Re: I don't care (Score:5, Funny)
I don't understand. Were you born an adult?
This is Slashdot. Many here were born knowing everything already..
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We have been traveling the world with our baby and having fun. Sorry about the screaming in the back of the plane.
Re:I don't care (Score:4, Funny)
Having children doesn't make you live longer. They just make it seem longer.
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Re:I don't care (Score:4, Insightful)
"New study shows that 18-30 years of hell on earth will extend your lifespan by up to two years."
Nah I'm good.
> I'll never have kids, ever. They can fuck off.
Stay strong. They will say "You'll change your mind someday." That's not true for everyone - I haven't, and don't regret it.
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Re: I don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Must do wonders for your self-esteem to know that you're only getting some because of your bank balance. lol. Each to their own I guess.
He's aware. Most men aren't aware that they are being used. You sound bitter that he knows what the deal is.
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Must do wonders for your self-esteem to know that you're only getting some because of your bank balance. lol. Each to their own I guess.
Its a hellava hit on the old ego. But yes, men are disposable utilities. You don't think that that bank balance isn't attracting the love of your life soul mate woman? Life is what it is, make the most of it.
As some wag once wrote, "If I had a dollar for every woman that found me unattractive, pretty soon, they'd find me attractive." And on that note: http://beforeitsnews.com/media... [beforeitsnews.com]
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He has decided not to procreate, and he will be keeping to his word, for ever and ever. He also thinks the kids that other people DID have, should fuck off.
As always (Score:3, Insightful)
At the age of 60, men who had children had almost two years more on their remaining life expectancy than those without, at 20.2 and 18.4 years respectively.
Correlation isn't causation.
Also, many of those who gain 2 years in life expectancy lose many more years of piece and quiet having to raise their brats.
Re:As always (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, many of those who gain 2 years in life expectancy lose many more years of piece and quiet having to raise their brats.
This. You gain 1.8 years, lose 18.
Re:As always (Score:5, Insightful)
I was 33 when my son (only child) was born, so I had a good decade of "freedom".. I enjoyed my 20s but wouldn't say I miss them.
Now my kid is 4, there are frustrating moments but also experiences I would never trade. Best thing is that I now have a great excuse to play with toys again. When I'm at home, I feel younger because of my son.
I don't go out with friends nearly as much but to say you lose 18 years, that's ridiculous.
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Now my kid is 4, there are frustrating moments but also experiences I would never trade. Best thing is that I now have a great excuse to play with toys again. When I'm at home, I feel younger because of my son.
Isn't it a bit early to be making that claim? You're less than 25% done with your tenure.
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I know I fight a losing battle each time I defend being a parent on /. but I don't agree with your assessment.
It's easy to put down people with kids from the safety of your mothers basement.
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You know this because you were a shitty kid? Or a shitty parent?
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wups (Score:2)
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Re: As always (Score:4, Insightful)
First stage is denial. You've got about 7 good years left, then you will be deemed not cool and he'll rebel the next 7 years. Then he'll be right back after you cover his huge college bill and need you a good deal longer.
My oldest child is 24 and my youngest 15, so I've been through all of that, and in fact much more parental challenge than is normal... and I still agree with Ogive17. Being a parent is awesome. Hard, absolutely, occasionally heartrending and frustrating, but those who skip it aren't gaining 18 years, they're losing the richest experiences life offers.
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Hard, absolutely, occasionally heartrending and frustrating, but those who skip it aren't gaining 18 years, they're losing the richest experiences life offers.
Right - every successful parent I know feels that rearing children is a chance to reevaluate most of life's choices, learn everything anew with improved understanding, and to realize what it is to be part of this thing called Life, and by extension Society. Sure, fewer books get read, fewer vacations are taken, and the Netflix queue only ever grows i
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But, frankly the most surprising aspect of this research is that the stress of childrearing doesn't seem to take years off one's life!
No doubt!
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Re: As always (Score:3)
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Plus, the 1.8 years you gain are at the very end of your life when you're not going to enjoy it much.
Re:As always - a crap shoot (Score:2, Interesting)
Also, many of those who gain 2 years in life expectancy lose many more years of piece and quiet having to raise their brats.
This. You gain 1.8 years, lose 18.
Or you could gain 18 years + 1.8 years. I was uncertain about having kids, but went with my wife's wishes. Ended up with two Eagle Scouts who paid for their own college education via academic scholarships, one a National Merit Scholar. Their growing up was a delight punctuated only by fights over messy rooms. I now enjoy spoiling my grandchildren.
It's a crap shoot, though. My neighbor's son stole three cars by the time he was 15 and is now a career criminal. I wish I could claim the difference was my
In my case and many others it's causation (Score:2)
For many people, having kids makes you care a lot more about your life expectancy. You want to be around to meet your grandchildren.
I had my daughter when I was 40 in out of shape. A smoker who never exercised, I hadn't run since I was a teenager (and then because the cops were chasing me). I wanted to be able to run and play with my daughter. I want to be alive for her wedding, and dance with her at her wedding. My life expectancy matters to me much more than it used to. So my priorities have changed and s
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At the age of 60, men who had children had almost two years more on their remaining life expectancy than those without, at 20.2 and 18.4 years respectively.
Correlation isn't causation.
To me this feels like an extension of those studies we've seen countless times about lonely/socially isolated/people who don't get laid often dying sooner than people with friends/lovers. Having kids is going to much more likely for a person with a strong social network, so it will appear having kids makes you live longer if that's what you're focusing on.
Correlation can have multiple possible causes (Score:2)
in fact, looking at the the statistics, it would take a real "special" person to come up with their conclusion. making children makes you live longer? or is it maybe that living longer gives you a higher chance of having children.
For that to be true, those 80 years olds would have to be making babies.
No. It may be true that living longer is a signal of better health, and better health also has the property that one is more likely to have children.
For example, some fraction of people with poor health may be less fertile. Or, people with poor health may be less likely to find mates.
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Common cause (Score:4, Interesting)
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Quite a few "parents" these days could have fooled me. When you see two blobs waddle to some all you can eat buffet with their little blobs, you really have to wonder.
No, it does not (Score:2, Informative)
It found a correlation, it did not find a causation. It could well be the other way round or there could be a third factor that causes both things.
Seriously, stop reporting such nonsense.
Re: No, it does not (Score:4, Informative)
Healthier and richer people are likely to live longer, and also likely to be preferred for starting a family with
Only it doesn't work that way: it's a well established fact that rich, usually educated people have fewer children than poor uneducated people.
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Only it doesn't work that way: it's a well established fact that rich, usually educated people have fewer children than poor uneducated people.
To a point, then as they get richer the number of children tend to go up again
I have seen this speculation, but in the only evidence I've seen, the signal has been in the noise. There may be a very slight uptick in number of children as affluence rises, but so far the statistics to show that are poor.
Translation (Score:2)
People are worried about the future and don't want to risk having kids they most likely won't be able to provide for, more people are dying than being born. We have to counter that! Now, we can't pay them more to be financially secure enough to be able to afford having a family, so let's make up some bullshit to make them pump out a few units!
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Loneliness (Score:5, Insightful)
Loneliness is a significant health risk [everydayhealth.com] which causes a person's death risk to increase.
Having kids gives you someone to care about, and someone who cares about you, and someone you see on a regular basis. That does a lot to decrease your loneliness.
This explains why the effect is stronger for men than women (men tend to have fewer social contacts), and stronger for single than married men.
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Loneliness is a significant health risk [everydayhealth.com] which causes a person's death risk to increase.
There's that old correlation/causation thing again. A depressed and withdrawn person is going to be lonely. But the cause of the lonliness is alomst certainly the depression. A person such as myself functions better and recharges the mental batteries by being alone. Alone != lonely.
Having kids gives you someone to care about, and someone who cares about you, and someone you see on a regular basis. That does a lot to decrease your loneliness.
You're taking your own mental state and insisting it is everyone's. It isn't. Western society at present favors the extrovert, who needs to be around people, and suffers when they aren't. Present day social pressures have made h
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Loneliness is a significant health risk [everydayhealth.com] which causes a person's death risk to increase.
There's that old correlation/causation thing again. A depressed and withdrawn person is going to be lonely. But the cause of the lonliness is alomst certainly the depression. A person such as myself functions better and recharges the mental batteries by being alone. Alone != lonely.
I don't understand how you try to invalidate GP statement. Alone is surely not equal to loneliness. Loneliness is a feeling (mental). Alone is simply a state of being (physical).
Also, depression should not be the cause of loneliness. It should be in reverse. Loneliness MAY LEAD to depression, and it is a symptom of depression. Some people may sometimes feel lonely, but they MAY NOT be depressed (and often they aren't). However, depressed people often times (if not all the time) feel lonely because they tend
Uh, who's caring for whom again? (Score:3)
"...researchers who believe the effect could be down to children helping with care and support...
By helping with care and support, are you referring to all the twentysomethings who still live with their parents? Just curious how this study takes into account the fact that the young generation can hardly afford to take care of themselves today, much less care for aging parents.
Also, having kids helps you live longer? Did they take into account the physical, mental, and financial strain that parenthood can bring? I'm willing to bet 99.999% of parents are scratching their heads over this one too.
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Perception is everything (Score:4, Funny)
Doubt it (Score:2)
If you live in Ouagadougou in Burkhina Fhaso perhaps, here Gramps and Meemaw are put in a home and visited once a year or not at all.
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Does the article discuss if it's just an indicator (Score:2)
Quality of life (Score:3)
Live longer, or ... ? (Score:2)
It just seems longer?
Nope nope nope (Score:3)
So if I read this right...
18-25 years of financial drain, emotional stress, and missing free time, MIGHT lead to an end-of-life benefit of ~2 year extension.
No thanks. I'll keep those 18-25 years, my money, and my free time.
Disclaimer: My wife and I didn't have kids, and now its too late - and we don't regret it.
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18-25 years of financial drain, emotional stress, and missing free time, MIGHT lead to an end-of-life benefit of ~2 year extension.
That's not really what it's about, but to each their own.
I don't regret having my son at all...he's grown up to be a good person and I'm proud of who he's become. He's a smart, responsible man with a sense of self and I consider him to be a net gain to the world in many ways. Perhaps I got lucky, but raising him was for the most part a genuine pleasure.
Parenthood isn't for everyone, but I'm glad I had my son. I couldn't care less if having him lengthened my life or not, that wasn't the goal for me.
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18-25 years of financial drain, emotional stress, and missing free time, MIGHT lead to an end-of-life benefit of ~2 year extension.
That's not really what it's about, but to each their own.
I don't regret having my son at all...he's grown up to be a good person and I'm proud of who he's become. .
Of course you don't regret having your song. Having a child alters your neurological pathways to become more nurturing, which is how the human race continues. There's an ample body of work out there on it. If I'd had kids, I have no doubt that the same biological changes would have affected me and made me strive to raise my child well. But I didn't - and am financially, emotionally, and free-time(ly) glad that I didn't.
http://www.iflscience.com/brai... [iflscience.com]
http://www.popsci.com/pregnanc... [popsci.com]
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Of course you don't regret having your song. Having a child alters your neurological pathways to become more nurturing,
Sure, but the fact remains that if my son had grown up to be a worthless shit or a mean-tempered prick I wouldn't be proud of him- I'd feel like I'd done the world a disservice, a net loss if you will. But that's not what happened.
I know more than a few parents who make no secret of the fact that they wish they'd never had children. Their children suck and they're honest enough to admit it (not like they could really deny it, to be frank). I credit my son turning out well to both luck and skill, but either
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Then they have the gall to hound me about having kids. They make condescending remarks about how I'll change my mind. They claim that they love having kids when they're in hound mode but next time johnny burns a cat to death it's back to complaining.
So yeah, I
Yeah but (Score:2)
"Parenthood Can Help You Live Longer In Older Age, Research Suggests"
Yeah, but will it make up for the decade or so they took off your life in the first place? ;) lol
Think of having kids as an accelerated stress & wear test- if you survive them then you're probably good to go for at least a few more years after they leave home.
Just replace the carpet, drapes, furniture, appliances, bedding, and a few windows and you'll be back to where you were before you had 'em.
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"accelerated stress & wear test"
Absolutely agree. Look at before and after pictures of US presidents. They age a lot more than 8 years (or 4) in that job. However, most of them have the personality type to withstand it, having either been in politics for a lifetime or run businesses, or fought wars, or whatever.
From the presidential biographies I've read, I'd never last in that job. You're subjected to lots of stress:
- Hounded by the press and political factions every hour of every day
- Having to simult
Maybe it calms them down? (Score:2)
When you're talking about the overall population as a whole, and expanding your study across socioeconomic lines, maybe the factor they're looking for is the calming factor kids have on the average person's personality. (I know any parent will think I'm crazy, but keep listening.) Being a parent is financially, emotionally and physically stressful. I have a 3 and 6 year old, and that phase where the second was a newborn and the first still always needed something was an absolute nightmare in terms of sleep
Or... (Score:2)
But I want to live longer in younger age (Score:2)
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It just feels that way.
. . .especially at 3AM when your 3-month-old wants a bottle RIGHT THE HECK NOW, and obviously has VERY healthy lungs.
Good times, good times. . . . . (grin)
Re:It just feels that way. (Score:5, Insightful)
wants a bottle RIGHT THE HECK NOW
Not a bottle, a tit. A tit that used to belong to you.
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Actually, not in my case: wife couldn't nurse. So it was still mine, all mine. . . . MUAHAHAHAHA!
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Soundproofing the room helps. Best money you'll ever spend.
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I'd much prefer to live longer when I'm young.
That'd be quite a trick.
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"You ungrateful twerps ain't getting my shit! I'm going live long enough to spend it all!"
No, it's "you ungrateful twerps are going to inherit all this crap I've accumulated over a lifetime and filled my house with, my garage with, and a storage unit I'm renting for a hundred dollars a month, because I keep telling you that it's all valuable and you'll want it someday and also maybe there's something really collectable buried under all that broken furniture and cheap junk."