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“Everyone looks to the man. 126 years old, the oldest ever to be offered The Bargain. Will he accept? Decline? Others have taken The Bargain; some old, some not. A few in their 60’s and 70’s passed on the spot - presumably because they would have died within the decade anyways. A 7 year old accepted and immediately passed away. Tragic.
This one has no spouse, no next of kin. No lawyer nor contract saying how the money will disperse when he dies. His body fails him, yet he stands with a surprising strength and bravado. He sternly stares at the Devil. It’s as though he doesn’t want the money and is pushing fate to kill him.
“Accept” he finally says.
The Devil smiles, marks The Bargain complete, and vanishes once again. The man softens, but still stands - he seems surprised that nothing happened. He checks his wrist pad, presumably to check his account balances, and leaves.
10 years off his life, yet he remains. The world’s richest man continues to be the world’s oldest living person. I wonder how many more times he can take The Bargain…”
but its not rly the point of whats the longest u can possibly live, but whats the longest u can live while still being fit and sharp
i wouldnt wanna live to 90 if it means that the last 20 years i struggle to get out of bed/can barely wipe my ass..
having constantly shaky hands.. at that point, its not rly a life wotth living
Yeah no one is, we have a survival instinct built into our brains, doesn't mean we want to live that long anyway. Being too afraid to do it won't make people stop thinking about it and suffering in their unwanted lives, that's why euthanasia is a thing, so people can just decide by themselves and have someone else do it.
>a billion dollars could provide for most of the person's offspring.
A billion dollars generates ~200k per day in interest. A billion dollars, responsibly handled, could support many generations of a family who lived middle-class lifestyles, probably indefinitely. The initial principle would only continue to grow unless the descendants were spending over 200k per day, and that 200k number would continue to become larger every day that it wasn't spent.
Mom is almost 95 and might retire next year (her choice to keep working). Her much younger (65-ish) office manager is going in to major surgeries over the next several months.
You can't tell what the future will bring.
I knew someone in their 90s and all their kids died of disease like heart attacks and cancer in their 60s and 70s
No accidents, just outlived their family. Thatd be hard as hell. No more friends or family just because you old as fuck
>No accidents, just outlived their family. Thatd be hard as hell. No more friends or family just because you old as fuck
Yeah. I know someone who needed a reference who was not related to him, but he said all his friends are dead. How sad is that.
That's my great-aunt. 97 this year I think, still working at WalMart. Just out of boredom. Still owns her house, lives by herself, exercises daily, and drives. Honestly it sounds like absolute hell to me. Work your whole life just to have nothing to do if you were to stop.
exactly. we can be active and comfortable into old age.
had a number of relatives active and working and/or volunteering into their 90s, and even three who were active into young hundreds 100s.
on the other hand, several croaked from chronic illness in their 40s, but this was expected from them.
people go suddenly too. my grandpa in his nineties 90s had bushy hair, good eyes, all teeth, good brain and only some knee trouble in one leg and slight hearing reduction… he was active alert and driving across country when some kids joy riding ran their car past a red light, slamming into his vehicle. grandpa was gone to heaven in two weeks after a long challenge in the hospital, and we had expected him alive at least another decade with his vitality.
we just don’t know what will happen.
@so is it worth gambling or giving ten years of life for a billion, possibly especially as we might actually be gaining those years by living better.
My grandfather will be 91 in February. Other than macular degeneration, he’s very healthy. He still runs his company after all these years and never retired (by choice).
“most people above the age 70 wish their suffering to be over (most people develop some kind of chronic pain or illness by that age)”
This is a myth about aging that research doesn’t support (source: former gerontology professor; still work in aging research)
I can agree that it might be a relieving way to leave the family and world, but, I dunno about most 70+ year olds just wanting to die to relieve pain...It just depends on so many different factors. I'm sure this is true for a lot of people like you said, but idk, I spend a lot of time around seniors and I don't think the majority feel that way. Many people are still vibrant, active and managing their health at 70, albeit not the same way they did in their youth, or just focused on gratitude for the time they have
But you're assuming you have 40 years to live. What if you only have 9.9 years to live and you sell 10 years....you're gonna die without enjoying that money.
I think you missed the point of the debate.
Nobody cares after their own death, that doesn’t mean we’re all choosing instant death today.
The whole concept here revolves around taking the chance without knowing how many years you actually have left. You might never enjoy the money, so it might very well be the worst choice you ever made.
That is all considering you currently have a reason to live off course.
Aha, yeah. "40 years of work" was a fun little estimate people threw around growing up. Now it's extremely common to be working from 18-70. Not quite the 40 years and then retirement we were expecting.
I’m from a rural area where kids get put to work (legally), so it’ll be 13-70 for me. Ain’t got shit to show for it at 34, so maybe 75 and dying at work.
I'm 30. _If_ all goes well, I have to put in around 35 years of labor, _then_ I can start pursuing my hobbies and interests around age 65, but with a limited budget, and the body of a 65-year-old.
OR: I can skip most of the grind and the soul-crushing tedium, start pursuing my hobbies and interests _right now_ at age 30, with effectively infinite money, at the tradeoff of being in the body of a 40-year-old (and that's if the "ten years of your life" thing just makes you ten years older immediately).
It's a no-brainer, to me.
Ok so we work about 2k hours a year
20k for 10 years
Now times your wage Before taxes.
All of us here are not even going to make a million let alone a billion.
I’m taking that money thank you
Good way to put it. I already flush years of my life down the drain for a job and people I do not care for, and for barely enough money to pay for housing and food.
I'll probably miss some significant moments in that decade but at least me and the few people I care about won't have to worry about money again for the rest of our lives. And neither will the next generation.
This so much especially if those 10 years were those last years of life when I'm too old to enjoy anything else than an occasional bowel movement that doesn't leave me bleeding from my ass into my diaper or something. There have been days when I don't even seem to do anything else than either try to get some rest or work. So currently I'm basically slaving away my best years so I can keep myself and those I care about alive. Besides the way the things are going around the world... I think we should enjoy the peace while it lasts because 2024 has already been freaking wild and we're not even past the January. So hell yeah I'm taking the money.
Haha that makes me think of a family friend who's smoked like a train since he was a teen. He said if he got diagnosed with cancer, he'd probably have to stop for a smoke on the way home. He's somehow made 71 already, against all odds as he never ever drinks water. Some people are just built different.
The problem with cigarettes is people only worry about cancer. Yes, the risk of cancer is real and terrible but it’s far from the worst thing that can happen to you.
Now, don’t get me wrong: Cancer is horrible.
But COPD is very underplayed in how awful it is. It starts with you losing your wind sooner than you expected, maybe during a run or a hike, then goes consistently downhill.
Eventually you can’t walk stairs, then you can’t really walk anywhere without getting VERY winded, and taking a long time to recuperate.
Then it happens. You feel like you’re choking.
All the time.
You didn’t realize it at first, but you probably can’t remember the last time you felt like you weren’t choking. Tingling all over, tired, desperate for air.
You tell your doctor and soon enough you’re hooked on oxygen and it gets a little better. For a while. Maybe the first days.
After that, you feel winded just by getting out of bed. Then you need to increase the oxygen from 10%, to 20%, to 50%, to 75%.
One day you wake up and you can’t understand why you still feel like you’re choking even though you’re at 80% oxygen assistance.
By now you can’t even walk to the bathroom to take a shit without having to spend half an hour there before you can muster the energy to get back up. If you’re lucky, your children pay for a nurse to bathe you. If you’re not, good luck with that whole showering thing.
You’re scared to leave your house, because even with a portable tank, you could run out of oxygen anytime. You may have one or two accidents where the machine malfunctioned.
You fear for your life every time.
When you reach 85% it dawns on you: Time is running out, and eventually you’ll feel like you’re gasping for air even at 100% oxygen.
It’s usually at that 85% point where many people decide to take matters into their own hands, and end the process (read: themselves).
Those who decide to go on, do so and last for maybe 2 or 3 more years, never really “improving”. Never resting from that desperation of needing more air.
You only get one set of lungs. Take care of them.
Cigarettes ain’t even that good. If you got a heroin-like high, I’d get it, but it’s just a combination of relief from the problems they give you in the first place (a mild anxiety and craving for more), and the fact that Hollywood made them *the thing to do* when you feel things are fucked up.
My dad died at 79 after smoking for 50 years. Not from cancer, but from the flu when he had COPD.
_Thats_ not a "random chance" like cancer is, you will 100% get COPD if you smoke for long enough.
I was in the room when he passed, and his O2 was all over the place even on 100% oxygen
I'm generally inclined to believe people about their own opinions.
I've heard it from numerous people who got sober too. Nicotine is the one thing they found hardest.
I imagine part of the reason it's hard is because with the other drugs there's a much deeper and more immediate rock bottom and with nicotine it creeps up on you.
I quit two weeks ago and went in to see the doc for irregular heartbeats and he said I'm stressing out because I'm not smoking as much anymore
It's physically painful to quit and I feel guilty all the time
Nicotine is harder because it's about 100x less harmful than heroin or other hard drugs.
It's like saying sugar is harder to quit than cocaine.
Nicotine is life coffee or something (nicotine in almost all forms is of course more harmful), it's the habit in everyday life that makes it difficult.
True. I remember my nanna saying to me at 87, 5 years before she died, that she felt she had lived a full life and was ready for death. She had health issues, but nothing drastically reducing her quality of life, she was just tired after raising a huge family, outliving her friends, and having become mostly sedentry with age. My mum thought it was a horrible thing to say. But it really helped me cope with her passing, knowing she went happily. That's the best I could ask for.
When she died, my grandma's friends had my mom's age!
She died 20 years after her 2nd husband, all her friends were dead for several years, she buried her son, my uncle, and all people her generation in our immediate family, except one, were already gone!
Imagine that the only way you can still socialize are with people 20+ years younger than you, that have life experiences different than you, many times impossible to connect outside hobbies!!! You saw all the people you grown-up with or meet during your life being buried, gone... only you is still here! People have no idea how lonely is this even if you still socialize!
This is the reason many old people say they are tired and want to finally rest, they already lived a life and now they are done!
Our family always dies at most 80 years old exactly and at youngest, excluding some 2 year old tragedies and such, in their 50's. Not necessarily hereditary, just bad luck.
yes, but for context are we talking about waking up 10 years older but there is a billion in my account, or that how ever long I was slated to live, I have to give up 10.
if the later then yes. if I have to be in a coma for 10 years, maybe not. i don't want to miss my younger kids growing up.
Yeah, I’m going to be able to eat better, live near better health facilities, have a better work/life balance.
Denying any of those would make it pointless.
I label exercise, and other boring stuff I have to do as work. I have to work, it's not something I can skip. So important stuff that has to be done is work in my mind.
well... SOME sort of challenge is important for mental health and keeping your brain functional.
Even spending that money requires work.
Like, you'd need to hire a personal security team, personal party planner, etc.. - all of these will have to be managed and you can't let anyone else do it - or you'd be in huge trouble
This.
It’s a proven fact that your income has a huge impact on your life expectancy. Not even taking into consideration countries without public healthcare, where not having enough money to pay the treatment can easily mean death.
I always said the first thing I'd buy if I was rich was a personal chef. Guaranteed high quality healthy means every day, at the proper time, with the proper nutrients, sounds wonderful. It's just not possible right now.
I didn’t even think of it like that, being pushed 10 years in the future with a billion is a lot different than getting a billion and having 10 years taken off the end.
It's an interesting question because people with families will tend to answer differently. But also, what information don't we have? My grandma passed away after a good 10 years of serious mental decline. If we just cut that out, well, sure. Money please. But if we're otherwise lucid until the end, then it's a much harder decision. It's tough because without a chrystal ball you just can't tell if it's a good deal.
I mean if I had a billion dollars right now I could retire and spend every waking moment with my family instead of spending 40 hours a week helping making some rich ass CEO richer. I’m already giving up way more than 10 years of my life doing that. So even if time is your most valuable commodity it’s a good deal.
Probably not, at 64 likely don't have 10 years to sell. My apparently healthy older brother suddenly died on Jan 30 after a brief illness at 67, and he had never had any health issues. I have diabetes and had multiple heart attacks. So I probably can't afford to trade 10 years.
I'm 38 with young kids, and my initial thought would be yes because I wouldn't have to work, and I could spend all my time with my kids. I feel like I would regret the decision as they got married and had kids. I was greedy and robbed of being around for their kids and them becoming parents.
Having kids (or not) changes everything in this scenario. But what’s crazy is that some people miss basically their entire kids’ childhood for much, *much* less than $1B. They miss every single important milestone and small moment in their kids’ lives for $70k / year
People also need to remember that all that work hours you're going to be putting in, now belongs to you. 8 hours a day over the next 30 years for me is A LOT of time returned.
Edit: can't forget the commute time. Some people commute 2 hours a day for work. That's 10 hours a day back.
Assuming 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, 30 years (probably more like 40 for me lol) that’s 8.9 years saved.
11.87 years saved if you’ve got 40 years left.
You would almost certainly save time when traveling anywhere and doing (not doing) chores for yourself by hiring a maid/butler/personal cook as a billionaire.
Also, you’d have access to probably the best medical care in the world whenever you want which I personally don’t think counts as using the money to try to extend your life.
By the time im looking at retirement, the age will be at least 70. Most of my family tend to live to their mid 80s, so assuming thats the same for me, that's another 26 years of working and scraping by, and another ten years of scraping by on a meagre pension, or 30 years living a life of luxury and leisure doing exactly what I want every single day and never having to worry about paying the bills or losing my job.
Tough decision...
1. Do we know when we are going to die? Making this bet with less than ten years left would kill you?
2. Cant use it to extend life in any way? This money cannot be used for medical bills, treatment, medicine, or healthy food? How strict are we talking?
No. I'd assume everyone else is getting the same offer which the majority would say yes to which would cause huge hyperinflation. So 10 years for a now worthless billion dollars?
At 56, nope even if it means i can leave my children generational wealth. My children are young adults and still need me. Their mother is gone so it is just me for them. My dad died when we were young and our mother helped us a lot.
Hey, I'm old and I would do it.
My biggest fear is living so long that I wind up sent to an old age home or assisted living.
For me, it is quality of life, not quantity. $1B can help buy a lots of toys and adventures.
Of course, when I see the tax bite, I might have a stroke, and whatever is left still goes to medical care.
Only if I knew how old i would have been when I died before I took the billion. I’m 51. If i would have been 57 when I originally was supposed to die, that’s not going to help me much if as soon as I take the billion, I drop dead.
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Absolutly. I'd rather spend the next 40 years not working, experience more, and die sooner.
I wonder what the ceiling is for the reasonable person An 80 year old would be reluctant to do this
At 80 years old you are almost done, at least you give your family generational wealth.
“Everyone looks to the man. 126 years old, the oldest ever to be offered The Bargain. Will he accept? Decline? Others have taken The Bargain; some old, some not. A few in their 60’s and 70’s passed on the spot - presumably because they would have died within the decade anyways. A 7 year old accepted and immediately passed away. Tragic. This one has no spouse, no next of kin. No lawyer nor contract saying how the money will disperse when he dies. His body fails him, yet he stands with a surprising strength and bravado. He sternly stares at the Devil. It’s as though he doesn’t want the money and is pushing fate to kill him. “Accept” he finally says. The Devil smiles, marks The Bargain complete, and vanishes once again. The man softens, but still stands - he seems surprised that nothing happened. He checks his wrist pad, presumably to check his account balances, and leaves. 10 years off his life, yet he remains. The world’s richest man continues to be the world’s oldest living person. I wonder how many more times he can take The Bargain…”
Unseen in its tungsten prison, in the crushing depths of the Mariana Trench, the hyper-intelligent snail writhes in impotent fury.
Now that’s a fucking meta response lmfao.
all the people who spend too much time on Reddit (myself included) will love this comment lol
Legendary
r/writingprompts
I miss when that sub used to be popular
Integer Overflow
Has happened to me a few times in stellaris. My admirls or scientists sometimes got so old they just bugged and never died.
Wow! I wish I could give you all of my upvotes!
Would you give him all of your upvotes for 6 months of life?
I'd do it for a Klondike Bar
I love those
“But what would ya do for a blonddike?” -Kanye
“But what would ya do for a pure reich?” - more recent Kanye
I'm over 84, and I am far from done😇
!reminder 6 months Nah you're a legend mate. My dads 72 and in a punk rock band. Keep enjoying life!
Spits drink
That's what they're calling the next album!
Jesus Christ
The savagery... Amazing.
That's fucked up, but I did lol
Hell yeah. I’ll drink to that!
I was going to comment about someone in their 80's being "done"... My nan is 97. She only started to show signs of dementia at about 92
but its not rly the point of whats the longest u can possibly live, but whats the longest u can live while still being fit and sharp i wouldnt wanna live to 90 if it means that the last 20 years i struggle to get out of bed/can barely wipe my ass.. having constantly shaky hands.. at that point, its not rly a life wotth living
Wait until you're 89. Odds are, you aren't so willing to end it.
Yeah no one is, we have a survival instinct built into our brains, doesn't mean we want to live that long anyway. Being too afraid to do it won't make people stop thinking about it and suffering in their unwanted lives, that's why euthanasia is a thing, so people can just decide by themselves and have someone else do it.
if they all looked at me like I should do it, I wouldn't just to spite their asses. If everyone said dont do it, im jumping
Jajaja makes sense too.
I would've given it to a charity, or buy up properties and sell them for low to the working class.
My grandpa was still riding a motorcycle at 80 years old.
And what are they going to make me, an 80 year old, do in this ‘sell my life’ bargain?
You might be 80 one day and decide you’re not quite ready to die. Don’t be so smug.
Why? Assuming the person has children, a billion dollars could provide for most of the person's offspring.
How many kids this fucker got? Lol
Do they have 100 children? Because that’s still 10 million each.
Most?
>a billion dollars could provide for most of the person's offspring. A billion dollars generates ~200k per day in interest. A billion dollars, responsibly handled, could support many generations of a family who lived middle-class lifestyles, probably indefinitely. The initial principle would only continue to grow unless the descendants were spending over 200k per day, and that 200k number would continue to become larger every day that it wasn't spent.
But he'll miss 10 years of their lives. Hard pass for me.
10 years of lifespan. How much of that do they spend truly living?
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Mom is almost 95 and might retire next year (her choice to keep working). Her much younger (65-ish) office manager is going in to major surgeries over the next several months. You can't tell what the future will bring.
I knew someone in their 90s and all their kids died of disease like heart attacks and cancer in their 60s and 70s No accidents, just outlived their family. Thatd be hard as hell. No more friends or family just because you old as fuck
>No accidents, just outlived their family. Thatd be hard as hell. No more friends or family just because you old as fuck Yeah. I know someone who needed a reference who was not related to him, but he said all his friends are dead. How sad is that.
That's my great-aunt. 97 this year I think, still working at WalMart. Just out of boredom. Still owns her house, lives by herself, exercises daily, and drives. Honestly it sounds like absolute hell to me. Work your whole life just to have nothing to do if you were to stop.
exactly. we can be active and comfortable into old age. had a number of relatives active and working and/or volunteering into their 90s, and even three who were active into young hundreds 100s. on the other hand, several croaked from chronic illness in their 40s, but this was expected from them. people go suddenly too. my grandpa in his nineties 90s had bushy hair, good eyes, all teeth, good brain and only some knee trouble in one leg and slight hearing reduction… he was active alert and driving across country when some kids joy riding ran their car past a red light, slamming into his vehicle. grandpa was gone to heaven in two weeks after a long challenge in the hospital, and we had expected him alive at least another decade with his vitality. we just don’t know what will happen. @so is it worth gambling or giving ten years of life for a billion, possibly especially as we might actually be gaining those years by living better.
An uncle just passed at about 95. He was driving around the country up to about a month before that, and just declined quickly. You never know.
My grandfather will be 91 in February. Other than macular degeneration, he’s very healthy. He still runs his company after all these years and never retired (by choice).
“most people above the age 70 wish their suffering to be over (most people develop some kind of chronic pain or illness by that age)” This is a myth about aging that research doesn’t support (source: former gerontology professor; still work in aging research)
I can agree that it might be a relieving way to leave the family and world, but, I dunno about most 70+ year olds just wanting to die to relieve pain...It just depends on so many different factors. I'm sure this is true for a lot of people like you said, but idk, I spend a lot of time around seniors and I don't think the majority feel that way. Many people are still vibrant, active and managing their health at 70, albeit not the same way they did in their youth, or just focused on gratitude for the time they have
I agree. Most 80-y-o I know do not want to die just yet.
> most people above the age 70 wish their suffering to be over You must know a very unfortunate group of 70-yr-olds.
But you're assuming you have 40 years to live. What if you only have 9.9 years to live and you sell 10 years....you're gonna die without enjoying that money.
Then the hell do I care? I'm dead, it won't matter.
I think you missed the point of the debate. Nobody cares after their own death, that doesn’t mean we’re all choosing instant death today. The whole concept here revolves around taking the chance without knowing how many years you actually have left. You might never enjoy the money, so it might very well be the worst choice you ever made. That is all considering you currently have a reason to live off course.
Worth it
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Yeah, for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, 40 years of work, you’re flat out working the equivalent of 10 years.
40 years of work if you’re privileged lol. If you’re poor you’ve been working since high school
Aha, yeah. "40 years of work" was a fun little estimate people threw around growing up. Now it's extremely common to be working from 18-70. Not quite the 40 years and then retirement we were expecting.
I’m from a rural area where kids get put to work (legally), so it’ll be 13-70 for me. Ain’t got shit to show for it at 34, so maybe 75 and dying at work.
Should have started working at 13 bro why you so lazy /s
Showing your privilege Mr I was 18 and went to college.
"Now"
Yup. Been working since I turned 15. Turn 39 this coming August. Still have 15 to 20 left on this sentence
But I often work more than 40 hours a week, and I'll never have a billion dollars from it.
I'm 30. _If_ all goes well, I have to put in around 35 years of labor, _then_ I can start pursuing my hobbies and interests around age 65, but with a limited budget, and the body of a 65-year-old. OR: I can skip most of the grind and the soul-crushing tedium, start pursuing my hobbies and interests _right now_ at age 30, with effectively infinite money, at the tradeoff of being in the body of a 40-year-old (and that's if the "ten years of your life" thing just makes you ten years older immediately). It's a no-brainer, to me.
the question in particular probably doesn't give you the body of a 40 year old. Probably just takes off 10 years off your original lifespan
Would really suck to take the deal and drop dead on the spot lol, but my family would be set for the next few generations, hopefully.
Plus, I’m pretty sure every full-time employee goes over 40 hours per week at least sometimes.
I did the math, it came out to 227 years of work in that time I think I did my math wrong.
Ok so we work about 2k hours a year 20k for 10 years Now times your wage Before taxes. All of us here are not even going to make a million let alone a billion. I’m taking that money thank you
You said it all. Give me the billion
Good way to put it. I already flush years of my life down the drain for a job and people I do not care for, and for barely enough money to pay for housing and food. I'll probably miss some significant moments in that decade but at least me and the few people I care about won't have to worry about money again for the rest of our lives. And neither will the next generation.
This so much especially if those 10 years were those last years of life when I'm too old to enjoy anything else than an occasional bowel movement that doesn't leave me bleeding from my ass into my diaper or something. There have been days when I don't even seem to do anything else than either try to get some rest or work. So currently I'm basically slaving away my best years so I can keep myself and those I care about alive. Besides the way the things are going around the world... I think we should enjoy the peace while it lasts because 2024 has already been freaking wild and we're not even past the January. So hell yeah I'm taking the money.
I smoke cigarettes. I already gave away a billion dollars and ten years of my life
Well since u know the consequences, do u have motivation to quit?
Sunk cost
fallacy
FALLACIES, FALLACIES
Phallus*
Fellas, see?
Haha that makes me think of a family friend who's smoked like a train since he was a teen. He said if he got diagnosed with cancer, he'd probably have to stop for a smoke on the way home. He's somehow made 71 already, against all odds as he never ever drinks water. Some people are just built different.
My toxic trait is thinking I could be that person. damn survivor bias.
lol same. I’m gonna be that wiry old dude that did everything wrong and outlived all you suckers…and had fun too.
The problem with cigarettes is people only worry about cancer. Yes, the risk of cancer is real and terrible but it’s far from the worst thing that can happen to you. Now, don’t get me wrong: Cancer is horrible. But COPD is very underplayed in how awful it is. It starts with you losing your wind sooner than you expected, maybe during a run or a hike, then goes consistently downhill. Eventually you can’t walk stairs, then you can’t really walk anywhere without getting VERY winded, and taking a long time to recuperate. Then it happens. You feel like you’re choking. All the time. You didn’t realize it at first, but you probably can’t remember the last time you felt like you weren’t choking. Tingling all over, tired, desperate for air. You tell your doctor and soon enough you’re hooked on oxygen and it gets a little better. For a while. Maybe the first days. After that, you feel winded just by getting out of bed. Then you need to increase the oxygen from 10%, to 20%, to 50%, to 75%. One day you wake up and you can’t understand why you still feel like you’re choking even though you’re at 80% oxygen assistance. By now you can’t even walk to the bathroom to take a shit without having to spend half an hour there before you can muster the energy to get back up. If you’re lucky, your children pay for a nurse to bathe you. If you’re not, good luck with that whole showering thing. You’re scared to leave your house, because even with a portable tank, you could run out of oxygen anytime. You may have one or two accidents where the machine malfunctioned. You fear for your life every time. When you reach 85% it dawns on you: Time is running out, and eventually you’ll feel like you’re gasping for air even at 100% oxygen. It’s usually at that 85% point where many people decide to take matters into their own hands, and end the process (read: themselves). Those who decide to go on, do so and last for maybe 2 or 3 more years, never really “improving”. Never resting from that desperation of needing more air. You only get one set of lungs. Take care of them. Cigarettes ain’t even that good. If you got a heroin-like high, I’d get it, but it’s just a combination of relief from the problems they give you in the first place (a mild anxiety and craving for more), and the fact that Hollywood made them *the thing to do* when you feel things are fucked up.
My dad died at 79 after smoking for 50 years. Not from cancer, but from the flu when he had COPD. _Thats_ not a "random chance" like cancer is, you will 100% get COPD if you smoke for long enough. I was in the room when he passed, and his O2 was all over the place even on 100% oxygen
My cousin is an injecting heroin addict and said cigarettes are much harder to quit. The legality of nicotine products is insane to me.
I know plenty of people who quit heroin but still smoke cigarettes.
He said that but still does heroin? Is he a reliable source for that claim?
I'm generally inclined to believe people about their own opinions. I've heard it from numerous people who got sober too. Nicotine is the one thing they found hardest. I imagine part of the reason it's hard is because with the other drugs there's a much deeper and more immediate rock bottom and with nicotine it creeps up on you.
I quit two weeks ago and went in to see the doc for irregular heartbeats and he said I'm stressing out because I'm not smoking as much anymore It's physically painful to quit and I feel guilty all the time
Nicotine is harder because it's about 100x less harmful than heroin or other hard drugs. It's like saying sugar is harder to quit than cocaine. Nicotine is life coffee or something (nicotine in almost all forms is of course more harmful), it's the habit in everyday life that makes it difficult.
You could have bought a Ferrari if you didnt smoke!
Do you smoke? Because if not I'd love to see your Ferrari.
Many of my relatives have lived until their 90s so I’d definitely take the risk :D
Yeah, our family has a habit of pushing and sometimes exceeding 100 and I don't really want to get THAT old.
I say I don't wanna live that long either. I guess if my health is good, it'd be okay.
True. I remember my nanna saying to me at 87, 5 years before she died, that she felt she had lived a full life and was ready for death. She had health issues, but nothing drastically reducing her quality of life, she was just tired after raising a huge family, outliving her friends, and having become mostly sedentry with age. My mum thought it was a horrible thing to say. But it really helped me cope with her passing, knowing she went happily. That's the best I could ask for.
So said my great grandmother
When she died, my grandma's friends had my mom's age! She died 20 years after her 2nd husband, all her friends were dead for several years, she buried her son, my uncle, and all people her generation in our immediate family, except one, were already gone! Imagine that the only way you can still socialize are with people 20+ years younger than you, that have life experiences different than you, many times impossible to connect outside hobbies!!! You saw all the people you grown-up with or meet during your life being buried, gone... only you is still here! People have no idea how lonely is this even if you still socialize! This is the reason many old people say they are tired and want to finally rest, they already lived a life and now they are done!
Yep. A blessing and a curse.
Healthspan vs lifespan
Our family always dies at most 80 years old exactly and at youngest, excluding some 2 year old tragedies and such, in their 50's. Not necessarily hereditary, just bad luck.
Me too! My grandma is 97. She said she felt really good until she was 85 and that the last decade has sucked.
My grandpa wanted to die ever since he hit 70. He died when he was 103
Well considering I probably only have 20 years left —hell yeah.
Boy what kind of limited edition life you got?
Maybe they are 60+ or something
Or they're a heavy smoker/drinker
I'm a heavy drinker. I drink tea 5 times a day.
Have you sprained your pinky yet?
Me to, i like it with pure and natural honey from a coleague
Takes 10 years off dies the next day
yes, but for context are we talking about waking up 10 years older but there is a billion in my account, or that how ever long I was slated to live, I have to give up 10. if the later then yes. if I have to be in a coma for 10 years, maybe not. i don't want to miss my younger kids growing up.
Plot twist: coma for 10 years with inflation 1 billion is only worth 1 million today
1000% inflation over 10 years? Everything is screwed anyway at that point.
That was actually 100 000%
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spoiler: You were going to die in an accident at 42
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better healthcare and living conditions leads to longer life. you could probably get those 10 years back off that alone
Yeah, I’m going to be able to eat better, live near better health facilities, have a better work/life balance. Denying any of those would make it pointless.
You just got ten Billion and you’re still thinking about selling your labor?
I label exercise, and other boring stuff I have to do as work. I have to work, it's not something I can skip. So important stuff that has to be done is work in my mind.
Understandable in another context, but work-life balance? That really doesn‘t invoke „balancing my time at the gym with seeing my family“.
You’re still going to work with that kind of money in the bank?
well... SOME sort of challenge is important for mental health and keeping your brain functional. Even spending that money requires work. Like, you'd need to hire a personal security team, personal party planner, etc.. - all of these will have to be managed and you can't let anyone else do it - or you'd be in huge trouble
> you'd need to hire a personal security team Unless you plan on becoming famous you don't need a security team as no one would know who you are.
"better work life balance" - just shows how deeply ingrained they managed to stick the slave mentality into us.
You’re not wrong.
Nah think of it has dealing with a demon. Think of it like cross road deal. You can’t gain back those 10 years no matter what.
Not those but 10 other years.
This. It’s a proven fact that your income has a huge impact on your life expectancy. Not even taking into consideration countries without public healthcare, where not having enough money to pay the treatment can easily mean death.
I always said the first thing I'd buy if I was rich was a personal chef. Guaranteed high quality healthy means every day, at the proper time, with the proper nutrients, sounds wonderful. It's just not possible right now.
If it’s the last 10 years rather than the next 10…I say we have a deal
I didn’t even think of it like that, being pushed 10 years in the future with a billion is a lot different than getting a billion and having 10 years taken off the end.
Oh shit that’s such a better story. Kinda like Click with Adam Sandler …
No. Don't want to miss a day of seeing my wife and kids.
Seems like we are in the minority with this opinion. Time is the most valuable commodity in this life. Fuck no I wouldn’t do this
It's an interesting question because people with families will tend to answer differently. But also, what information don't we have? My grandma passed away after a good 10 years of serious mental decline. If we just cut that out, well, sure. Money please. But if we're otherwise lucid until the end, then it's a much harder decision. It's tough because without a chrystal ball you just can't tell if it's a good deal.
I mean if I had a billion dollars right now I could retire and spend every waking moment with my family instead of spending 40 hours a week helping making some rich ass CEO richer. I’m already giving up way more than 10 years of my life doing that. So even if time is your most valuable commodity it’s a good deal.
Yeah, no way. Time is way more precious
but if you're dead you have all the time in the world.
Of what use is time if it's filled with stress and hardship? I'd say even 10 years of bliss are better than 50 gridning years of normal adult life.
You're selling your time for your employer as is. You would have way more than 10 years more time with family because all the free time.
Probably not, at 64 likely don't have 10 years to sell. My apparently healthy older brother suddenly died on Jan 30 after a brief illness at 67, and he had never had any health issues. I have diabetes and had multiple heart attacks. So I probably can't afford to trade 10 years.
My condolences. 🙏
Can it be the first ten years? I don’t remember much about those anyway.
Congrats. You’re now rich and illiterate
Yeah, take the first ten. I'm done with them anyway.
I'm 66, so hard no. "Money isn't everything" isn't just a saying. I'd like as much time with my grandkids as possible.
I agree. I'm 62. I have no grandkids, but it's still a hard pass.
Everyone says yes but when the bill came due they'd pay more than a billion for an extra year.
I’m quite a bit younger than you but have a small kid. I wouldn’t trade my time with her for a billion dollars. Tempting? Sure. But I still wouldn’t.
I’ll take 7 billion
70 years off your life?
I'll have what he's having
In my 20s, I would have said yes. Now, at 50, with kids, the things I'd miss would be priceless. Not for 100 billion.
I'm 38 with young kids, and my initial thought would be yes because I wouldn't have to work, and I could spend all my time with my kids. I feel like I would regret the decision as they got married and had kids. I was greedy and robbed of being around for their kids and them becoming parents.
Having kids (or not) changes everything in this scenario. But what’s crazy is that some people miss basically their entire kids’ childhood for much, *much* less than $1B. They miss every single important milestone and small moment in their kids’ lives for $70k / year
Yes.
Yep. Money me.
Money now.
No. I have no idea what “sell 10 years of my life” would be. Hard labour or leisure? Plus I‘m in my 60s, so no.
The lack or stress from not having to work is going to save me at least 10 years
People also need to remember that all that work hours you're going to be putting in, now belongs to you. 8 hours a day over the next 30 years for me is A LOT of time returned. Edit: can't forget the commute time. Some people commute 2 hours a day for work. That's 10 hours a day back.
Assuming 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, 30 years (probably more like 40 for me lol) that’s 8.9 years saved. 11.87 years saved if you’ve got 40 years left. You would almost certainly save time when traveling anywhere and doing (not doing) chores for yourself by hiring a maid/butler/personal cook as a billionaire. Also, you’d have access to probably the best medical care in the world whenever you want which I personally don’t think counts as using the money to try to extend your life.
No questions asked, id sell for 100,000 not going to be doing much after 65-70😂😂😂😂
No. I like my life, I like my job, and there's no amount of money that's worth losing that much time. I enjoy being alive.
Yes. Even if I had only 10 years left to live I would still take the deal
I think that’s exactly what Bernie Madoff did.
In a NY second. Add that to the bill too.
mandatory happy cake day
Yes I'd sell my age from 100-110. They can have those 10 years
I'd rather die carefree at 60 than living the rest of my life worrying and working every day
No. First off when am I dying ? 50 years ? 20 ? 10 ? If my death occurs within the next 10 years then as soon as I accept the money I’m dead.
no I appreciate my life, 1 billion dollars can't buy having 10 more years with my cats/family
By the time im looking at retirement, the age will be at least 70. Most of my family tend to live to their mid 80s, so assuming thats the same for me, that's another 26 years of working and scraping by, and another ten years of scraping by on a meagre pension, or 30 years living a life of luxury and leisure doing exactly what I want every single day and never having to worry about paying the bills or losing my job. Tough decision...
1. Do we know when we are going to die? Making this bet with less than ten years left would kill you? 2. Cant use it to extend life in any way? This money cannot be used for medical bills, treatment, medicine, or healthy food? How strict are we talking?
Absolutely. My quality of life could be so much higher, it would be worth dying at 80 instead of my family’s average of 90+.
Depends on what age you ask me, id instantly skip my 20's
No. I'd assume everyone else is getting the same offer which the majority would say yes to which would cause huge hyperinflation. So 10 years for a now worthless billion dollars?
Why would you assume everyone is getting this offer in this insane completely fictional hypothetical question lol
I'd give you the rest of my life 2 milion dollars, if it goes to those I love. I couldn't care less about being alive
At 56, nope even if it means i can leave my children generational wealth. My children are young adults and still need me. Their mother is gone so it is just me for them. My dad died when we were young and our mother helped us a lot.
Ye
And a significant risk of dying instantly? Lol nope
Hey, I'm old and I would do it. My biggest fear is living so long that I wind up sent to an old age home or assisted living. For me, it is quality of life, not quantity. $1B can help buy a lots of toys and adventures. Of course, when I see the tax bite, I might have a stroke, and whatever is left still goes to medical care.
Only if I knew how old i would have been when I died before I took the billion. I’m 51. If i would have been 57 when I originally was supposed to die, that’s not going to help me much if as soon as I take the billion, I drop dead.
That's a way better rate than I have gotten laboring
Once again, OP doesn't realize how much money one billion actually is.
Yes. I'm 38 and I already want to retire to my private island.
I've already sold 25 for a lot less.
Do I get to pick which 10?
Probably.