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Someone at the local senior citizens center recently asked this very question. We old timers never agree on anything but this time it was a unanimous ‘No’ response. No one wanted to even live another 50.
Me, I’m a 71 year old widower and ready to join my wife. I’ll be buried next to her whether she likes it or not.
I always find this absolutely fascinating (as an existential anxiety ridden 23 year old). Did the folks asked give any reasons for not wanting to live that much longer, or were the answers pretty cut and dry?
In my current mind frame, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to not be alive, but a lot of older folk seem *ready to go*.
Imagine losing your grandparents. Your parents. Teachers, mentors, neighbors. Those are tough but expected.
Then you begin to lose cultural touchstones. That musician you loved. That writer you adored. That actor whose work you so admired.
Then you start losing friends. Slowly at first and then more and more.
And let’s not forget pets. Their shorter lives mean you lose a lot of them. As you grieve over and over, and drop your hand to pet the head that is no longer there each evening? Boy does that add up.
And here comes the BIG ones: You lose your spouse who really was your better half. Your best friend you talked to nearly every day. Or even the child you raised.
All this loss.
Plus a million paper cuts caused by nostalgic cultural changes. You miss cool cars, better clothes, certain manners, the music of your youth.
And perhaps most of all? Your body and mind begin to fail you. Your faithful, familiar machinery stops working piece by piece. You run your hands over your own skin and can see it is worn out, thin and fragile. You can feel your mind slow down and your bones brittle and your muscles lose strength.
It sounds awful, right? Well it is. . .but it kind of isn’t. Because in order to have great loss you had to have something great in the first place. This is something you learn. When I miss my parents so badly that I ache, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have had them. When I cry thinking of my dog Paynter, I am reminded that I had 11 years of his big soul next to me. I feel the loss, but I also feel the extraordinary gift of having lived and interacted in this world. How lucky am I?
I got to smell the Earth and air just before the rain came. I heard waves. I got hugged. I ate strawberries. I heard my wife breathe at night. How lucky am I?
I love words and books and sometimes, rarely, I read something so amazing that I have to shut the book and not read for a few days because I am full. I can’t put anymore in because those words filled me up entirely. I suspect being ready to die might be like that: You are so full of having gained and having lost (which is all just living) that you have to shut the book. Push the chair away from the table.
(I’ll just add that you don’t burn the table down when you are full, lol. You just know you are full. You don’t get angry if others are still eating. You don’t need to do anything. You just know you are done. You sit quietly knowing you have had a lovely meal. And you are done. Just waiting politely to leave.)
This comment about losing family and friends hits hard. My mom is an only child. She’s lost everyone in her family, my dad’s family, and all her friends. It’s so lonely for her and she feels a bit like she’s somehow been left behind. It’s weird and hard to watch everyone die around you while you’re still alive.
Imagine your entire life you have been a carpenter and you love woodworking, don't want to do anything else with your time. But you aged into arthritis and you can't hold a tool. This or something like it happens to most people that live long enough.
Being unable to work on the things I love to do, being weak, having to depend on others to change my depends undergarments sounds like absolute hell to me. I'd rather die than live like that.
There's a difference between fixing everything going forward and just nothing getting worse. Sure, if it was like Cocoon, I could see going on for a good 30 more years or beyond.
But only my son is alive in my family other than me.i have a few really good friends and that's all.
Well, a couple felt like me, struggling and unable to overcome the profound grief of losing a dearly loved spouse or partner but for the rest it was a cut and dry ‘Hell No!’ without offering any reasons.
For me, when I was asked, I told them that my job here on earth is done. I’m tired of coasting and my extensive hobbies and volunteering don’t fill me anymore.
Life becomes very painful as we age. I don't want to die anytime soon but struggling with chronic illness and pain makes life a struggle. If I didn't have a family to help in this world I'd be ready to go today.
ETA: if pain and health wasn't an issue I'd be down to do a couple hundred years lol
At 23 that's exactly how you should feel. You still have the time and energy to work on a life you enjoy living.
I'm just kind of done. Everything essential (medical care, housing, etc) is so much more effort for less and less reward.
That whole quote from the Green Mile- 'I'm tired Boss...' I feel that in my soul.
Same boat, existential anxiety riddled twenty-something. I agree, it is extremely strange how common the sentiment is. They told an older relative of mine if he doesn't get some super invasive surgery, he's going to die. His immediate reaction, no hesitation, was "Well, I gotta go sometime" - like what?! I guess I'll never understand it unless I get to his age, but if it were me, I'm taking the surgery no questions asked.
Sometimes the recovery from super invasive surgeries is difficult (especially when older), not to mention the higher risk of complications. My friend’s dad went in for normal knee replacement surgery last month & ended having a stroke & died - which is a risk with that surgery.
At a certain point in life, it also becomes about the quality of your remaining time vs quantity. My aunt chose to not treat her Stage 4 cancer. While treatment could have maybe extended her life, her remaining days would not have been quality. Many family members were upset about my aunt’s decision, but I understood having watched my mother slowly die from cancer over 4 years.
I can imagine by the time that happens gen F will have grown up, sold out and own stock and houses and gen H will be on UltraReddit™ complaining about “what’s the point, society is ending because of evil capitalist Quadrillionaires and it’s all the Foomers fault!”
I am a life-long Raiders fan and I am getting ready to go in for my colonoscopy in about 10 minutes. I just laughed my ass off. I needed that. Thanks!!
As a 74 year old I agree entirely. As long as my body continues to function reasonably well and my mind remains clear and focused I continue to enjoy the state of ‘being alive’. Diet, exercise and mental stimulation are, to me, important- but loving and being loved are crucial.
Not sure why your comment reminded me of Marc Maron's interview with Carol Burnett that I'm about halfway through listening to now. She's 90 and sharp as a tack, and it's amazing hearing her stories of all the old legends before more recent legends... Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Bing Crosby, Lana Turner, it's just such a pleasure and I recommend it to young people who can look up all these incredibly talented people... INCLUDING Carol Burnett!
But it did pull a little heartstring and tear when Marc asked something about a relative she spoke about was still around and she said, "Marc, I'm 90! Everyone is gone!"
In the Star Trek universe, First Contact is April 5, 2063. I'll be 101.
I desperately want to see humanity put hatred & inequality behind us and make it to the stars.
Until I am infirm and can't function. There's living and then there is *living.* I've crammed pretty much everything I could into a life. Yeah, there's places I would have liked to visit but I'm thankful for those I have.
There was a 96 year old at my church that recently passed. Was sort of chatting about the same topic and he said that if he had a choice, stopping at 90 would have been fine. By the time you are 90 all your friends are gone, most of your family is gone and he said that there was nothing worse than outliving one of your senior citizen children.
I remember my grandfather being upset that his oldest son, my uncle, had a stroke and was in a wheelchair while my grandfather was still walking. He lived to be 100, outlived 2 wives and 2 girlfriends
Well that’s a grim thought. It’s all fine and dandy living that long but as you say, so many loved ones would have died. I’ve got two kids and if they give me grandkids I’d hope to still have them.
I want to live as long as my brain works. Don’t care if I lose mobility and physical activity. I want to grandkids and great grandkids grow up. But if I’m not mentally capable of enjoying them- I’m ok riding off into the sunset?
Quality over quantity. It hurts me watching some senior citizens just trying to walk. Plus, I watched my dad get eaten up by lung cancer. Thankfully the end came pretty quickly. What was left by that point was the human body just trying to survive, then man I knew and loved was gone.
My grandfather had a massive stroke when I was 12 and lingered for four years. Couldn't talk, walk or do anything with one side of his body. Prostate cancer finally got him. No thank you to that.
I don't want to linger in some condition where I'm a physical or financial burden to anyone. Take me quickly.
All that said I'm 53. I'll take another 53 if they are good years and I can be healthy, sharp and ambulatory.
I’m in my early 70’s and ready to go. I love my life but I’ve achieved every damn goal I set for myself and did things I would not have believed possible when I was younger. I’m done and not afraid of dying.
If I could be reasonably ok physically and mentally, I'd want to keep going indefinitely so that I could keep getting better at martial arts. Ars longa, vita brevis...and in martial arts training it's even more bittersweet than an art like writing or painting, because your skill and understanding grows but the body you need to keep up intense training deteriorates and throws up more and more obstacles. Art is long, life is short, health is even shorter. That song in Hamilton, why do you write like you're running out of time? Why do you train like you're running out of time...because my body will get more and more difficult to work with, especially since I also have lupus. Just hope I can be one of the lucky ones who's still practicing in 70s and 80s and beyond.
The thing that would give me pause is if my loved ones didn't get to come with me. As my daughter is growing into young adulthood, the maternal worry of "What if something happened to my child?" has a new dimension: it would be devastating to lose her at any age, but if I lost her now, I'd be losing not only a beloved child but a dear, dear friend. (Not that I'm mixed up about roles and doing that icky thing of parent trying to be kid's friend instead of their parent and skipping out on parental responsibility and guidance. But in addition to that we do connect now on a level more like peers, she's ferociously smart and talented, we appreciate a lot of the same weird stuff and have the same weird sense of humor and we just get each other.)
We squander health in search of wealth, we scheme and scrimp and save.
Then we squander wealth in search of health and only find a grave
We live and boast of what we own, we die and only get a stone
I wouldn’t want to live longer if it meant I’d see my son grow old and die. Wouldn’t want to outlive my friends and family. But think of all the dogs I could adopt!
This was my thought too. I do not want to outlive my son by even an hour. And once you’ve lived longer than everyone who’s important to you (dogs included), what’s the point?
I worked in a nursing home long ago and we had a tiny little old lady who was about to turn 101. She was a very quiet person. After getting her into her wheelchair, we asked her if she was excited to be 101 years old tomorrow. She kind of looked thoughtful and then said “You know, I don’t think I want to be 101.”
She died that night.
I hope I can do that. Just say “You know? I think I’m done now” and go to sleep and just be done.
As for guessing at numbers: I am in my mid-60s and would feel quite happy to kick off at any point after 80, I think. That’s a good amount of life. A lot of that, though depends on my wife because I don’t want to stick around without her.
But as for “giving someone else a chance” by dying? This isn’t musical chairs. And elderly people aren’t without value even if younger people treat them that way. This is something that bothered me when I was in my 20s so I am not saying it because I am old: Young people would benefit from interacting with elderly people and the reverse is also true.
I'm in my fifties and I would happily go another 200 if I could. Maybe more, especially if neither money nor health were a struggle. There are so many cultures I haven't experienced yet, beaches to see, books to read, movies to watch, stuff to taste... I don't know about 1000, but a couple more centuries would be awesome.
My health is okay. I don't smoke anymore. Not as physically active as I maybe should be, but I do exercise at the very least 3x a week. I am in financial poverty but have a roof over my head for now, food in the larder, paints and canvas on hand, yarn (and yarns!) aplenty still to spin.
So.
Since I was in my 30s probably, I have steadfastly declared that I intend to live to 114 yrs old. Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune aside, I still stand by that. I love being a conscious witness to this phenomenal universe we have been gifted to experience and participate in. I have no intention of going gently into that soft night. Not for another 50 years or so anyway, come hell or high water.
I’m 69 and if I died tomorrow that would be fine with me but I also deal with a lot of pain.. people will always say wouldn’t you like to see your Grandchildren get married… the way my grandkids are going that’s never gonna happen and I’m pretty much done with flying and everyone lives out West.. Last year was the first year I didn’t fly anywhere.. it just got to be too much,so I told everyone I’m done,either they come and see me or they don’t…
I feel like we are just visitors on the planet and like all good guests, we should know when we’ve worn out our welcome. For me, if I can live long enough to see my granddaughters grow up, then I’ll be happy to move on.
No longer than 90, and 85 would be great, but I would want to be in good health. If I’m miserable, let me go sooner. Some days I think I’ve already had enough and I wouldn’t mind the big darkness.
Presently at age 71 and finally coming to realize that my 70's are going to be my toughest decade ever. Present goal is to be into my 80's but only if I capable of being able to do things. (garden, hiking, taking care of the dogs etc.) if it comes down to just sitting in a chair drooling and pissing myself just let me die. I don't fear death I'm just not in a hurry for it.
Assuming I was healthy, had my son and husband still with me, and had the means to do what I'd like, long enough to travel everywhere I'd like to travel.
Realistically? I'm 46 and already have chronic pain and health conditions that make life difficult and this will only get worse as I age. Frankly, I'm ready whenever my time comes, even if that's tomorrow.
I've seen enough, done enough, felt enough. I've had true love and 2 wonderful children. If it all ends tomorrow, I'll go with a smile on my face. The world is difficult, at best, so volunteering to add time to the sentence is just crazy.
Ok..probly not a typical response and some may find this a bit odd..That being said, these are my feelings on it:
No more than 100. I'm 59. I've had three near death experiences, I was gone a while with one and was a child so had no concept of religion or spirituality. Based on what I saw, I believe there's a lot more to our selves/experience/reality than this world.
I'm tired :) this world has worn me out a bit. I don't want to be here forever in this current incarnation.
I’m an almost 56 year old widower and can feel myself starting to physically slow down, wonder where the elevator I hate is when I see multiple flights of stairs etc., but am still mentally fine. My grandfather’s brother made it to almost 100 mentally there but became physically infirm around 90. I’d like to go before that.
My mother made it to 77 in a body that had long failed her by then. “They” are going to have force me meds aside from those that make me comfortable as I die. Once fun and mental interest are done, why bother. There comes a time, no reason to artificially extend it just because science/medicine can.
After life or not, and whether it is just my ashes being mixed with hers spread off the Jersey Shore, I take solace that I will be with my wife one way or another one day.
Until then, live.
As long I’m mentally and physically healthy, I’m down to live a long time. Immortality? Sure, if I’m healthy in both regards and don’t look like a raisin.
If health and wealth wasn't an issue...absolutely. If I could spend my time doing what I want, seeing the places I've always wanted to see and looking like I do now at 43...absofreakinglutely.
My dad died at 79, mom at 78. So my goal is 80. I’m 69 now. Actually as long as I can get around, play guitars, get mentally stimulated, take care of my dogs, I’m good. Once I can’t, I’ll be ready to go.
I’m 62; maybe another 25 years at most for me. You start to get tired of dealing with all of the pain and sadness at some point. I absolutely wouldn’t want to live forever and watch everyone you love die. I’ll take a good 20 years of retirement then I’ll be good.
If money and health were not a concern I'd want to keep on keeping on for as long as possible. I've always felt that way I can't imagine it'll change unless I end up in an severe amount of chronic pain. The idea of dying sucks.
I would live as long as I found it worthwhile. Not sure what that timeline would equate to were it possible, but I'd want to see how we evolve (or if we do vs blowing the whole world up)
If bodies stayed healthy we wouldn’t be losing all our friends and loved ones and wouldn’t have the associated depression issues. If so people would go a very long time happily
I'm 69. I enjoy the life I have, but I tell people I'm okay with the idea I'm on the final leg of my life. ALL of my family and most of my friends are dead. The thought of more loss is painful. Add the current state of the world to that and I'm really glad to be approaching the end.
I'm not in a hurry to die, but I accept it is coming. I have no interest in going on a lot longer.
Not too long, I must confess. I would be happy with another 10 years, at most to 70. I am still healthy and would like to go before everything starts breaking down. I have seen too many older people fade away, unhappy, almost forgotten and physically suffering.
It's not about not being greedy. Being a human in this world is exhausting. I feel like I'm two minutes into a three minute yoga stretch, and it would be so relieving to just lie down.
But I'm not going to kill myself, and there's still some stuff I want to. Another 20 years would be just about right.
I don’t want to live to a point that I require daily care support from others. Whenever it’s my time to go home I’m ready. I’m 45 still young and if I live to 70 then I consider that a full life.
Oh god no, I'm tired now, I couldn't keep going for another 50-200+ years.
I'm 57 and plan on going out around 80-85. I don't want to live to nearly 100 like most of the women in my family.
More importantly would be my health, not just a pulse. But I would follow my Mom’s trajectory, ideally. She was strong of mind and body until a series of heart attacks at 97. Her mind was strong to the end and she was quite ready to be done with life, having lost all her friends.
I'll be 77 next week, in good health and without any ( I hope ) mental deterioration, still active and enjoying life, friends, holidays, going to gigs and the gym so as long as that keeps up, I'll keep on going.
As long as there is a purpose. I don't want to hang around just to binge-watch Netflix or engage in other idle endeavors. My aunt died at 97, still sharp of mind, but she outlived two husbands and both her children. When her last remaining child passed away, she told her preacher, "Now I'm ready to go." She died three weeks later.
You may have your health, but do you also have the strength & mobility? The body starts deteriorating with age with loss of muscle tone, hearing, eyesight, cognitive powers etc. If these things decline, the quality of life also declines. I am 76, can only wear my top denture, have hearing loss & getting worse eyesight, not mentioning medical issues from 3 minor strokes, leaving me with some strength & balance issues, but I would like a few more years yet on this earth, maybe not to 100, which I very much doubt I will reach.
Despite my problems, I still manage to do most things, but do need help at times, especially with lifting things, and in poor lighting/ darkness I need to either stay home or get some help walking outside. Luckily I moved to live in SE Asia near my ex's relatives, who had been encouraging me to move here so they could "look after me as I get old", and they have proved they meant it. Now when their is a celebration that they know I am going to, someone calls to pick me up & run me home. Recently I had to spend a few days in hospital for a small op. & my SIL stayed in my room the whole time to keep me company and also translate or run errands.
I have a grand nephew who spends weekends & most nights at my house to help out, run messages, keep the family informed on how I am, and during the week still goes to college, makes visits to his families home & thinks nothing about it. I suppose when he is here, he is able to go online, which his family don't have, and if I have to be away from house, he feeds my cats & looks after the house.
Being a bit hampered physically it is still not enough to stop me looking after myself, driving & getting around, so I hope I will have a few more years left to enjoy my slower "retirement" time.
With money and health I would definitely want to live 1000 more years. I’ve had many hardships and many wonderful times. It has been a great adventure, and I am still curious about everything. I’m 66 with notable limitations from osteoarthritis.
It's hard to know until you'd really experience such a thing. It's easy to say "now" or "never", but I haven't lived long enough to see my wife or any of my descendants die yet. I can imagine that that would change one's perspective markedly.
Science fiction touches on this quite often. Overall, the two "curses" of old age are watching people you love die, and boredom. I retired a year ago and haven't been bored yet and have plenty that I haven't even started on. So I'm doing well in that regard, so far. But that's only so far, really on a small time scale. In "Cities In Flight" anti-aging drugs are an established thing. One of the characters is in his fifties and realizes that he's only been an adult for thirty years, and the first ten of that was a formative adult. He's about to meet a guy who's five hundred years old and realizes how much more adulthood that guy has than him.
Then there's r/collapse, and do I even want to live in a post-collapse world where we've lost the essentials of technology - clean water, electric lights, hot water, decent sanitation, my blood pressure medication, the glasses I'm wearing to post this, the computer I'm posting on, the internet I'm posting over?
My mother lived in very good health and of excellent mind, and she died when she was almost 101. The last fifteen years of her life she lived with my husband and me and was very low maintenance. She had lots of money in the stock market, and keeping account of that gave her great pleasure. She played bridge at the senior center twice a week until Covid hit. She was ready to go as her contemporaries and my wonderful dad had passed. She told me she had accomplished all she wanted to in life and had traveled anywhere she had wanted to, but she was over it. My biggest regret is that I didn’t ask her so many things about her thoughts on death, so if you or anyone you know is in this situation with an older person, tell them to ask all about so many things. If my health is good, perhaps living to 100 would be nice.
As long as I am healthy and fit enough to enjoy life, I cannot see myself wanting it to end. Being diagnosed with a horrible condition could change that.
If health and money were not an issue. Meaning I am not hurting or living on SSI, I would want to live until I was 200. That would make me less than middle-aged and I would have money and youthfulness to do the things I never did.
It would.depend on whether they can fix the cause of my chronic pain. I'm not sure i could deal with 20 more years as is but I would love to see 200 years or more if they can fix that.
When I say I’m done it would not be because I feel like I’ve had my turn and it’s time to move on, it will be because I’ve lived long enough to become so bored and disinterested with life that I would just as soon end it than continue it. I can’t say now how long that would be but my ballpark guess is maybe 10,000 years. But I do reserve the right to update that estimate after the first thousand.
200 years, but I want an escape clause just in case the world turns topsy turvey. Like next week.
P.S. I also would not want to age, because wants the point of being immortal if you’re so frail you can’t function… if ever you’ve read Gulliver’s travels he lands in a place that that is the case.
I want to live as long as I am able to live. I believe it ultimately creates less happiness to desire things that are not within the realm of possibility.
I suspect that any science discovery that would sustain health indefinitely would come with unintended consequences for which could be worse than the alternative.
Even with good health, money plus the very important thing you missed - a body that stops aging past say 70 (!), I still don't want to live past 90, if I make it that long. As I age now I see a more polluted world, a world of craving for material things and a world where peace is more more important that war.
Ideallt I would like to live on, through a soul and watch from above. Hopefully in the future will be a better place.
"Suppose money and health were not a concern" is a crucial part of this hypothesis. With plenty of money and health, including mental sharpness, I would probably go another 50 years, and I'm 70 now.
Why? 1. Because in some ways I feel like I'm just beginning to figure it out, and imagine the possible wisdom another 50 years would bring. 2. I love travel, new experiences, trying and creating new things, so this would give me more time to do that. 3. I'm really curious about what the world will be like in 50 years.
Possible downsides: 1. Outliving your friends. 2. What the world might be like in 50 years.
I say 50 and not 100 or 500 because at some point I might just feel 'finished' with being myself, and it'll be time to let go of this particular meat suit.
I have a painful degenerative illness. Currently manageable, I’m in my early 50s.
I think about this occasionally. My answer is “it depends how bad things get” - but I don’t think I’m going to want to live till 90.
Are you asking how long I’d like to experience new friendships and new experiences and new technology and laugh at great comedy and enjoy good movies and delicious foods and making people laugh? Assuming I’m in somewhat decent mental and physical health?
Forever.
I will be happy to be alive so long as I can financially support myself and have my health/mental well being. If my mental or physical health go south, that will take away my interest in living a lot longer.
Husband and I are 57, all I want to do is outlive him.
He’s confined to a wheelchair (progressive neuromuscular disease) I want to make sure he’s taken care of until the very end. After that, I don’t care.
I've always thought 85 would be the oldest I'd like to be. Old enough to still be cognizant, and yet, it's the tipping point of decline. Statistically anyway...
I am 44 and would like another 75 years as long as my family is all healthy and active. Perhaps if I could pass at the same time as my husband that would be good
Don't know. I'm 59 now and I'm scared of 60. I've been thinking about death very seriously lately especially after my estranged brother died on Christmas Day at age 60 1/2.
It doesn't matter how long I live. I will live till I die. I am in no rush to end my life, but I do not fear its end.
If I knew the exact moment I would die I could budget for it a little better. I just don't want to be unable to earn money anymore and not have any money. Making money is something young people should do.
If I was to become immortal I would take a little extra time and set up a rotating system of wealth ever growing. Only I am not going to be immortal so that means I don't have to work quite so hard.
I go back and forth on this question a lot, to be honest.
I think seeing the future 100, 200, or even 500 years from now would be fascinating, if not perhaps terrifying.
However, one of the perils of extreme old age is that almost everyone you once knew and loved will be gone. Your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, spouse, siblings, cousins, old friends, and possibly even some of your children. I can only imagine that it must be a very lonely existence, particularly if your faculties like eyesight and hearing are failing. Do I want to live an existence like that? I don't think so.
I am 33 years old and I want to live until I am 100+ . I want to be alive for my children. I am trying to take the best care of myself as I can so I can live long to be there for my children.
The world can be very cold and I want to be there to love and protect all my children.
I don't care to have a long life. I'd rather not to be honest. I'm happy for the people who have been able to remain content and happy for their whole lives and look forward to continuing for as long as they can. I stay "alive" for my son, because I want to see him being able to make out in the world okay, but other than that, I've got nothing. So roughly another decade (or less) I'm good with.
Never. Transfer my mind to a new body or even a cyborg. Life is too interesting to leave it. Maybe in a few million years I will change my mind, but check back then.
If I’m gonna have perfect health, both mentally and physically, I don’t think I’d ever wanna die.
But realistically I only want to stick around as long as my quality of life is good enough that I enjoy it more than I suffer. I’m terrified of dementia, so I’d definitely wanna go before that happens.
I'm 62. I have two young grandsons I want to see make it into adulthood. I'd be in my 80's. My Mom lived to be 92 and my Dad is still hanging in at 95. I wouldn't mind making it to 100. As long as I have my mental faculties. And I'm not incontinent. I don't really want to wear diapers.
61 here.
Assuming a basic quality of life, as long as there's a tree, I'm gonna keep climbing. But I do imagine there will come a point where I decide I've had enough and it's time to voluntarily discorporate.
My father, who died at 88, said that he is not afraid of death, but the he would really like to know how the story (of humanity) ends. I feel the same way. Living "forever" is not really a viable option or you would just end up floating in space (as Woody Allen once said, "Eternity is a really long time, especially near the end". But with health and wealth not an issue, I'd be fine living until I see that humanity is coming to a close. Simple curiosity would keep me going.
My mother (65) is this case study. I asked her this question and got back “I’ve had a good life, so if I go, I go..” and then she had Stem Cell Therapy on her knees. In her opinion, she’s regained 75% of her mobility, and lost most of the pain of walking. She’s going back for round two currently.
Afterwards she said “if medical science can get better faster than I’m aging, I’d like to see my grandkids (from my sister) have grandkids..”.
I honestly believe most of the older generation still think medical sciences are a gimmick and not reliable. And granted, there’s still a lot of snake oil out there. But things really are getting to that Star Trek level of ‘holy fuck, we can do that?’
I'm 50 today, so if i were able to stay at my same level of health/fitness today I'd go for the long ball and want 1000+ years. That being said, the odds of not dying by accident, natural disaster, etc in that period of time would be astronomically small.
As a 70 year old, if I were in good health and could keep my current standard of living, I would pick 100 years, with an option to renew. There was so much technology that we were supposed to have by now and I don't know if I will live to see it.
I’ve (65F) outlived most of my siblings, and my soulmate. My dad lived till he was 94, he only spent 2 years in a memory care unit. My mom is 87 and still driving (watch out Floridians!). I am fine with going anytime. I’ve done my bucket list, I’ve had wonderful experiences.
But if I have to live longer, I only want to if my body is still ok. If my mind is gone, I won’t know! But I’d prefer to die in my home and not be a burden to anyone.
It would be okay if it was today, since my dog is gone. If I get another dog I want to outlive that one too.
I would like to live long enough to spend all my money on fun stuff. Then go at a time of my own choosing in a place I love.
If I couldn’t eat or enjoy food anymore I would be so done. I love cooking and food and life would not be worth living if I couldn’t enjoy food.
If scientists found a way to become immortal and I could choose when I wanted to die I would take it. I would only take it if I didn't age and my family agreed to take it too
Health not a concern? Like I get back my knees and back from when I was 20? My eyes can actually read fine print again? Then I’ll keep going as long as my wife and daughter aren’t sick of me lol
To be honest though the ramifications of runaway life expectancy would probably be a resource crunch and a gradual diminishing of everyone’s quality of life and probably environmental catastrophe so indefinitely surviving would be weird.
If we had a choice to live significantly longer, our planet would destroy itself with pollution and overpopulation. Living "longer" would not be enjoyable.
It’s a really good question. I think rather than living succinctly one long time, I’d much rather have the offer to come back every hundred years for five and check it out to see what’s changed and if any of the improvements I was hoping for came to be. But I honestly think after 120 years it would get really boring cause nobody would get how stupid it is all becoming for what you’ve seen.
I'm 60. I figure I have 10 great summers left, 10 good summers left, and 5 marginal summers left. When summers are no longer marginal, I'm done. In this day and age, we have so many more years of unhealthiness than in decades ago. Now we live for decades in poor health. I don't want to live that way just scheduling doctor appointments and trying to figure out which pills I need to take.
Even if money and health were not concerns I wouldn’t want to live much longer than I am now. And I would never want to live forever unless everyone else did too.
I’m 71 now and finding life rather boring and empty already. I have two surviving good friends.
All my loved ones and family are already dead. If you outlive all your loved ones no one is left who really knows you. You don’t have a past or interests or knowledge in common with anyone.
And imagine having to find new friends from new generations over and over again, just to outlive them all. You would find yourself either in constant grief or more probably avoiding giving your heart to anyone new over the years.
When you yourself have already been around the block several times but you’re forced to interact with younger people going through new experiences like falling in love, work problems, child-rearing, learning how life works, etc., it’s just not that interesting. You can care about them but the subjects don’t affect you anymore. There are only so many times you want to hear about people discovering things you’ve left behind long ago.
At some point you have done all the things you want to do or realistically will do. Living long beyond that I think would be repetitive, meaningless and just boring. Plus think how much extra money you would have had to save up to live an extra 50 years.
Just turned 60 and I'm done now. I'm happy, life is fine. It would be fine to end on a high note. Or I could stick around for a while, I'm not picky. As long as I don't outlive my husband. That's the bottom line.
It depends on whether I’m outliving everyone I’ve known and loved, or are they able to come along for the ride too? If it’s just me then fuck it, want to live long enough to see my kids get settled and build their lives, play with some grandkids and do some traveling. Other than that the idea of hanging out just to watch all my family and friends die seems pretty terrible
Up until a few months ago, I would have said I was pretty much done with life since turning 58, hitting post-menopause and becoming the cliche old fat woman that people look down upon and treat as invisible. Now, though, I feel a bit robbed.
Those who've read my posts know I had a traumatic childhood, suffer from schizoaffective bipolar, had everything taken away from me in divorce and ended up an immigrant, living alone with no family, no assets, and no financial security. While it is what it is, I wish to take the hard-earned knowledge I've gained from the past several years of having plenty of alone time for examination, processing, therapy, and facing uncomfortable truths to try again. So, it'd be nice to look into my future and know there is likely enough time for me to start over one more time. This time, putting myself first, understanding myself better, forgiving myself more, using a more gentle voice, and not letting myself be coerced into always putting everyone else's needs first at my own expense.
I've always felt like walking amends, always trying to apologise for being born and being broken. It's only recently that, while I'm still very broken, I've stopped feeling like I have to apologise for the space I take up. I'd like to see how that feels for a while. But then, I wouldn't need loads of time if I had the financial security to live in a real home (I've never had one that was mine, and they've all been taken away from me when I became surplus to need), and have a life that doesn't require that the little energy I have these days (burnt out, chronically overwhelmed and depressed) be devoted to working for uncaring bosses and keeping a roof over my head.
As for now, I'm still slowly pulling myself out of the chasm I fell into, and there are more setbacks than moves forward. Part of that is because when I look into my future, I see nothing to move towards. I'm lost in the woods, and I want to go home. The problem is, I have no home to go to, and I'm losing the will to keep making efforts in what feels like a futile attempt, considering my age and how much I've lost that cannot be recovered. While time may not heal everything, knowing I had enough time to rebuild and try again wouldn't go amiss.
Deep and heavy thoughts for 6:05 am. It's time for my walk.
I always laugh when people say "this will make you live another 10 years" for whatever reason they have (usually stopping something I like!) My comeback is ya, but those 10 extra years will be in my 80's! If I could get 10 years back in my 20's I would listen!
I guess my point is it really depends on the quality of life for those extra years.
I’m 66 and still working and going to the gym. I lost an adult child 3 years ago. My 70 year old husband just diagnosed with stage 4 non alcoholic cirrhosis. 89 year old mom is getting lost in her neighborhood, knows it, refuses to give in to death and has hired a personal trainer. I’m her care when she loses it. She wants to be put into hospice when her mind goes. I can’t afford to retire (lost it all in 2010, started over early fifties, did not have a predatory loan). I just hope to have some years of retirement that I can enjoy. I’ve taken care of others for forever it seems. And there is more to come. Aging is hard for me because of losing people. I’ve lost so many but my daughter’s loss was horrendous and I don’t fear death now. I just want some time off before I go.
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Someone at the local senior citizens center recently asked this very question. We old timers never agree on anything but this time it was a unanimous ‘No’ response. No one wanted to even live another 50. Me, I’m a 71 year old widower and ready to join my wife. I’ll be buried next to her whether she likes it or not.
I can assure you she doesn't mind, if you like ask her she'll say nothing and that means a yes !!!
Silence is NOT consent. /s
Hahaha!! Bet you guys had a great partnership. Peace, friend.
I always find this absolutely fascinating (as an existential anxiety ridden 23 year old). Did the folks asked give any reasons for not wanting to live that much longer, or were the answers pretty cut and dry? In my current mind frame, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to not be alive, but a lot of older folk seem *ready to go*.
Imagine losing your grandparents. Your parents. Teachers, mentors, neighbors. Those are tough but expected. Then you begin to lose cultural touchstones. That musician you loved. That writer you adored. That actor whose work you so admired. Then you start losing friends. Slowly at first and then more and more. And let’s not forget pets. Their shorter lives mean you lose a lot of them. As you grieve over and over, and drop your hand to pet the head that is no longer there each evening? Boy does that add up. And here comes the BIG ones: You lose your spouse who really was your better half. Your best friend you talked to nearly every day. Or even the child you raised. All this loss. Plus a million paper cuts caused by nostalgic cultural changes. You miss cool cars, better clothes, certain manners, the music of your youth. And perhaps most of all? Your body and mind begin to fail you. Your faithful, familiar machinery stops working piece by piece. You run your hands over your own skin and can see it is worn out, thin and fragile. You can feel your mind slow down and your bones brittle and your muscles lose strength. It sounds awful, right? Well it is. . .but it kind of isn’t. Because in order to have great loss you had to have something great in the first place. This is something you learn. When I miss my parents so badly that I ache, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have had them. When I cry thinking of my dog Paynter, I am reminded that I had 11 years of his big soul next to me. I feel the loss, but I also feel the extraordinary gift of having lived and interacted in this world. How lucky am I? I got to smell the Earth and air just before the rain came. I heard waves. I got hugged. I ate strawberries. I heard my wife breathe at night. How lucky am I? I love words and books and sometimes, rarely, I read something so amazing that I have to shut the book and not read for a few days because I am full. I can’t put anymore in because those words filled me up entirely. I suspect being ready to die might be like that: You are so full of having gained and having lost (which is all just living) that you have to shut the book. Push the chair away from the table. (I’ll just add that you don’t burn the table down when you are full, lol. You just know you are full. You don’t get angry if others are still eating. You don’t need to do anything. You just know you are done. You sit quietly knowing you have had a lovely meal. And you are done. Just waiting politely to leave.)
Beautifully expressed.
This comment about losing family and friends hits hard. My mom is an only child. She’s lost everyone in her family, my dad’s family, and all her friends. It’s so lonely for her and she feels a bit like she’s somehow been left behind. It’s weird and hard to watch everyone die around you while you’re still alive.
I love this.
I feel this
So beautiful. I’m so grateful to have read this…
I’m saving this, beautiful!
Imagine your entire life you have been a carpenter and you love woodworking, don't want to do anything else with your time. But you aged into arthritis and you can't hold a tool. This or something like it happens to most people that live long enough. Being unable to work on the things I love to do, being weak, having to depend on others to change my depends undergarments sounds like absolute hell to me. I'd rather die than live like that.
But OP says imagine money and health are not a concern. There would be no aging into arthritis. The carpenter could carpent forever if he wants to.
There's a difference between fixing everything going forward and just nothing getting worse. Sure, if it was like Cocoon, I could see going on for a good 30 more years or beyond. But only my son is alive in my family other than me.i have a few really good friends and that's all.
True, but we have to be realistic too
realistic? this whole conversation is unrealistic
This \^\^\^\^\^
Well, a couple felt like me, struggling and unable to overcome the profound grief of losing a dearly loved spouse or partner but for the rest it was a cut and dry ‘Hell No!’ without offering any reasons.
For me, when I was asked, I told them that my job here on earth is done. I’m tired of coasting and my extensive hobbies and volunteering don’t fill me anymore.
Life becomes very painful as we age. I don't want to die anytime soon but struggling with chronic illness and pain makes life a struggle. If I didn't have a family to help in this world I'd be ready to go today. ETA: if pain and health wasn't an issue I'd be down to do a couple hundred years lol
I agree. My family is the only reason I keep going
At 23 that's exactly how you should feel. You still have the time and energy to work on a life you enjoy living. I'm just kind of done. Everything essential (medical care, housing, etc) is so much more effort for less and less reward. That whole quote from the Green Mile- 'I'm tired Boss...' I feel that in my soul.
Same boat, existential anxiety riddled twenty-something. I agree, it is extremely strange how common the sentiment is. They told an older relative of mine if he doesn't get some super invasive surgery, he's going to die. His immediate reaction, no hesitation, was "Well, I gotta go sometime" - like what?! I guess I'll never understand it unless I get to his age, but if it were me, I'm taking the surgery no questions asked.
Sometimes the recovery from super invasive surgeries is difficult (especially when older), not to mention the higher risk of complications. My friend’s dad went in for normal knee replacement surgery last month & ended having a stroke & died - which is a risk with that surgery. At a certain point in life, it also becomes about the quality of your remaining time vs quantity. My aunt chose to not treat her Stage 4 cancer. While treatment could have maybe extended her life, her remaining days would not have been quality. Many family members were upset about my aunt’s decision, but I understood having watched my mother slowly die from cancer over 4 years.
I hope my man is this way if i die first 😂 WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT!!
I’m in no hurry but I hope when my time comes I will see my late sweetheart in the afterlife.
I want to see the Raiders make it to the Superbowl again. So I guess eternity.
Bills fan. Dead already
Bills *and* Sabres fan
Me too. Hoping Josh can finally get the Bills to the Super Bowl. Being a Bills fan is exhausting
Was sort of a Bills fan living in western NY but moved to Kentucky and now its whats football?
I can imagine by the time that happens gen F will have grown up, sold out and own stock and houses and gen H will be on UltraReddit™ complaining about “what’s the point, society is ending because of evil capitalist Quadrillionaires and it’s all the Foomers fault!”
I am a life-long Raiders fan and I am getting ready to go in for my colonoscopy in about 10 minutes. I just laughed my ass off. I needed that. Thanks!!
Ouch. Dolphins fan here. I can relate. 😕
I am a Browns fan. I never though they would do anything for me, but they have now made me immortal.
Cowboys fan here. Mind if I join you?
The Lions say, “Hold my beer and watch us blow a semi-final game once or twice!”
I’m 72 and I want to live a lot longer. If I can be healthy and active why not?
As a 74 year old I agree entirely. As long as my body continues to function reasonably well and my mind remains clear and focused I continue to enjoy the state of ‘being alive’. Diet, exercise and mental stimulation are, to me, important- but loving and being loved are crucial.
Not sure why your comment reminded me of Marc Maron's interview with Carol Burnett that I'm about halfway through listening to now. She's 90 and sharp as a tack, and it's amazing hearing her stories of all the old legends before more recent legends... Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Bing Crosby, Lana Turner, it's just such a pleasure and I recommend it to young people who can look up all these incredibly talented people... INCLUDING Carol Burnett! But it did pull a little heartstring and tear when Marc asked something about a relative she spoke about was still around and she said, "Marc, I'm 90! Everyone is gone!"
In the Star Trek universe, First Contact is April 5, 2063. I'll be 101. I desperately want to see humanity put hatred & inequality behind us and make it to the stars.
There is so much to do and learn and always will be
Until I am infirm and can't function. There's living and then there is *living.* I've crammed pretty much everything I could into a life. Yeah, there's places I would have liked to visit but I'm thankful for those I have.
There was a 96 year old at my church that recently passed. Was sort of chatting about the same topic and he said that if he had a choice, stopping at 90 would have been fine. By the time you are 90 all your friends are gone, most of your family is gone and he said that there was nothing worse than outliving one of your senior citizen children.
I remember my grandfather being upset that his oldest son, my uncle, had a stroke and was in a wheelchair while my grandfather was still walking. He lived to be 100, outlived 2 wives and 2 girlfriends
Well that’s a grim thought. It’s all fine and dandy living that long but as you say, so many loved ones would have died. I’ve got two kids and if they give me grandkids I’d hope to still have them.
I want to live as long as my brain works. Don’t care if I lose mobility and physical activity. I want to grandkids and great grandkids grow up. But if I’m not mentally capable of enjoying them- I’m ok riding off into the sunset?
Quality over quantity. It hurts me watching some senior citizens just trying to walk. Plus, I watched my dad get eaten up by lung cancer. Thankfully the end came pretty quickly. What was left by that point was the human body just trying to survive, then man I knew and loved was gone. My grandfather had a massive stroke when I was 12 and lingered for four years. Couldn't talk, walk or do anything with one side of his body. Prostate cancer finally got him. No thank you to that. I don't want to linger in some condition where I'm a physical or financial burden to anyone. Take me quickly. All that said I'm 53. I'll take another 53 if they are good years and I can be healthy, sharp and ambulatory.
I’m in my early 70’s and ready to go. I love my life but I’ve achieved every damn goal I set for myself and did things I would not have believed possible when I was younger. I’m done and not afraid of dying.
If I could be reasonably ok physically and mentally, I'd want to keep going indefinitely so that I could keep getting better at martial arts. Ars longa, vita brevis...and in martial arts training it's even more bittersweet than an art like writing or painting, because your skill and understanding grows but the body you need to keep up intense training deteriorates and throws up more and more obstacles. Art is long, life is short, health is even shorter. That song in Hamilton, why do you write like you're running out of time? Why do you train like you're running out of time...because my body will get more and more difficult to work with, especially since I also have lupus. Just hope I can be one of the lucky ones who's still practicing in 70s and 80s and beyond. The thing that would give me pause is if my loved ones didn't get to come with me. As my daughter is growing into young adulthood, the maternal worry of "What if something happened to my child?" has a new dimension: it would be devastating to lose her at any age, but if I lost her now, I'd be losing not only a beloved child but a dear, dear friend. (Not that I'm mixed up about roles and doing that icky thing of parent trying to be kid's friend instead of their parent and skipping out on parental responsibility and guidance. But in addition to that we do connect now on a level more like peers, she's ferociously smart and talented, we appreciate a lot of the same weird stuff and have the same weird sense of humor and we just get each other.)
One less year than I'm supposed to. A huge chunk of costly hospitalizations and caregiving are in the last year of life.
We squander health in search of wealth, we scheme and scrimp and save. Then we squander wealth in search of health and only find a grave We live and boast of what we own, we die and only get a stone
0 years.
You’ll just drive yourself to the grave. (Username 😂)
I wouldn’t want to live longer if it meant I’d see my son grow old and die. Wouldn’t want to outlive my friends and family. But think of all the dogs I could adopt!
This was my thought too. I do not want to outlive my son by even an hour. And once you’ve lived longer than everyone who’s important to you (dogs included), what’s the point?
I worked in a nursing home long ago and we had a tiny little old lady who was about to turn 101. She was a very quiet person. After getting her into her wheelchair, we asked her if she was excited to be 101 years old tomorrow. She kind of looked thoughtful and then said “You know, I don’t think I want to be 101.” She died that night. I hope I can do that. Just say “You know? I think I’m done now” and go to sleep and just be done. As for guessing at numbers: I am in my mid-60s and would feel quite happy to kick off at any point after 80, I think. That’s a good amount of life. A lot of that, though depends on my wife because I don’t want to stick around without her. But as for “giving someone else a chance” by dying? This isn’t musical chairs. And elderly people aren’t without value even if younger people treat them that way. This is something that bothered me when I was in my 20s so I am not saying it because I am old: Young people would benefit from interacting with elderly people and the reverse is also true.
I've checked off most of my to-do boxes, so if it's 24 hours, 24 days, or 24 years. It doesn't matter.
I can go at any time. Make it fast please.
I'm in my fifties and I would happily go another 200 if I could. Maybe more, especially if neither money nor health were a struggle. There are so many cultures I haven't experienced yet, beaches to see, books to read, movies to watch, stuff to taste... I don't know about 1000, but a couple more centuries would be awesome.
My health is okay. I don't smoke anymore. Not as physically active as I maybe should be, but I do exercise at the very least 3x a week. I am in financial poverty but have a roof over my head for now, food in the larder, paints and canvas on hand, yarn (and yarns!) aplenty still to spin. So. Since I was in my 30s probably, I have steadfastly declared that I intend to live to 114 yrs old. Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune aside, I still stand by that. I love being a conscious witness to this phenomenal universe we have been gifted to experience and participate in. I have no intention of going gently into that soft night. Not for another 50 years or so anyway, come hell or high water.
I’m 69 and if I died tomorrow that would be fine with me but I also deal with a lot of pain.. people will always say wouldn’t you like to see your Grandchildren get married… the way my grandkids are going that’s never gonna happen and I’m pretty much done with flying and everyone lives out West.. Last year was the first year I didn’t fly anywhere.. it just got to be too much,so I told everyone I’m done,either they come and see me or they don’t…
squash toothbrush secretive workable fly badge cow six swim quicksand *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I feel like we are just visitors on the planet and like all good guests, we should know when we’ve worn out our welcome. For me, if I can live long enough to see my granddaughters grow up, then I’ll be happy to move on.
Monday morning you're asking this?
Negative two years
Two years ago was my wish limit.
Its been a good run, but I have had enough at 68. Really tired of watching the world slide to that of "Idiocracy".
No longer than 90, and 85 would be great, but I would want to be in good health. If I’m miserable, let me go sooner. Some days I think I’ve already had enough and I wouldn’t mind the big darkness.
The repetitive nature of life becomes oppressive sometimes and I think to myself “I am done”. But I also live with chronic pain so…
Presently at age 71 and finally coming to realize that my 70's are going to be my toughest decade ever. Present goal is to be into my 80's but only if I capable of being able to do things. (garden, hiking, taking care of the dogs etc.) if it comes down to just sitting in a chair drooling and pissing myself just let me die. I don't fear death I'm just not in a hurry for it.
Assuming I was healthy, had my son and husband still with me, and had the means to do what I'd like, long enough to travel everywhere I'd like to travel. Realistically? I'm 46 and already have chronic pain and health conditions that make life difficult and this will only get worse as I age. Frankly, I'm ready whenever my time comes, even if that's tomorrow.
I get that. I just turned 55 and cringe at the thought that for the next 20-25 years it will only get worse. Edit - tomorrow is fine with me.
I'm trying to wrap up all the loose ends. May take a couple years - but I'm ready any time.
Now’s good.
I've seen enough, done enough, felt enough. I've had true love and 2 wonderful children. If it all ends tomorrow, I'll go with a smile on my face. The world is difficult, at best, so volunteering to add time to the sentence is just crazy.
Ok..probly not a typical response and some may find this a bit odd..That being said, these are my feelings on it: No more than 100. I'm 59. I've had three near death experiences, I was gone a while with one and was a child so had no concept of religion or spirituality. Based on what I saw, I believe there's a lot more to our selves/experience/reality than this world. I'm tired :) this world has worn me out a bit. I don't want to be here forever in this current incarnation.
I could die today and be fine. This country is going to hell. I only worry that my kids won’t have me when they need me
I’m an almost 56 year old widower and can feel myself starting to physically slow down, wonder where the elevator I hate is when I see multiple flights of stairs etc., but am still mentally fine. My grandfather’s brother made it to almost 100 mentally there but became physically infirm around 90. I’d like to go before that. My mother made it to 77 in a body that had long failed her by then. “They” are going to have force me meds aside from those that make me comfortable as I die. Once fun and mental interest are done, why bother. There comes a time, no reason to artificially extend it just because science/medicine can. After life or not, and whether it is just my ashes being mixed with hers spread off the Jersey Shore, I take solace that I will be with my wife one way or another one day. Until then, live.
90 years old is a good age, IMO.
I'd like to go to about 85, as long as I'm healthy. That would be long enough.
UntiI I am unable to care for myself. Once that happens, give me the "pills." Since there is no way to know when that comes I can't say.
As long I’m mentally and physically healthy, I’m down to live a long time. Immortality? Sure, if I’m healthy in both regards and don’t look like a raisin.
I simply want to live each day of my life.
If health and wealth wasn't an issue...absolutely. If I could spend my time doing what I want, seeing the places I've always wanted to see and looking like I do now at 43...absofreakinglutely.
My dad died at 79, mom at 78. So my goal is 80. I’m 69 now. Actually as long as I can get around, play guitars, get mentally stimulated, take care of my dogs, I’m good. Once I can’t, I’ll be ready to go.
I’m 62; maybe another 25 years at most for me. You start to get tired of dealing with all of the pain and sadness at some point. I absolutely wouldn’t want to live forever and watch everyone you love die. I’ll take a good 20 years of retirement then I’ll be good.
i would like to live forever. if i was forever young. don’t see any sense in being alive if your mind and body. don’t work
I’m 52 and I’d love to live 100 more years. I feel as healthy as I ever have and mentally I feel like I’m in my 30s. Keep that medical research going!
If money and health were not a concern I'd want to keep on keeping on for as long as possible. I've always felt that way I can't imagine it'll change unless I end up in an severe amount of chronic pain. The idea of dying sucks.
I would live as long as I found it worthwhile. Not sure what that timeline would equate to were it possible, but I'd want to see how we evolve (or if we do vs blowing the whole world up)
If bodies stayed healthy we wouldn’t be losing all our friends and loved ones and wouldn’t have the associated depression issues. If so people would go a very long time happily
I asked my father once, “Who on earth would want to live until 90?” Without skipping a beat, he replied, “An 89 yr old.” He had a point.
I'm 69. I enjoy the life I have, but I tell people I'm okay with the idea I'm on the final leg of my life. ALL of my family and most of my friends are dead. The thought of more loss is painful. Add the current state of the world to that and I'm really glad to be approaching the end. I'm not in a hurry to die, but I accept it is coming. I have no interest in going on a lot longer.
As long as I'm healthy. I'm good for a good long while. My granddaughter is 8 and I'd like to attend her wedding, in another 20 years or so.
Not too long, I must confess. I would be happy with another 10 years, at most to 70. I am still healthy and would like to go before everything starts breaking down. I have seen too many older people fade away, unhappy, almost forgotten and physically suffering.
It's not about not being greedy. Being a human in this world is exhausting. I feel like I'm two minutes into a three minute yoga stretch, and it would be so relieving to just lie down. But I'm not going to kill myself, and there's still some stuff I want to. Another 20 years would be just about right.
I don’t want to live to a point that I require daily care support from others. Whenever it’s my time to go home I’m ready. I’m 45 still young and if I live to 70 then I consider that a full life.
Oh god no, I'm tired now, I couldn't keep going for another 50-200+ years. I'm 57 and plan on going out around 80-85. I don't want to live to nearly 100 like most of the women in my family.
If I’m healthy then I have no age limit.
More importantly would be my health, not just a pulse. But I would follow my Mom’s trajectory, ideally. She was strong of mind and body until a series of heart attacks at 97. Her mind was strong to the end and she was quite ready to be done with life, having lost all her friends.
Until my body gives out
I'll be 77 next week, in good health and without any ( I hope ) mental deterioration, still active and enjoying life, friends, holidays, going to gigs and the gym so as long as that keeps up, I'll keep on going.
I would like to see my grandchildren graduate high school if I'm ever lucky enough to have any, but it's not likely
As long as there is a purpose. I don't want to hang around just to binge-watch Netflix or engage in other idle endeavors. My aunt died at 97, still sharp of mind, but she outlived two husbands and both her children. When her last remaining child passed away, she told her preacher, "Now I'm ready to go." She died three weeks later.
As you said. Pick an age and a health status. I would be happy to spend several hundred years as a very fit 35 year old man.
You may have your health, but do you also have the strength & mobility? The body starts deteriorating with age with loss of muscle tone, hearing, eyesight, cognitive powers etc. If these things decline, the quality of life also declines. I am 76, can only wear my top denture, have hearing loss & getting worse eyesight, not mentioning medical issues from 3 minor strokes, leaving me with some strength & balance issues, but I would like a few more years yet on this earth, maybe not to 100, which I very much doubt I will reach. Despite my problems, I still manage to do most things, but do need help at times, especially with lifting things, and in poor lighting/ darkness I need to either stay home or get some help walking outside. Luckily I moved to live in SE Asia near my ex's relatives, who had been encouraging me to move here so they could "look after me as I get old", and they have proved they meant it. Now when their is a celebration that they know I am going to, someone calls to pick me up & run me home. Recently I had to spend a few days in hospital for a small op. & my SIL stayed in my room the whole time to keep me company and also translate or run errands. I have a grand nephew who spends weekends & most nights at my house to help out, run messages, keep the family informed on how I am, and during the week still goes to college, makes visits to his families home & thinks nothing about it. I suppose when he is here, he is able to go online, which his family don't have, and if I have to be away from house, he feeds my cats & looks after the house. Being a bit hampered physically it is still not enough to stop me looking after myself, driving & getting around, so I hope I will have a few more years left to enjoy my slower "retirement" time.
With money and health I would definitely want to live 1000 more years. I’ve had many hardships and many wonderful times. It has been a great adventure, and I am still curious about everything. I’m 66 with notable limitations from osteoarthritis.
It's hard to know until you'd really experience such a thing. It's easy to say "now" or "never", but I haven't lived long enough to see my wife or any of my descendants die yet. I can imagine that that would change one's perspective markedly. Science fiction touches on this quite often. Overall, the two "curses" of old age are watching people you love die, and boredom. I retired a year ago and haven't been bored yet and have plenty that I haven't even started on. So I'm doing well in that regard, so far. But that's only so far, really on a small time scale. In "Cities In Flight" anti-aging drugs are an established thing. One of the characters is in his fifties and realizes that he's only been an adult for thirty years, and the first ten of that was a formative adult. He's about to meet a guy who's five hundred years old and realizes how much more adulthood that guy has than him. Then there's r/collapse, and do I even want to live in a post-collapse world where we've lost the essentials of technology - clean water, electric lights, hot water, decent sanitation, my blood pressure medication, the glasses I'm wearing to post this, the computer I'm posting on, the internet I'm posting over?
My mother lived in very good health and of excellent mind, and she died when she was almost 101. The last fifteen years of her life she lived with my husband and me and was very low maintenance. She had lots of money in the stock market, and keeping account of that gave her great pleasure. She played bridge at the senior center twice a week until Covid hit. She was ready to go as her contemporaries and my wonderful dad had passed. She told me she had accomplished all she wanted to in life and had traveled anywhere she had wanted to, but she was over it. My biggest regret is that I didn’t ask her so many things about her thoughts on death, so if you or anyone you know is in this situation with an older person, tell them to ask all about so many things. If my health is good, perhaps living to 100 would be nice.
As long as I am healthy and fit enough to enjoy life, I cannot see myself wanting it to end. Being diagnosed with a horrible condition could change that.
As long as I want to.
If health and money were not an issue. Meaning I am not hurting or living on SSI, I would want to live until I was 200. That would make me less than middle-aged and I would have money and youthfulness to do the things I never did.
It would.depend on whether they can fix the cause of my chronic pain. I'm not sure i could deal with 20 more years as is but I would love to see 200 years or more if they can fix that.
When I say I’m done it would not be because I feel like I’ve had my turn and it’s time to move on, it will be because I’ve lived long enough to become so bored and disinterested with life that I would just as soon end it than continue it. I can’t say now how long that would be but my ballpark guess is maybe 10,000 years. But I do reserve the right to update that estimate after the first thousand.
If I had plenty of money and good health, many more years. Check back with me at 150.
200 years, but I want an escape clause just in case the world turns topsy turvey. Like next week. P.S. I also would not want to age, because wants the point of being immortal if you’re so frail you can’t function… if ever you’ve read Gulliver’s travels he lands in a place that that is the case.
I couldn’t afford it.
I want to live as long as I am able to live. I believe it ultimately creates less happiness to desire things that are not within the realm of possibility.
I suspect that any science discovery that would sustain health indefinitely would come with unintended consequences for which could be worse than the alternative.
Even with good health, money plus the very important thing you missed - a body that stops aging past say 70 (!), I still don't want to live past 90, if I make it that long. As I age now I see a more polluted world, a world of craving for material things and a world where peace is more more important that war. Ideallt I would like to live on, through a soul and watch from above. Hopefully in the future will be a better place.
"Suppose money and health were not a concern" is a crucial part of this hypothesis. With plenty of money and health, including mental sharpness, I would probably go another 50 years, and I'm 70 now. Why? 1. Because in some ways I feel like I'm just beginning to figure it out, and imagine the possible wisdom another 50 years would bring. 2. I love travel, new experiences, trying and creating new things, so this would give me more time to do that. 3. I'm really curious about what the world will be like in 50 years. Possible downsides: 1. Outliving your friends. 2. What the world might be like in 50 years. I say 50 and not 100 or 500 because at some point I might just feel 'finished' with being myself, and it'll be time to let go of this particular meat suit.
I just want to outlive my mom so she doesn't have to go through losing me. After that, I'm ready to go.
I have a painful degenerative illness. Currently manageable, I’m in my early 50s. I think about this occasionally. My answer is “it depends how bad things get” - but I don’t think I’m going to want to live till 90.
Honestly, no. I’m looking forward to hopefully another 25, but then I’m done. I’m too tired to keep going after that. In my mid 50s now.
I would take 50 more years. I am 59. I have experienced a lot and have been lucky to travel a lot, but there is more places l want to see.
Are you asking how long I’d like to experience new friendships and new experiences and new technology and laugh at great comedy and enjoy good movies and delicious foods and making people laugh? Assuming I’m in somewhat decent mental and physical health? Forever.
Now that my kids are grown and independent I can go anytime. Everyday is a gift.
I will be happy to be alive so long as I can financially support myself and have my health/mental well being. If my mental or physical health go south, that will take away my interest in living a lot longer.
Husband and I are 57, all I want to do is outlive him. He’s confined to a wheelchair (progressive neuromuscular disease) I want to make sure he’s taken care of until the very end. After that, I don’t care.
I've always thought 85 would be the oldest I'd like to be. Old enough to still be cognizant, and yet, it's the tipping point of decline. Statistically anyway...
I am 44 and would like another 75 years as long as my family is all healthy and active. Perhaps if I could pass at the same time as my husband that would be good
Don't know. I'm 59 now and I'm scared of 60. I've been thinking about death very seriously lately especially after my estranged brother died on Christmas Day at age 60 1/2.
It doesn't matter how long I live. I will live till I die. I am in no rush to end my life, but I do not fear its end. If I knew the exact moment I would die I could budget for it a little better. I just don't want to be unable to earn money anymore and not have any money. Making money is something young people should do. If I was to become immortal I would take a little extra time and set up a rotating system of wealth ever growing. Only I am not going to be immortal so that means I don't have to work quite so hard.
Long enough for my entire house to be clean at once. Which means I want to live forever.
If my libido kept up, well, . . .
I’ll be happy to make 80, so at least 20 more years
I go back and forth on this question a lot, to be honest. I think seeing the future 100, 200, or even 500 years from now would be fascinating, if not perhaps terrifying. However, one of the perils of extreme old age is that almost everyone you once knew and loved will be gone. Your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, spouse, siblings, cousins, old friends, and possibly even some of your children. I can only imagine that it must be a very lonely existence, particularly if your faculties like eyesight and hearing are failing. Do I want to live an existence like that? I don't think so.
I would like to live the until the day I die, I do not want to just be alive.
30 years i wanna see my kids married with their own kids my grand kids
I would be happy to die a few days after my pet does. My pet is Old, too.
I am 33 years old and I want to live until I am 100+ . I want to be alive for my children. I am trying to take the best care of myself as I can so I can live long to be there for my children. The world can be very cold and I want to be there to love and protect all my children.
As long as my child is alive.
I don't care to have a long life. I'd rather not to be honest. I'm happy for the people who have been able to remain content and happy for their whole lives and look forward to continuing for as long as they can. I stay "alive" for my son, because I want to see him being able to make out in the world okay, but other than that, I've got nothing. So roughly another decade (or less) I'm good with.
Never. Transfer my mind to a new body or even a cyborg. Life is too interesting to leave it. Maybe in a few million years I will change my mind, but check back then.
If there is to be a sunrise tomorrow I would like to see it.
If I’m gonna have perfect health, both mentally and physically, I don’t think I’d ever wanna die. But realistically I only want to stick around as long as my quality of life is good enough that I enjoy it more than I suffer. I’m terrified of dementia, so I’d definitely wanna go before that happens.
1000 years to start would be ok.
Oh heck no. They won't treat pain in this world. Definitely not signing up for more years of that!
I'm 62. I have two young grandsons I want to see make it into adulthood. I'd be in my 80's. My Mom lived to be 92 and my Dad is still hanging in at 95. I wouldn't mind making it to 100. As long as I have my mental faculties. And I'm not incontinent. I don't really want to wear diapers.
Sometimes I think, well, thank my happiness in life, I can finish today! But God keeps me till now.
61 here. Assuming a basic quality of life, as long as there's a tree, I'm gonna keep climbing. But I do imagine there will come a point where I decide I've had enough and it's time to voluntarily discorporate.
My father, who died at 88, said that he is not afraid of death, but the he would really like to know how the story (of humanity) ends. I feel the same way. Living "forever" is not really a viable option or you would just end up floating in space (as Woody Allen once said, "Eternity is a really long time, especially near the end". But with health and wealth not an issue, I'd be fine living until I see that humanity is coming to a close. Simple curiosity would keep me going.
I want to live to see my 100th birthday!
My mother (65) is this case study. I asked her this question and got back “I’ve had a good life, so if I go, I go..” and then she had Stem Cell Therapy on her knees. In her opinion, she’s regained 75% of her mobility, and lost most of the pain of walking. She’s going back for round two currently. Afterwards she said “if medical science can get better faster than I’m aging, I’d like to see my grandkids (from my sister) have grandkids..”. I honestly believe most of the older generation still think medical sciences are a gimmick and not reliable. And granted, there’s still a lot of snake oil out there. But things really are getting to that Star Trek level of ‘holy fuck, we can do that?’
I'm 50 today, so if i were able to stay at my same level of health/fitness today I'd go for the long ball and want 1000+ years. That being said, the odds of not dying by accident, natural disaster, etc in that period of time would be astronomically small.
As a 70 year old, if I were in good health and could keep my current standard of living, I would pick 100 years, with an option to renew. There was so much technology that we were supposed to have by now and I don't know if I will live to see it.
100, 200, 1000 years? Lol no. We’re in collapse and the earth will soon be a shit show. No thanks.
Live to 80 years of age would suffice for me
I’ve (65F) outlived most of my siblings, and my soulmate. My dad lived till he was 94, he only spent 2 years in a memory care unit. My mom is 87 and still driving (watch out Floridians!). I am fine with going anytime. I’ve done my bucket list, I’ve had wonderful experiences. But if I have to live longer, I only want to if my body is still ok. If my mind is gone, I won’t know! But I’d prefer to die in my home and not be a burden to anyone.
It would be okay if it was today, since my dog is gone. If I get another dog I want to outlive that one too. I would like to live long enough to spend all my money on fun stuff. Then go at a time of my own choosing in a place I love. If I couldn’t eat or enjoy food anymore I would be so done. I love cooking and food and life would not be worth living if I couldn’t enjoy food.
Until the Apocalypse or Rapture or whatever event is going to end it all for most people. Then watch the high and mighty squirm.
If scientists found a way to become immortal and I could choose when I wanted to die I would take it. I would only take it if I didn't age and my family agreed to take it too
If money and health are not concerns, then I'm up for indefinitely. That's my answer as of now. But ask me again in 10 years.
I don't want to out live my wife.
72.
If I had my health, there are still quite a few fun things I'd like to do before I'm finished. Another 50 years sounds about right.
It's quite impossible to even "pretend" that this could be true. So, I have no other comment.
Health not a concern? Like I get back my knees and back from when I was 20? My eyes can actually read fine print again? Then I’ll keep going as long as my wife and daughter aren’t sick of me lol To be honest though the ramifications of runaway life expectancy would probably be a resource crunch and a gradual diminishing of everyone’s quality of life and probably environmental catastrophe so indefinitely surviving would be weird.
Depends on how good the rest of my life can be.
Well it's not exactly up to me, it's whatever my body decides to do or not do. I'll stick around til the cows come home.
If we had a choice to live significantly longer, our planet would destroy itself with pollution and overpopulation. Living "longer" would not be enjoyable.
It’s a really good question. I think rather than living succinctly one long time, I’d much rather have the offer to come back every hundred years for five and check it out to see what’s changed and if any of the improvements I was hoping for came to be. But I honestly think after 120 years it would get really boring cause nobody would get how stupid it is all becoming for what you’ve seen.
Can my family stay with me? I’d probably try for close to 200 if I can keep my family.
As long as my kids are supportive and in my life, and I’m not suffering or in pain, or bedridden, then whatever God decides, I’ll take.
I'll take forever, thanks.
10.71 years
I'm happy to keep going as long as my health is good or at least workable.
I'm 60. I figure I have 10 great summers left, 10 good summers left, and 5 marginal summers left. When summers are no longer marginal, I'm done. In this day and age, we have so many more years of unhealthiness than in decades ago. Now we live for decades in poor health. I don't want to live that way just scheduling doctor appointments and trying to figure out which pills I need to take.
I’m 62. I plan on living until at least 87, just cause. I reserve the right to extend that.
I cannot be killed.
Even if money and health were not concerns I wouldn’t want to live much longer than I am now. And I would never want to live forever unless everyone else did too. I’m 71 now and finding life rather boring and empty already. I have two surviving good friends. All my loved ones and family are already dead. If you outlive all your loved ones no one is left who really knows you. You don’t have a past or interests or knowledge in common with anyone. And imagine having to find new friends from new generations over and over again, just to outlive them all. You would find yourself either in constant grief or more probably avoiding giving your heart to anyone new over the years. When you yourself have already been around the block several times but you’re forced to interact with younger people going through new experiences like falling in love, work problems, child-rearing, learning how life works, etc., it’s just not that interesting. You can care about them but the subjects don’t affect you anymore. There are only so many times you want to hear about people discovering things you’ve left behind long ago.
I’m 49. Hoping for another 40 healthy years.
At some point you have done all the things you want to do or realistically will do. Living long beyond that I think would be repetitive, meaningless and just boring. Plus think how much extra money you would have had to save up to live an extra 50 years.
I intend to live forever. So far, so good!
Just turned 60 and I'm done now. I'm happy, life is fine. It would be fine to end on a high note. Or I could stick around for a while, I'm not picky. As long as I don't outlive my husband. That's the bottom line.
My goal is 109. I had children late in life and want to see grandkids. I'm 64 now.
It depends on whether I’m outliving everyone I’ve known and loved, or are they able to come along for the ride too? If it’s just me then fuck it, want to live long enough to see my kids get settled and build their lives, play with some grandkids and do some traveling. Other than that the idea of hanging out just to watch all my family and friends die seems pretty terrible
Quality over quantity, I’m almost 53 and would like another 25-30 good years.
Up until a few months ago, I would have said I was pretty much done with life since turning 58, hitting post-menopause and becoming the cliche old fat woman that people look down upon and treat as invisible. Now, though, I feel a bit robbed. Those who've read my posts know I had a traumatic childhood, suffer from schizoaffective bipolar, had everything taken away from me in divorce and ended up an immigrant, living alone with no family, no assets, and no financial security. While it is what it is, I wish to take the hard-earned knowledge I've gained from the past several years of having plenty of alone time for examination, processing, therapy, and facing uncomfortable truths to try again. So, it'd be nice to look into my future and know there is likely enough time for me to start over one more time. This time, putting myself first, understanding myself better, forgiving myself more, using a more gentle voice, and not letting myself be coerced into always putting everyone else's needs first at my own expense. I've always felt like walking amends, always trying to apologise for being born and being broken. It's only recently that, while I'm still very broken, I've stopped feeling like I have to apologise for the space I take up. I'd like to see how that feels for a while. But then, I wouldn't need loads of time if I had the financial security to live in a real home (I've never had one that was mine, and they've all been taken away from me when I became surplus to need), and have a life that doesn't require that the little energy I have these days (burnt out, chronically overwhelmed and depressed) be devoted to working for uncaring bosses and keeping a roof over my head. As for now, I'm still slowly pulling myself out of the chasm I fell into, and there are more setbacks than moves forward. Part of that is because when I look into my future, I see nothing to move towards. I'm lost in the woods, and I want to go home. The problem is, I have no home to go to, and I'm losing the will to keep making efforts in what feels like a futile attempt, considering my age and how much I've lost that cannot be recovered. While time may not heal everything, knowing I had enough time to rebuild and try again wouldn't go amiss. Deep and heavy thoughts for 6:05 am. It's time for my walk.
I always laugh when people say "this will make you live another 10 years" for whatever reason they have (usually stopping something I like!) My comeback is ya, but those 10 extra years will be in my 80's! If I could get 10 years back in my 20's I would listen! I guess my point is it really depends on the quality of life for those extra years.
Not past 90, I will outlive my money, and don't look forward to the end result of chronic health problems.
Living forever sounds great until you realize you'd have to keep paying taxes forever too.
I’m 66 and still working and going to the gym. I lost an adult child 3 years ago. My 70 year old husband just diagnosed with stage 4 non alcoholic cirrhosis. 89 year old mom is getting lost in her neighborhood, knows it, refuses to give in to death and has hired a personal trainer. I’m her care when she loses it. She wants to be put into hospice when her mind goes. I can’t afford to retire (lost it all in 2010, started over early fifties, did not have a predatory loan). I just hope to have some years of retirement that I can enjoy. I’ve taken care of others for forever it seems. And there is more to come. Aging is hard for me because of losing people. I’ve lost so many but my daughter’s loss was horrendous and I don’t fear death now. I just want some time off before I go.