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Medical ethicist argues life after 75 is not worth living

9 points by onemoresoop 7y ago

AnimalMuppet 7y ago
My prediction is that he'll feel different when he's 75...
adib 7y ago
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-patrick-stewart-reprises-iconic-star-trek-the-next-generation-role-in-star-trek-picard-teaser/ https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-picard/news/1009254/sir-...
maxharris 7y ago
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
joeblow9999 7y ago
this is an example if why generally 'bio ethicist' and 'medical ethicist' means that whatever you hear next can be safely ignored..
gshdg 7y ago
Try telling that to my relatives who have lived to 95-105 and were healthy into their 90’s and surrounded by loved ones.
onemoresoop 7y ago
I think he argues against extending life at the cost of quality of life, the title is a bit misleading.
- ksaj 7y ago
  If that's what he's arguing, the title is completely misleading.
  - grahame 7y ago
    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.
  - onemoresoop 7y ago
    Yes, the title is wrong for click bait purposes I guess.
cardiffspaceman 7y ago
> 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.

9 points by onemoresoop 7y ago

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

adib 7y ago

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

maxharris 7y ago

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

joeblow9999 7y ago

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

gshdg 7y ago

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

onemoresoop 7y ago

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

ksaj 7y ago
If that's what he's arguing, the title is completely misleading.
- grahame 7y ago
  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.
- onemoresoop 7y ago
  Yes, the title is wrong for click bait purposes I guess.

cardiffspaceman 7y ago

> 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.