Regardless of what the median life expectantly is, I don’t care I’m living to 100 years old. Barring accident of course. But I’m just too curious what the next 45+ years will be in the world. What are the new discoveries? New shows? What happens to the political situation? Will we become a space faring race? Or will we have to solve the climate crisis first, and stop warring?
I want to know. So I’m working to make that a reality.
To be fair most people who live to the average life expectancy do live past it, the average gets skewed down by people dying in car accidents in their 20s and such like.
Eh demographics shows a grim tale. People start really dying around 65 and it accelerates pretty quickly into the next few decades. Very few people live to be 100. About half of an age cohort will make it to 75. A quarter will make it to 85. This is easily visible on demographic charts.
Could “middle aged” more be referring to the middle after you become a real adult? Like at 18
73-18=55
55/2 =27.5
27.5+18=45.5
So still less than 50 but a lot closer.
I’m 50 and definitely working at least to 70. I can’t afford life now, I can’t afford to retire!
I’m 42, overweight, and poor. I’m an elderly middle-aged person who’s maybe got 20-25 years to go.
Something like, “I’m alive, in fairly good health, and I do not define my value by how much I’m able to work or how many years I have left to live.”
If we look past the numbers and mathematical term for middle, the stages of life could be determined by how capable or productive a person is. In that way, 50 is still a bit high, but it’s close to the peak of productivity almost regardless of the job at hand.
On a positive note, we should be happy if this “middle-age” increases, because it means that we’re more healthy and capable for longer. This is also very visible. Just during my life (mid 40s) I can see that the people of today in their late 60s look and behave as the people in their 50s did in my youth. It’s like the capable years have been extended by 10-15 years.
On a more depressing note, the expected lifespan hasn’t increased that much in the meantime, so it’s not exactly linear. It seems that the change from being capable to being incapable due to age is really sharp. People don’t enjoy long retirements the same way as before.
You know how working 5 days a week to have a 2 days off is bullshit. You can never do all the things in the weekend that you dream about all week. Same thing about retirement. You’ll never get to enjoy the carrot at the end of the stick.
If you want to do something, do it now. If you can’t do it now because of obligations, you need to change your obligations. Seize the day.
