One's odd of surviving to 80 or 90 (and even 100) have greatly improved. But one's odds of surviving to 110 remain infinitesimal, and surviving to 120 basically zero. Most mammals, including humans, are genetically programed to die at some general lifespan. IMHO, this is because death promotes evolution, so each species' expected life span has been determined by natural selection. For individuals, like an old car, different systems wear out at different times, but the reality is that the longer one lives, the more parts will fail. My father had good skin, excellent heart and lungs, and looked 15 years younger than his calendar age. He had dementia, which made his life miserable, CLL, which exhausted him, and lymphoma, which killed him at 86. As we age, we enter two lotteries: 1) what systems failure will render our life not worth living; and 2) what systems failure will actually kill us.
No I didn't. As you might guess, I am inclined to think that the obsessive pursuit of life extension is a fool's errand. Humans are designed to die eventually at the cellular level, and overturning this programming would produce dramatic, and probably life shortening, unintended consequences. Even if it could be done, and it worked, It might also turn us into something that is not entirely human. In any case, gulping supplements, living in a state of semi-starvation or at the edge of hypothermia might make one age more slowly, but the immense time and effort spent now buying a longer life lottery ticket is time that could be better spent today.
One's odd of surviving to 80 or 90 (and even 100) have greatly improved. But one's odds of surviving to 110 remain infinitesimal, and surviving to 120 basically zero. Most mammals, including humans, are genetically programed to die at some general lifespan. IMHO, this is because death promotes evolution, so each species' expected life span has been determined by natural selection. For individuals, like an old car, different systems wear out at different times, but the reality is that the longer one lives, the more parts will fail. My father had good skin, excellent heart and lungs, and looked 15 years younger than his calendar age. He had dementia, which made his life miserable, CLL, which exhausted him, and lymphoma, which killed him at 86. As we age, we enter two lotteries: 1) what systems failure will render our life not worth living; and 2) what systems failure will actually kill us.
thanks for sharing, Arthur. Did you watch the Don't Die doc? If so, what did you think?
No I didn't. As you might guess, I am inclined to think that the obsessive pursuit of life extension is a fool's errand. Humans are designed to die eventually at the cellular level, and overturning this programming would produce dramatic, and probably life shortening, unintended consequences. Even if it could be done, and it worked, It might also turn us into something that is not entirely human. In any case, gulping supplements, living in a state of semi-starvation or at the edge of hypothermia might make one age more slowly, but the immense time and effort spent now buying a longer life lottery ticket is time that could be better spent today.
"You're gonna feel like a damn fool ... laying out at that hospital, dying from nothing !" - Redd Foxx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6grI16niGXA
Just looked it up - Redd only made it to 68. So on second thought...
Good point. It's a joke I remember across the decades so there's that.