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|3.30.07 @ 1:52PM|#
How certain is the lady's diagnosis? What happens if she doesn't contract that disease and has instead blown her money for no reason. When do the first lawsuits start?
|3.30.07 @ 1:57PM|#
Thanks a lot, Ron. That stupid death clock says I have just over 13 years left (July 28, 2020), which is a hell of a thing to find out at 35.
|3.30.07 @ 1:57PM|#
Oh, and great article.
SugarFree|3.30.07 @ 1:59PM|#
"It's not that Deathclock thing you brought last year, is it?"
|3.30.07 @ 2:01PM|#
"Rumors that I am in the pay of Big Testing are false. Finally, the death clock says that I will die on September 4, 2027."
Ron is in the pay of Big Death Clock!
|3.30.07 @ 2:03PM|#
This raises other interesting questions. According to the longevity calculator my calculated life expectancy is 85 years. I have doubts about how scientific this test is; e.g. just getting my blood sugar checked more frequently is not going to increase my lifespan if there is nothing to find, and I will have to actually do something about the results should they be less-than-desired. Nevertheless…
If I give up fast foods I can add another 8 years;
If I cut back on sweets I can add half a year;
If I work fewer hours (i.e. if I make less money) I can add half a year.
Given my family history and the current state of medicine, I have a reasonably high expectation of getting some form of Alzheimer's at around 85 should I not get run over by a bus between now and then. I have no desire whatsoever to give up French Fries, Snickers and income and all that comes with it, nor do I see any reason to do so based on these predictions. Accepting a marked decrease in my current and future quality of life just to add a few more years to the time when I have a high likelihood of a low quality of life, and during which I become a significant burden on my caregivers would be an irrational choice. Yet there are agents of the state who wish to deprive me of my right to self determination. I am only a burden to the state once I stop earning income so they certainly have no interest. The goal of increasing life expectancy, just for the purpose of a longer life makes no sense to me.
|3.30.07 @ 2:17PM|#
Who wants to live forever?
Russ 2000|3.30.07 @ 2:17PM|#
This is why I believe in reincarnation.
Once you truly have faith in living multiple times, you don't get very uptight about blowing your one chance. And then you find little value in concepts like revenge.
jimmydageek|3.30.07 @ 2:18PM|#
According to death clock - I will live to the ripe old age of 71, at which point I will die a couple of weeks before Christmas. I have to be sure to remember to request my presents early that year.
jimmydageek|3.30.07 @ 2:22PM|#
I once told my fiance, "When I get old, I don't want to be a burden on people. I don't want to be one of these mindless old f*cks who can't function by themselves and cause misery for others. If that's the case, I want to go skydiving...and not pull the chord...and I'll keep my eyes open until I hit the ground, if possible." She said I was crazy and in need of a shrink :/
wsdave|3.30.07 @ 2:30PM|#
swill,
"Accepting a marked decrease in my current and future quality of life just to add a few more years to the time when I have a high likelihood of a low quality of life, and during which I become a significant burden on my caregivers would be an irrational choice."
Well said!
wotsac|3.30.07 @ 2:45PM|#
Did somebody say Dethklok?
scr0d|3.30.07 @ 2:47PM|#
mark, sadly the diagnosis is 100%. If you have the gene, you WILL get the disease.
|3.30.07 @ 2:57PM|#
I got another 43 years to go before I die at 95.
Yahoooo!
|3.30.07 @ 2:59PM|#
Huh. The Death Clock says that I will never die. And it added some cryptic remark about there only being one, or there can be only one. Something like that. Weird.
Grotius|3.30.07 @ 3:05PM|#
OT:
Crucified Jesus made out of chocolate and sans loincloth: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11669242/
LarryA|3.30.07 @ 3:16PM|#
Moser may not be able to do much about preventing the onset of HD, but she can arrange her life now to be as fulfilling and interesting as possible. She will not postpone vacations, education, visits with friends, and career plans. Because of her genetic knowledge, Moser has put her life into overdrive.
I forsee more concern about these diseases, translating into more pressure for research. Which could change the outcome.
An example is all the AIDS patients who outlived their plans and finances.
Not saying that's a bad outcome.
ed|3.30.07 @ 3:24PM|#
Who do I sue if I blow all my retirement money early 'cause the clock says I'm gonna die when I'm 71, then I don't? Poor and still alive...that would suck.
|3.30.07 @ 3:51PM|#
That stupid calculator told be to cut back on the booze. Hey, if I were sober, I'd probably be upset that my vices are killing me.
The Wine Commonsewer|3.30.07 @ 3:59PM|#
Fascinating stuff Mr Bailey. I plan on living to at least 85 and I don't want to spoil that fantasy with a genetic screening. :-)
I also took the 64 slice heart scan last year, Boy Howdy, it feels good to know that those nagging chest pains were just from pinched nerves around those badly healed broken ribs that I got from taking on a telephone telephone pole with my car back when I was a stoopid yoot. No seat belts boys. It hurts real bad when your chest collides with a steering wheel at 30 mph.
Poor and still alive...that would suck.
Ed, that's why we have socialist security. I've noticed in my work that almost all old people are afraid they will run out of money before they die.
One Foot In The Grave|3.30.07 @ 4:05PM|#
The goal of increasing life expectancy, just for the purpose of a longer life makes no sense to me.
Swillfredo
I recently picked a new primary care doctor. After two visits and
exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age.
A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do
you think I'll live to be 80?"
He asked, "Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer or wine?"
"Oh no," I replied. "I'm not doing drugs, either."
Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?" I said,
"No, my former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!"
"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing,
hiking, or bicycling?" "No, I don't," I said.
He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?" "No,"
I said. " I don't do any of those things."
He looked at me and said, "Then, why do you give a shit?"
ed|3.30.07 @ 4:31PM|#
almost all old people are afraid they will run out of money before they die
Dying before you run out of money kinda sucks too.
|3.30.07 @ 4:38PM|#
The last check you write should be to the undertaker, and it should bounce.
D.A. Ridgely|3.30.07 @ 4:39PM|#
The question isn't so much whether individuals should have access to this information about themselves. Of course, they should if they want it. The question, at least under the current method by which health care is financed and life insurance is determined, is whether the increased availability of such tests will prompt health and life insurers to demand access to that information and make coverage decisions accordingly.
I stress that these problems arise only in the context of the health and life insurance businesses as currently structured and that this is not a per se insurmountable problem. But a certain level of general and specific ignorance ironically makes pooled risk insurance possible as a viable private business. And we all know what the likely alternative to private business is.
|3.30.07 @ 6:16PM|#
He looked at me and said, "Then, why do you give a shit?"
He's a wise man. Sounds like he went to the same Med school as Dr. Vinny Boombatz and Dr. Nick Riviera.
Ryan|3.30.07 @ 6:43PM|#
"Who do I sue if I blow all my retirement money early 'cause the clock says I'm gonna die when I'm 71, then I don't? Poor and still alive...that would suck."
Buy an annuity.
|3.30.07 @ 7:18PM|#
Me. I'm not sure I can concisely explain why - maybe I just wanna breath, maybe I just don't believe - but there you go.
|3.30.07 @ 7:56PM|#
Who wants to live forever?
Not me - after the first couple hundred-thousand years, I'd be climbing the walls...
Robert|3.30.07 @ 9:14PM|#
Being unattached, I'd rather die suddenly with no warning, provided I have no memory after death. If I'm still able to interact in some way with the world and remember my previous connections after death, then I might want some warning.
D.A. Ridgely|3.30.07 @ 9:23PM|#
Dying is easy; comedy is hard.
|3.30.07 @ 10:49PM|#
The death clock kills me off at 79, while the longevity calculator has me hanging around unti I'm 102. Somehow, I doubt the value of either of them.
Nobody Important|3.31.07 @ 12:06AM|#
I just hope that the lifetime-warranties on my parachute and bullet-proof vest are honored.
HeinLein already did it (1939)|3.31.07 @ 3:26AM|#
Life-Line
Life-Line is Heinlein's first published science fiction story (1939), about a man who builds a machine that will predict how long a person will live. It does this by sending a signal along the world line of a person and detecting the echo from the far end.
Professor Pinero's invention has a powerful impact on the life insurance industry, as well as on his own life. Pinero is mentioned in passing in the novels Time Enough for Love and Methuselah's Children when the practically immortal Lazarus Long mentions having been examined and being sent away because the machine is "broken".
Heinlein was motivated to write the story by a contest in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine promising $50 US to the winner, but ended up submitting it to a rival magazine, Astounding, and was paid $70. It made a later appearance in The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein, a collection of short stories published in 1966 and his Expanded Universe in 1980.
On receiving the check for the story Heinlein is reported to have said, "How long has this racket been going on?" (Grumbles from the Grave, pg 3) The amount was the equivalent of about $500 dollars in 1984, or approximately one month's rent on a nice apartment.
Excerpt
An often quoted passage from this story is relevant to modern discussions of intellectual monopoly:
"There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such a profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statute or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."
http://en.allexperts.com/e/l/li/life-line.htm
Joe|3.31.07 @ 2:12PM|#
Actuarial tables..Mmmm
Here's a riddle:
How is that a new born male can expect to live to the age of 74 but a 74 year old male can expect to live to the age of 84?