How long do you want to live?

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

Here is an article about long life.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/23/health/living-longer-philosophy-partner/index.html

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One of the biggest questions in ageing research is whether there is a ceiling on how long human beings can live.

A recent study, published in Science, suggests there isn't. The study measured the survival probabilities of 3,896 people in Italy aged 105 and older. It found that, while we are much more likely to die at 75 than at 55, once we reach about 105, the odds of death remain about the same each year of life.

Of course, we still don't know for sure that there is no ceiling. Some researchers argue that there is a natural "expiration date" for human beings, at about 125 years. Chiyo Miyako is currently the oldest known person in the world, at 117 years old. Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997, had the longest recorded lifespan, at 122 years.

Would a maximum lifespan of 150 make our lives better or just longer? One way of thinking about this is in terms of pleasure and pain: the more pleasure (and the less pain) we have over the course of our lives, the better our lives are. Other things being equal, a life which lasts 100 years is better than one that lasts 80 years, as long as the extra 20 years contain more pleasure than they do pain.

But we might also think that a desirable life is one with a certain narrative structure.

In other words, there could be many circumstances in which we might live for too long. Sometimes it might be better for us to die earlier than we otherwise might have, if doing so is more consistent with the "life story" we wanted for ourselves -- for example, being active and independent throughout our lives.

What each of these views shows is that living longer does not in itself make us better off. As our population continues to age, we will need to make important and potentially difficult choices about how we want to care for the elderly. Crucially, strategies to promote healthy ageing may not only ease the burdens on society, but help to ensure that our longer lives are better lives -- even in a philosophical sense.

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The major factor in living long is loneliness. If everyone else lives long also and we continue to be  healthy and have our families around us...then it may not be so bad. Not otherwise.

Cheers.

Sriram

[Robbie]

I don't have much choice about how long I live. I want to live as long as I feel alright. Quality of life is vital.

It's important to shore yourself up financially so you can retain independence in old age. Not to the point of being stingy cos you can't take it with you, but sensibly. 

[Sriram]

I for one, don't want to live beyond 80.  My dad lived up to 86. Most of my relatives lived up to 85, some beyond 90. But beyond 80 seems unnecessary and even painful to others.

In South India, the death of any person who has completed their duties and seen grandchildren is considered a Kalyana Savu or auspicious death....not supposed to grieve.....rather be thankful.   

[Rhiannon]

It's important to shore yourself up financially so you can retain independence in old age. Not to the point of being stingy cos you can't take it with you, but sensibly.

Which is pretty much a pipe dream to most people. Meeting this month's bills and maybe having a bit left for lunch out, that's a triumph.

[Roses]

Quality of life is more important than quantity. I would like to live as long as my life is worth living.

[SteveH]

I'd like to live as long as possible, provided that I am reasonably fit and healthy to the end, and that everyone else lives about as long as well. I wouldn't want to live to 200 if everyone else had a normal life-span, as I'd keep losing friends and family members, but if some medical discovery made it possible for everyone to live to 200, I'd welcome it. Of course, we'd have to reduce the birth-rate, or there'd be a terrible over-population problem.

[Shaker]

... which we've already got. We need to reduce the birth-rate now. It isn't happening.

[Shaker]

In other words, there could be many circumstances in which we might live for too long. Sometimes it might be better for us to die earlier than we otherwise might have, if doing so is more consistent with the "life story" we wanted for ourselves -- for example, being active and independent throughout our lives.

Any excuse for quoting Nietzsche is fine by me:

"Many die too early and some die too late; yet strange sounds the precept: 'Die at the right time!'"

Fascinating (well ... to me anyway) article here: https://tinyurl.com/yacctx3h

[Rhiannon]

Jane Marple discusses the idea of a full life being a lifespan from its beginning end, however short it might be, in the book 'Nemesis'. I wish I had the discussion to hand but I no longer have hard copies of the Agatha Christie novels.

[Roses]

If the planet becomes so overpopulated it doesn't have the resources to cope,  I wonder if future generations will be given their due death date on the day they are born?