X-Message-Number: 10134
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 19:16:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Dying of Old Age

On Tue, 28 Jul 1998 Bob Ettinger wrote:


> What Mr. Chefurka overlooks--along with most people--is that what you want, or
> think you want, or think you will want, may be quite different from what you
> OUGHT to want, based on underlying biology and rational analysis. 

If someone wants to die, at 94 or for that matter 24, I respect their
decision--assuming of course it is a firm decision and not liable to be
reversed a few hours later. "What you OUGHT to want" is a meaningless
phrase to me, smelling strongly of paternalism. I don't trust anyone other
than myself to know what I "ought to want." Therefore I would never
presume to impose on other people in that way. 

> To illustrate this point, I often cite a letter to Ann Landers, in which a
> woman complained that her husband wanted sex and she didn't. Her problem, as
> she saw it, was how to get her husband to leave her in peace. Her real
> problem, of course, was how to learn how to enjoy sex in a normal manner, or
> to cure whatever caused her negative feelings.

If she didn't want to have sex, she has every right not to have sex 
(although marriage statutes may dictate otherwise).

> Is there anything wrong with being satisfied to die quietly of old age?
> Certainly! It is simply the failure to realize that--given an optimistic

> assessment of probable futures--your prospects for growth and joy will be even
> greater at 90 than they were at any previous age.

Bob, you are assuming that you have The Answer, and anyone who doesn't
agree with you is wrong. I'm sorry, but I find this an offensive attitude. 

I believe the most I can do is provide people with information that they
may be unaware of. If, after that, they prefer to die conventionally, I
respect their decision--just as _I_ would hope that they would respect
_my_ decision, to be frozen. 

--Charles Platt

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