Life, death and dignity
Written by an 88-year-old, the below article draws no conclusions about an individual’s right to die, but muses about the dilemma world society finds itself in when medically lengthening the life span. With a clear mind and intelligent compassion, he asks does one want to undergo a procedure only to shortly die of something more painful and debilitating? Can society actually afford to warehouse the barely alive?—MR
Efforts to expand the lifespan ignore what it’s like to get old
By Dr. Robert Gables, Psyche newsletter, August 23, 2023
As modern medicine extends the human lifespan, quality of life is not keeping up, raising thorny ethical dilemmas. Everyone dies sometime. But when and how? Those questions become more salient as birthdays roll by. It has been said that wherever old people gather there is an ‘organ recital’ of malfunctioning body organs and parts. I, too, have a recital.
