Do you want to live past 75?

Daily Circuit Friday Roundtable
Daily Circuit Friday Roundtable
Daily Circuit illustration

Prolonging life has long been an American obsession, but in a piece for The Atlantic, "Why I Hope to Die at 75," Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel asks why.

In his provocative essay, he argues that a longer life, doesn't always mean a better quality of life.

...here is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic.

Today in our roundtable discussion, we're weighing his arguments and looking into the drive for elongating life.