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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136503
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| Posted: 05 July 2026 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | 1
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According to all those charts and graphs we like to concoct, the life expectancy for an average American man is 76.5 years. Of course, this means there are lots of people who will live longer, and lots who will live less. Averages work like that. Since I will be turning 76 tomorrow, the number takes on a special significance. Taken literally, it means I won’t see 2027. Which means I won’t get to celebrate the publication of ELSEWHEN volumes 2 and 3. Bummer. It puts me in mind of anniversaries I have contemplated from time to time. Like, if I make it to 89 I will get to see the 100th anniversary of Superman. (Will the New York Times want to interview me?) Also the Centennial of the beginning of World War Two. (Oh, catch up, America!) Big question, tho, if I make it past 76.5, do I get to join the Challengers of the Unknown?
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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 2139
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 3:01am | IP Logged | 2
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Move back to Canada, and we can give you 79.9.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136503
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 10:06am | IP Logged | 3
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Is that metric…?
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13251
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 4
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Did some research: a wealthy white male, already age 76, in Connecticut, whose parents were long lived, has an actuarial life expectancy projection in the 88 to 90 age range. Just do everything possible to stay as healthy as possible in those years. Age without good health is fearful.
Happy Birthday!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136503
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 11:52am | IP Logged | 5
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Age without good health is fearful.••• Good health isn’t really an option anymore. My warranty ran out about ten years ago, and it’s been one annoyance after another ever since! (Thanks for the b’day greeting!)
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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 2139
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | 6
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“ Is that metric…?”********************* Nope. Just universal healthcare.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136503
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | 7
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I think it’s because you’re all half frozen!
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Craig Earl
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1714
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | 8
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Maybe your British origins will help you out, JB.
It's 79.1 for UK males.
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Veli Loponen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: Finland
Posts: 85
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | 9
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I think it’s because you’re all half frozen!
*****
I think there are countries that have universal healthcare and are
somewhere warm. But yes, that seems a good theory. In Finland we have life
expectancy in 79.6 for males. Females are allowed to live a few more years
beyond 80s.
But yes, maybe it's the cold and harsh conditions. So we have few more
years to live in compensation. In these conditions....
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Craig Earl
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1714
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| Posted: 06 July 2026 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | 10
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It's 83 for females here in the UK.
For years, the state pension was given to women at age 60 and men at 65. I could never work that one out - men lived shorter lives but had to work for longer...?
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11629
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| Posted: 07 July 2026 at 6:11am | IP Logged | 11
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Craig, it saved the state money. It's no surprise that when
they gave women more equality they upped their retirement
age to match men, not dropped it to 60 for men! Plus male
life expectancy used to be much lower due to smoking and
drinking and inustrial jobs. Once the life expectancy
started rising due to fewer smoking and better health and
safety in inustry they soon upped it to 67 and in future 68
and beyond.
Edited by Bill Collins on 07 July 2026 at 6:14am
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136503
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| Posted: 07 July 2026 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | 12
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To state the bleeding obvious, the biggest downside of a long life is that we just keep getting older. No way to average it out. Be 25 for 25 years, and so on. For the longest time I felt like I had gotten away with it. The calendar might have said I was 60, but my mirror didn’t agree. Then I hit 70, and it was as if Mother Nature said Enough of that! and flipped a switch. The knees went first. My own damn fault. I’d allowed myself to get up above 250lbs, and it wrecked my knees. I’ve lost the weight—currently 180–but the knees don’t come back. A bit ironic, really. One of the things that pushed me out of my previous house was that it was a virtual Escher drawing of stairs. Something that had been a selling point when I bought the place! Now the single flight of stairs up and down from my studio is increasingly a challenge. Humbug!!!!!
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