By Helen Dennis, LA Daily News
Last week, M.H., age 89, wrote that she thinks we all are living too long, describing her life as full and long. If one morning she did not wake up, that would be fine with her. Her children are upset with her views. As a result, she is wondering if she is actually preaching doom and gloom.
In response to M.H.’s question, I referred to an article by Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel in The Atlantic magazine, “Why I Hope to Die at 75.” One reason he chooses to exit at age 75 is that, according to Emanuel, the latter part of life is one of decline, disease and disability. Research has indicated that indeed, as life expectancy increases, so does morbidity (the time spent with disease and disability). It’s that time Emanuel wants to avoid.
His article has created an outrage of responses. Yet Emanuel is expressing his personal views of his life with no intention to impose them on others. “What I am trying to do is to delineate my views for a good life and make my friends and others think about how they want to live as they grow older,” writes Emanuel.
Social media has become the viral conduit for those who disagree. Tim Carpenter, executive cirector of EngAGE, writes: “What would the world not have (had) if Carl Jung, Michelangelo, Helen Keller and Betty Friedan died at 75?” He adds that Jung published his masterpiece “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” at age 86; Michelangelo worked on the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome until his death at 89; and Betty Friedan wrote “Beyond Gender,” considered by some the most important work on gender politics, at 76.
Emanuel is outright wrong, according to Dr. Jimmie Holland, psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and psychologist Mindy Greenstein. They accuse him of contributing to the negative views of aging that permeate our society and overlooking the assets of older adults, such as the ability to assume multiple perspectives, to be flexible, to compromise and to navigate social conflict.
Holland and Greenstein write, “These characteristics were found to be highest among those 60 to 90 years old.” As an example, they cite Nelson Mandela, who in his 70s helped unify South Africa and hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup that helped solidify his newly integrated nation.
Perhaps the strongest opposition to Emanuel’s position comes from noted geriatrician and author Dr. William Thomas in his blog ChangingAging. He describes the essay as “epically tone-deaf,” as evidence that we need to change the way we think about aging. He accuses Emanuel of having difficulty imagining his own future, assuming it will be just a continuation of his current self. “He substitutes our culture’s blatant ageism for foresight and declares — defeat,” writes Thomas. He adds, “Some of the sweetest, most poignant life passages are available only to those who have passed that milestone.”
Paul Irving, president of the Milken Institute and author of “The Upside of Aging: How Long Life Is Changing the World of Health, Work, Innovation, Policy and Purpose” (Wiley, 2014), captures the voices of university deans, directors of nonprofits, policy researchers and more to examine the positive impact of longer life spans. Irving wants to create conversations that will transform the way we think about aging. His contributing authors make their points.
For example, Joseph F. Coughlin, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, believes that longevity is a gift, not a curse. The challenge is to take advantage of that longevity and innovate. And Laura L. Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, notes the importance of aging minds as available talent that has never before been available in human societies.
Perhaps the issue is how much risk one wants to take and the willingness to adapt to change and losses — both minimal and possibly huge. Evidence supports living to a “good old age” is more than possible.
M.H., rather than preaching doom and gloom, you have sparked an ongoing conversation about quality vs. quantity of life. It’s the personal meaning of quality that is creating the debate.
Yet as Golda Meir is quoted as saying, “Being 70 is not a sin. It’s not a joke either.”
Readers, if you have thoughts on the subject, let us know. With sufficient replies, I’ll write a column on “Readers’ Views on Living Beyond 75.”
Send email to Helen Dennis at helendenn@aol.com, or go to www.facebook.com/SuccessfulAgingCommunity.