In 2014, Ezekiel J Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethicist and a Vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, published an article in The Atlantic entitled, Why I Hope to Die at 75. Its subtitle is “an argument that society and families—and you—will be better off if nature takes its course swiftly and promptly”. In brief, he argues that, though death is a loss,

“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.” Continue reading →