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from the but-what-dreams-may-come-when-I-have-shuffled-off-this-mortal-coil? dept.
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."
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Tuesday September 23 2014, @07:23PM
Interestingly, in some underdeveloped countries there are a lot of very active elderly, in part because of the increased amount of physical labor. For example, in third world countries where women do things like carrying heavy buckets of water, Osteoporosis is all but unheard of.
I totally agree with your assessment of this guy. His "advise" is borderline criminal. It seems as though he's trying to make some flawed statistical case that things like exercise don't help you live better. Insane.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 24 2014, @11:19AM
You're only looking at the people who survive, and who survive largely on the strength of their genetics and activity. People who can't keep up with the physical demands of a difficult life just die. Emanuel is claiming that modern medicine keeps people alive who would otherwise die "of old age," and that those people are less healthy, less mobile, and less active than people who naturally survive.