Do you want to make it to 75?

[Dave2002]

I thought this article might be depressing, but it has some interesting ideas and insights, such as when creativity peaks. All based on averages, of course, and ignores outliers such as Verdi and Bruckner, and Elliott Carter.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75

[Richard Tarleton]

I don't think he says how old he is now - does he?

[vinteuil]

I don't think he says how old he is now - does he?

... he says he is 57.

I agree with a lot of this.


.

[Pianorak]

<< . . . By the time I reach 75, I will have lived a complete life. I will have loved and been loved. My children will be grown and in the midst of their own rich lives. I will have seen my grandchildren born and beginning their lives. I will have pursued my life’s projects and made whatever contributions, important or not, I am going to make . . . >>

If the author can say that with conviction and all honesty, then fair enough. But how many can say that?

[teamsaint]

... he says he is 57.

I agree with a lot of this.


.

I'm 57 too. The idea of having lived a "complete life" by age 75 is just ( potentially) fundamentally flawed, even if it might be comforting.

[doversoul1]

He obviously takes it for granted that he will live until 75, well and happy. A happy man.

[LMcD]

He obviously takes it for granted that he will live until 75, well and happy. A happy man.

I'm 75 and can honestly say that, despite the odd creak and other signs of what I call General Decrepitude, I'm as happy as I've ever been, if not actually happier, and hope to be around for some time yet, as I haven't yet got the garden EXACTLY as I envisioned it when I retired and also I have to listen to all the fantastically cheap CDs I keep finding in charity shops.

[Padraig]

I see he reserves the right to change his mind. Wise man.

[edashtav]

I'm approaching 74 and getting weaker but I intend to do my CD collection justice: that will keep be going for ever as my rate of acquisition exceeds my speed of listening. The first time that I retired, I announced that I would decorate our house: 10% completed; on my final retirement I took on the extensive garden: 90% still to do. I don't have the time, the energy or the interest in contemplating my demise.

[Dave2002]

I wasn't intending to prompt people to admitting how close they are to 75, but now that the trend has been set I'll say that I've only got a few years to go. I did know one person who made it to 100 - just, and I think mostly he was happy until his last year.

I think the author is still young enough to not really anticipate what it might be like. I agree with msg 4 - the author is very complacent if he thinks that he can get everything on his list without problems by the age of 75, and not worry about anything else - and as mentioned in msg 8 - he might change his mind.

There is the old joke - "Who wants to live to be 94?" with the response "A 93 year old ..."

[vinteuil]

.

... I thought he made really good points about the way modern medicine is going, and some nice thoughts about how you wish to be remembered by your offspring. I share his intentions about limiting any medical care for myself in years to come.

I'm 66. My father died (too young) at 67, my mother died (too old) at 95. I would be happy with 75, as long as I retain relatively good mental and physical health.






.

[teamsaint]

An important function in declining powers must surely be the toll that life takes on people, in many case through economic demands. Our society is very good at placing extraordinary demands on younger people ( classrooom teachers with families and a mountain of student debt as one example), in ways that have got more pronounced over recent decades. 30 years of that, and no wonder some people suffer from the effects of stress, exhaustion,lack of awareness of our own health needs.

So it isn't necessarily just the ageing process that causes change . Some , too much, is down to negative effects how we as a society organise our lives, over the long term.

[doversoul1]

I suppose we could say that the greatest tragedy (or one of) of humans is that we have no facility to turn ourselves off.

[Bryn]

Sod you lot! I'm approaching 71 and just getting started. I didn't defer my pension with the intention of only living just a few years on the resulting enhancement. I want to get fulluse of my hip replacement, which means going on until beyong 90. I'm in no hurry to get off the bus.

[teamsaint]

Sod you lot! I'm approaching 71 and just getting started. I didn't defer my pension with the intention of only living just a few years on the resulting enhancement. I want to get fulluse of my hip replacement, which means going on until beyong 90. I'm in no hurry to get off the bus.

Especially as it is free....

And of course today’s working people will get a fabulous 8 years state pension/ benefit under the current rules, if they make it to 75.