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Would you support a mandatory retirement age of 75 for US House, US Senate & US Supreme Court Justices and if not why? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You might be arguing against your own comments here when you hit 65 and realize you still maintain mental acuity and are thriving.

I’m not running for office nor scotus. But if I were, I’d hope reason would dictate sensible policy, not magical thinking about whatever far-off technological theoretical you might imagine.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Then you are not apprised of history.

In 1900, the average life expectancy of a newborn was 32 years. By 2021 this had more than doubled to 71 years.

But life expectancy has increased at all ages. Infants, children, adults, and the elderly are all less likely to die than in the past, and death is being delayed.

This remarkable shift results from advances in medicine, public health, and living standards. Along with it, many predictions of the ‘limit’ of life expectancy have been broken.

I'm not saying we'll be doubling lifespans, but if you looked at the big picture, we've made HUGE strides and advances in a very short period of time. Especially if you consider how long humans have been around. Now we have CRISPR gene editing for example, and very obviously artifical intelligence/machine learning will grow exponentially fast.

This is not "magical thinking" about "far-off technological" theory. This is modern day and recent history, and already we expect global life expectancy to increase by nearly 5 years by 2050 despite geopolitical, metabolic, and environmental threats.

I also didn't say anything about ignoring policy in lieu of science, and pointed out several areas I personally feel could use attention. However that is my own opinion... Just like you on running/not for office.

It is also clear that some aged people are 'sharp' to the end, just as some can be debilitated earlier to disease and age. Sensible policy is also welcome. I just don't think we should lump everyone together using an arbitrary metric.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago

I’m glad you have a hobby tracking the historical progress of life-extending technology, but I find your entire premise to be a straw man.

I have no concern about them not living long enough. So your magical “maybes” and “it could happens” are completely irrelevant.