
Medical ethicist argues life after 75 is not worth living - onemoresoop
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614156/a-doctor-and-medical-ethicist-argues-life-after-75-is-not-worth-living/
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adib
Sir Patrick Stewart would disagree, having started a new project at 79 years
of age.

[https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-
picard/news/1009254/sir-...](https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-
picard/news/1009254/sir-patrick-stewart-reprises-iconic-star-trek-the-next-
generation-role-in-star-trek-picard-teaser/)

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cardiffspaceman
> TFA: _I often get, from the people who want to dismiss me, “You know, my
> Aunt Nellie, she was clear as a bell at 94, and blah-blah-blah …” But as I
> said in the article, there are outliers. There are not that many people who
> continue to be active and engaged and actually creative past 75. It’s a very
> small number._

This imaginary argument between the subject of the article and a slightly
careless person highlights an aspect of his argument that could be a problem
for an ethicist to argue.

> TFA: _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._

There is a notion in these statements, which is not "quality of life" unless
you define "quality of life" as the degree that the senescent person is
contributing to my not-so-senescent life and making it better, and how many
such lives are being improved. Enjoying your vast motorcycle collection
without costing any tax-payer or mutually-insured any money doesn't seem to be
quite good enough for Emanuel.

I am not _that_ far from a position of doubting that keeping myself alive from
85 to 86 is worth as much as keeping a little kid with leukemia alive for
almost any amount of time. But I think there are aspects of this ethicist's
view that make me feel I am smart to not promote my not-fully-formed view as
one everyone should have.

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maxharris
My father is 85, and he definitely thinks his life is worth living! My mother
is 71. Both of them are in great physical shape because they have avoided
fructose and other pitfalls of processed food for the past three decades.

Check out Dr. Robert Lustig's presentation on the topic (he even mentions
Ezekiel Emanuel at the 2:55 mark):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHYu8NlWDLU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHYu8NlWDLU)

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AnimalMuppet
My prediction is that he'll feel different when he's 75...

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gshdg
Try telling that to my relatives who have lived to 95-105 and were healthy
into their 90’s and surrounded by loved ones.

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onemoresoop
I think he argues against extending life at the cost of quality of life, the
title is a bit misleading.

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ksaj
If that's what he's arguing, the title is _completely_ misleading.

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grahame
Agreed, but he covers this in the article:

> Q. But it’s called “Why I hope to die …”

> A. As you probably know better than everyone else, it’s editors that choose
> titles and not authors.

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joeblow9999
this is an example if why generally 'bio ethicist' and 'medical ethicist'
means that whatever you hear next can be safely ignored..

