Reminds me of a guy I knew when I was growing up. At the time he was in his 80s. Walked miles every day, he was in great shape. Still died before 90, so it did not buy him notable longevity, but he was mentally sharp and physically capable up to very near the end. That sounds way better than slowly turning into a vegetable over the last 20 years of your life.

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vhcr 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Only 19.7% of men live at least 88 years in the US, let's define notable longevity to be the top 1%, that would imply living at least 99 years.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6_2004.html

	▲	rootusrootus 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		That's fair. In my family and wider circle of friends, most people live into their 90s, so I have a biased view that expects this to be pretty routine.

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port11 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is linked to the superb concept of Senescence [1].

In 'Exercised', the author goes to great lengths to show how, in some societies, people don't turn into 'vegetables' because they're active and engaged. They just… die eventually, without an awful decay into death.

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence

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thefourthchime 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The age you die shouldn't be an accomplishment. The quality of life is.