Do you think living beyond 40 years old will make you happier?
Nicola Bagala, a LEAF writer, examines whether living beyond 40 is fundamentally distinct from living past 80.
Imagine the following scene: You, as a supporter of life extension, are in a group talking about various topics, and at some point you have an opportunity to bring up life extension. You’re expecting people to respond with \”Yay!\” You expect people to react with \”Yay!\” No more aging!\” But reality doesn’t match your expectations. Instead, you’re left with the frustration of watching everyone nod in approval when someone puts on a philosopher’s cap and asks rhetorically, \”Would we be happier if it were possible to live to 150? Boy, that’s annoying.
Actually, it isn’t really the specific question per se that is irritating–basically, whether living much longer than the current average would bring us more happiness–but rather that nobody ever asks whether living to 80 years old, for example, would make you any happier than you would be if you lived to only 40. By induction, if the first question was legitimate, then the second should also be. You could even go down to zero, asking if being born is any more happy than not being. It’s not true, as babies in the womb look peaceful and happy, and this can’t be said about their state once they are born. However, few people agree that this should be a reason to abort every fetus.
It’s possible that it has been proven beyond doubt that living until 80 brings more happiness than stopping at 40. It could be equally well proven that living until 150 does not make you happier than jumping off the life-train at 80. I don’t think anyone who is 150 years old would complain about it. Neither do you.
Source:
https://www.leafscience.org/living-past-40/
