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> robust elderly persons as millennials and Gen Xers age simply because healthy lifestyle activities that had been a part of their lives. You're probably leavi

> robust elderly persons as millennials and Gen Xers age simply because healthy lifestyle activities that had been a part of their lives. You're probably leaving out the issues around teflon, microplastics and antibiotics poisoning all food, air and water, general increased stress and anxiety about the wars, economy, job market, environment, debt and unaffordable rent/housing, the loneliness epidemic plaguing the west, which have already tanked their/our sperm count so we can't be too sure they'll/we'll see much healthier retirements if these keep piling up. Those with solid careers in tech in developed countries yeah sure, they'll be fine and happy, most likely retired early, house and debt paid off and focused on enjoying their hobbies instead of working the 9-5 grind. The rest, not so much.

graphe 3y ago
Just because you're old doesn't mean you're rich. China and HK has old ladies working out on the streets.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  That was kind of my point. If you wanna enjoy your old age you also need to be somewhat wealthy or at least financially very table. The old people working in the streets till they drop in China and Korea do it because they have no wealth to rest on, not because they enjoy doing that kind of work so much. It's doable to be young and poor, but being old and poor sucks.
  - graphe 3y ago
    He said robust old people. The Chinese old ladies are robust and impoverished.
data-ottawa 3y ago
This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11... On the healthcare front there was the proliferation of lead (in paint, toys, fuel, everything), smog from cars and coal burning, toxic fertilizers, the rise and fall of smoking, the discovery of HIV, Polio outbreaks, things like the Cuyahoga river fire (where rivers were so polluted they literally caught fire every couple decades). The mining town my family lived in would just throw the arsenic and mine tailings into the lakes because they figured it couldn't hurt them there, and that was a common thing to do at that time. Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. It's a rough moment now for sure, but it's not unique. We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11... Sure, not stealing his thunder, but that's how selection bias works. Not everyone got to live to 101 despite maybe even living healthier lives. I know people in their 40's who already died of cancer. Life can always throw you a curb ball. >Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. Fair point.
  - data-ottawa 3y ago
    Living to 101 is definitely not representative. My point really was that second one. As I said, it's a rough time right now, we're going through a lot. But we passed environmental reforms before, we removed lead from gas, we invented vaccines, we set standards for chemicals, we've cured a few people of HIV, there is good to find out there.
    - xattt 3y ago
      Yes, there is obesity and yes, there will be long COVID, but the health-positive initiatives (more women actually encouraged to work out; men not perceiving weightlifting as gay; marathons are a normal thing now; herpes zoster vaccines helping with long-term immunity against a probable cause of Alzheimer’s dementia; cigarette smoking as socially unacceptable behaviour) will tip the scales in favour of longevity towards making it to 100-120.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- philsnow 3y ago
  > We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools. Thank you for this comment, it helps to contextualize two moods that I have, as one who has struggled with depression (not currently, but off and on): When I’m in a low mood it’s easy to see and dwell on the new problems and discount the efficacy of the new tools. When I’m in good spirits it’s easy to see the new tools and (temporarily) forget about the new problems.

graphe 3y ago

Just because you're old doesn't mean you're rich. China and HK has old ladies working out on the streets.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
That was kind of my point. If you wanna enjoy your old age you also need to be somewhat wealthy or at least financially very table. The old people working in the streets till they drop in China and Korea do it because they have no wealth to rest on, not because they enjoy doing that kind of work so much. It's doable to be young and poor, but being old and poor sucks.
- graphe 3y ago
  He said robust old people. The Chinese old ladies are robust and impoverished.

data-ottawa 3y ago

This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11... On the healthcare front there was the proliferation of lead (in paint, toys, fuel, everything), smog from cars and coal burning, toxic fertilizers, the rise and fall of smoking, the discovery of HIV, Polio outbreaks, things like the Cuyahoga river fire (where rivers were so polluted they literally caught fire every couple decades). The mining town my family lived in would just throw the arsenic and mine tailings into the lakes because they figured it couldn't hurt them there, and that was a common thing to do at that time. Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. It's a rough moment now for sure, but it's not unique. We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11... Sure, not stealing his thunder, but that's how selection bias works. Not everyone got to live to 101 despite maybe even living healthier lives. I know people in their 40's who already died of cancer. Life can always throw you a curb ball. >Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. Fair point.
- data-ottawa 3y ago
  Living to 101 is definitely not representative. My point really was that second one. As I said, it's a rough time right now, we're going through a lot. But we passed environmental reforms before, we removed lead from gas, we invented vaccines, we set standards for chemicals, we've cured a few people of HIV, there is good to find out there.
  - xattt 3y ago
    Yes, there is obesity and yes, there will be long COVID, but the health-positive initiatives (more women actually encouraged to work out; men not perceiving weightlifting as gay; marathons are a normal thing now; herpes zoster vaccines helping with long-term immunity against a probable cause of Alzheimer’s dementia; cigarette smoking as socially unacceptable behaviour) will tip the scales in favour of longevity towards making it to 100-120.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
philsnow 3y ago
> We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools. Thank you for this comment, it helps to contextualize two moods that I have, as one who has struggled with depression (not currently, but off and on): When I’m in a low mood it’s easy to see and dwell on the new problems and discount the efficacy of the new tools. When I’m in good spirits it’s easy to see the new tools and (temporarily) forget about the new problems.