Why do we die at different ages

[melthebell]

Why do we dies at different ages?

 

Because if we all died at the same age we probably wouldn't be able to get insurance cover and the government and businesses would fleece everyone more because they would create policies to maximise profit.

Oo

 

nice try, but i think humans started dieing a tad before insurance was invented

[Bypassblade]

It is a tricky one this yes, but years ago people did die directly as a result of poor living conditions & illnesses with no cure.

 

Things have improved dramatically & we are living longer, but it's a fact of life we ALL die, you can't avoid it. The sad thing is that people do die at untimely times, nobody has manged to give a reason for this, but a lot have touched on the things that contribute, so I won't go over again.

 

The way I look at it, is, life is a game of bingo, when your number is called off you toddle. By the same token you could ask why do people live to 100, no one knows exactly.

[Forumosaurus]

In layman's terms:

 

There are things at the end of the chromosomes called telomeres. Telomeres protect your DNA, however every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter.

 

As they get shorter and shorter, the DNA in that cell begins to 'unravel' and it stops the cells from working a they should, and so they eventually begin to not work.

 

Seeing as you're made of cells, when your cells stop working, things go wrong in your body, that's when things start to fail in your body, then you die.

 

Obviously factors such as diseases and infections and everything like that can affect how long you live not to mention diet etc.

 

But yeah, the longer the telomeres, the longer you live. Generally.

 

That's why people live longer than others, socio-economic factors etc asides.

[RootsBooster]

no not sure that answers it, a very good friend i went to school with died at !4 a very bubbly character and seemed very happy

 

It answers it, unless you think that a happy and bubbly character is immune to health problems or injury.

[pattricia]

i remember some of my friends who died very young, which always gets me thinking why do we die at different ages, is it stress , is it our body organs, is it our diet, is it our exercise, does anyone have an explanation, some of my best friends died at 14 yrs of age

 

I believe our genes have a lot to do with it. Also the discovery that smoking cigarettes can kill you, was a knowleable thing for people to know.

[Rupert_Baehr]

i remember some of my friends who died very young, which always gets me thinking why do we die at different ages, is it stress , is it our body organs, is it our diet, is it our exercise, does anyone have an explanation, some of my best friends died at 14 yrs of age

 

"Stupid" question is a little unfair, but from a philosophical viewpoint it's an unanswerable one.

...

 

Let me give you a silly answer. if we all died at the same age, then given that lots of people die every day and old farts tend not to be too good at waiting, how would St Peter cope with it?

 

Here he is, standing at the Pearly Gates and there are a lot of grumpy old farts trying to get in. Queueing is not something you do at the Pearly Gates (most of those old buggers didn't do it in the Supermarket - or even in the gents -before (which is why some of them are a bit smelly )

 

'Tallest on the Right, shortest on the left' would be unfair (and the 'women's libbers' - who are ordinarily more than willing to remind us that, poundal per centimetre [pace Sibon], women are more powerful than mere mortals) would be bitching that they were being discriminated against on the grounds of having ducks disease.

 

If people die at different ages it gives St Pete at least half a chance.

 

'Oldest first today, youngest first tomorrow - let's keep it fair.'

 

Or whatever.

 

Back to what I think you were really asking:

 

I had one of those jobs where you go to a lot of funerals. Your friends' funerals. Sometimes life is hard.

 

I joined the Air Force with a guy who was a friend of mine at school (purely coincidental) Some years later, his Dad was on the Squadron next door to mine.

 

2 years later I met his Dad at his funeral. - There was no body - we buried a box full of rocks.

 

That was a miserable day.

 

I have buried an awful lot of my friends and it only gets harder.

 

There is no simple answer - either to why we die 'out of phase', or to how we - the survivors - cope with it.

 

Death is a part of life, I suppose.

[Tradescanthia]

It seems the good guys die young.........and the rotten sods last forever......

It just seems that way at times.