X-Message-Number: 33006
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:52:35 -0700
Subject: older people happier?
From: Charles in Arizona <>

David Stodolsky writes: "We know that older people are on the whole
happier. Whether this is genetically programmed or not isn't clear.
However, they don't stop fearing death, they just stop thinking about
it."

Wow. Huge generalizations without any supporting source. And totally
opposite to my personal experience and the experience of people I know
who are over 60 (cryonicists and noncryonicists alike). They (we)
think about death a LOT more, because every little thing that you can
no longer do so easily is a reminder of it. It's like being in a
slowly shrinking box. Even my father, from a totally different
generation, felt this way.

I don't know whether I'm more or less happy than I used to be, because
I see no way to measure such a thing reliably. I do know that I am a
lot more worried than I used to be.

Some elderly people may become resigned to their fate, but I have
never met any. Of course some people may _say_ they have resigned
themselves, but I don't believe them. No matter how old you are, you
always want to live for one more day, unless of course you have a
condition which severely impairs quality of life.

--Charles Platt

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