
A doctor and medical ethicist argues life after 75 is not worth living - mitchbob
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614156/a-doctor-and-medical-ethicist-argues-life-after-75-is-not-worth-living/
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eindiran
I generally agree that there exists a point where keeping someone alive is
mostly just because we feel weird about letting them die; there are people
kept artificially alive that aren't 'living' in any meaningful sense. But
that's not how Emanuel is framing it:

"Older Americans live too long in a diminished state, raising the question of,
as he put it, 'whether our consumption is worth our contribution.'"

What an absolutely despicable way of viewing people living into old age; the
moment you aren't contributing, its time to get the axe.

I don't think its a coincidence that he's an American: we place an unhealthy
amount of value on the labor someone does.

"These people who live a vigorous life to 70, 80, 90 years of age—when I look
at what those people “do,” almost all of it is what I classify as play. It’s
not meaningful work. They’re riding motorcycles; they’re hiking. Which can all
have value—don’t get me wrong. But if it’s the main thing in your life? Ummm,
that’s not probably a meaningful life."

Note that he's not talking about people who are ill and lying in bed; he's
just talking about people who, after 50+ years of contributing their labor to
society, get to enjoy "play". They get to see their grandkids grow up and get
married, while not working for the final decades of their life. Claiming that
those years don't constitute "a meaningful life" is so patronizing and
presumptuous.

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hos234
I sort of agree with this. Having been around hospitals a bit, I have watched
quite a few people going through one procedure after another for years and
years with no improvement in quality of life. Most of them just want to
checkout, but either the family or the medical establishment drag it out just
because the capability exists. It's sad to watch.

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JMTQp8lwXL
I think's hard to say what future you at want. At 75, the author might feel
life is still worth living, even if they didn't have health of earlier years.
One year could make the difference to see your grandchildren's graduation or
marriage. Those things matter to people.

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qohen
About living past 75 and play not being so meaningful (per the author) and
also about a year potentially making a difference:

I just came across this story[0] on Metafilter, about a 75 year old woman,
originally from France -- the author's grandmother -- who took up Dungeons &
Dragons during the last year of her life (she just died of cancer, which
interfered, but didn't fully stop her from playing):

[0]
[https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1165011404086284289.html](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1165011404086284289.html)

Briefly: it brought her joy and allowed her to explore new vistas and to
exercise her creativity. It also brought joy to her grandson -- the DM -- to
her fellow players and to everyone reading about it now.

P.S. There are people creating fan-art of her gnome character, Terminatur,
(which she originally drew a couple of versions of) and posting it to Twitter:
[https://twitter.com/antnhz](https://twitter.com/antnhz)

And the character may live on in the campaigns of strangers.

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uberman
a doctor and medical ethicist who just happens to be well under 75 ...

