4 ms·
Why are so many people in their 60's not retired? Why are so many people in their 70's not dead?
by marcusbooster 16y ago
Why are so many people in their 60's not retired?
Why are so many people in their 70's not dead?
- Marticus 16y agoWhich is basically why I quit reading the NYT.
- Dn_Ab 16y agoexactly. The way I see it, as the average life span of a human increases the pace of life will slow to a more leisurely elven type speed. Things are a lot more complex and there is a great deal more to know than say a century or even half a century ago, it takes a bit longer now to come up to speed.
- snth 16y agoUnfortunately the basic constraints on childbearing years still (basically) stand.
- Retric 16y agoWhen you can have children at 10 or 60 and your life expectancy is only 80 it's not really a major issue.
- philwelch 16y agoMen might be able to have children at 60, but it's not so easy for women.
- snth 16y agoThere was a story on Hacker News about this a while back, but here's something I found through a quick search. Best age for childbearing remains 20-35 - Delaying risks heartbreak, say experts http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/30737.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/30737.php
- Retric 16y agoYes, and I don't think it's easy for women to have children at 60 or 10, however it's still possible. Biologically it's probably optimal to have children in the 16 - 22, socially 25 - 35 is probably ideal. However, I was simply pointing out that the limits of biology are well outside the shift in optimal range we are talking about.
- bitdiddle 16y agoWhat I don't understand is why all the idiots who haven't learned statistics yet are still alive. Wasn't Mr. Zed Shaw going to kill them all?
- ywgdana 16y agoI think he was only going to kill programmers who didn't learn statistics.
- chc 16y agoI would love to see the Times do a piece on "Why won't septuagenarians just die already?" But since older folks are the Times' main audience, it's more profitable to look at those damned lazy kids these days and pretend that societal changes are totally localized to their generation.
- cturner 16y agoCould be some fun for a blog or the hacker monthly magazine. Regular feature: things you won't read in other papers.
- philwelch 16y agoWhile it's true that the life expectancy has risen for older people, this isn't because longevity itself is much greater, it's because there are fewer infant mortalities dragging down the mean. Upon safely reaching mid-life, the life expectancy has been around 80 for decades.