View Poll Results: Which life would you choose?
Life A - safe and steady, assured to make it to 100
9
18.00%
Life B - wild and exciting, far less likely to live as long
41
82.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll
Choose Your Life
12 January 2011, 05:55 PM
#1
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Choose Your Life
The most recent "PC Britain" thread has got me thinking and so I'll pose a theoretical question to try and better understand what people really feel about 'life'
You die immediately after reading this message and God/Aliens/Whoever tells you that you will be reincarnated as a human again...
You are offered the choice of two lives to live:
The first life (Life A) comes with a 100% assurance that you will live to be 100 years old. However, your life will be fairly monotonous and boring. You'll get a reasonable education, work a career in Local Government, retire on a nice pension, have punched out a few kids and had a few holidays. Nothing overly bad will happen in your life but then nothing overly amazing either. You'll die somewhat at piece but with a sense of regret over the many things you perhaps didn't do.
Life B will be far more interesting. You'll travel, experience the world and its wonders and know excitement and joy like nothing Life A could imagine. When you die your only regret is that you didn't live 'X' years longer to experience even more. Your life will be rich, vibrant, varied and exciting and you will have very little regret. Those things you regret will be limited only to things you tried/did that didn't work out.
Here's the catch though, if you choose life B you'll have a 10% chance of dying by age 30, a 25% chance of dying by age 50 and only a small chance of living to age 100. On average you will die at age 70.
Which would you choose?
You die immediately after reading this message and God/Aliens/Whoever tells you that you will be reincarnated as a human again...
You are offered the choice of two lives to live:
The first life (Life A) comes with a 100% assurance that you will live to be 100 years old. However, your life will be fairly monotonous and boring. You'll get a reasonable education, work a career in Local Government, retire on a nice pension, have punched out a few kids and had a few holidays. Nothing overly bad will happen in your life but then nothing overly amazing either. You'll die somewhat at piece but with a sense of regret over the many things you perhaps didn't do.
Life B will be far more interesting. You'll travel, experience the world and its wonders and know excitement and joy like nothing Life A could imagine. When you die your only regret is that you didn't live 'X' years longer to experience even more. Your life will be rich, vibrant, varied and exciting and you will have very little regret. Those things you regret will be limited only to things you tried/did that didn't work out.
Here's the catch though, if you choose life B you'll have a 10% chance of dying by age 30, a 25% chance of dying by age 50 and only a small chance of living to age 100. On average you will die at age 70.
Which would you choose?
12 January 2011, 06:03 PM
#4
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B all day long - My life was boring once and now I live on the ragged edge of oblivion.... well that is what siomeone might call posting on Scoobynet. 
Seriously though B is the way... A scared me when you said about working in local government... I wouldd ie of terminal boredom long before 100
Seriously though B is the way... A scared me when you said about working in local government... I wouldd ie of terminal boredom long before 100
12 January 2011, 06:05 PM
#5
Life B will be far more interesting. You'll travel, experience the world and its wonders and know excitement and joy like nothing Life A could imagine. When you die your only regret is that you didn't live 'X' years longer to experience even more. Your life will be rich, vibrant, varied and exciting and you will have very little regret. Those things you regret will be limited only to things you tried/did that didn't work out.
Here's the catch though, if you choose life B you'll have a 10% chance of dying by age 30, a 25% chance of dying by age 50 and only a small chance of living to age 100. On average you will die at age 70.
Which would you choose?
Here's the catch though, if you choose life B you'll have a 10% chance of dying by age 30, a 25% chance of dying by age 50 and only a small chance of living to age 100. On average you will die at age 70.
Which would you choose?
"It is better to regret some thing you did do, that to regret some thing you didn't do" Henry Rollins.
Why would i want to live to 100?? My mum owned a retirement home, believe me, 80 to 100 can be pretty dire. The day i need to wear a nappy and or have my **** wiped or have a **** bag fitted
12 January 2011, 06:24 PM
#7
You should have dangled the carrot more - Life B should be that you're guaranteed to die at 50 or so.
That way, I'm sure we wouldn't necessarily have it as Life B currently being on 100% in the poll. As eluded to already, not many are really looking forward to 70+ anyway, as the best, active years are behind them anyhow...
That way, I'm sure we wouldn't necessarily have it as Life B currently being on 100% in the poll. As eluded to already, not many are really looking forward to 70+ anyway, as the best, active years are behind them anyhow...
Last edited by joz8968; 12 January 2011 at 06:26 PM.
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12 January 2011, 06:47 PM
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12 January 2011, 07:20 PM
#12
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Yeah, I guess I overlooked the fact that most people fear 70+ as opposed to relishing the extra 30 years on mother earth. Probably screwed the poll up somewhat.
I talked about it over tea with the wife and figured that a better way to play this is to imagine you/your wife is currently pregnant and you must choose the life of your child. This makes it slightly tougher as a 1-10 chance of having your child die before age 30 is brutal.
I still think I'd pick B. I want my child to relish every moment in life and not look back with regrets. I'll willing to accept a little risk for that, which is why I won't mind if he/she climbs trees, etc. It's defo not as clear cut as when I was choosing for myself though.
I talked about it over tea with the wife and figured that a better way to play this is to imagine you/your wife is currently pregnant and you must choose the life of your child. This makes it slightly tougher as a 1-10 chance of having your child die before age 30 is brutal.
I still think I'd pick B. I want my child to relish every moment in life and not look back with regrets. I'll willing to accept a little risk for that, which is why I won't mind if he/she climbs trees, etc. It's defo not as clear cut as when I was choosing for myself though.
12 January 2011, 07:31 PM
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100 years being sold into slavery doesn't sound too appealing...
12 January 2011, 08:19 PM
#17
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A few years ago my friends granddad bought a brand new 03 STI. He was 73.
As I'm over 30% into life A I suspect things are unlikely to change.
"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy"
As I'm over 30% into life A I suspect things are unlikely to change.
"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy"
Last edited by EddScott; 12 January 2011 at 08:21 PM.
12 January 2011, 09:47 PM
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Your description of each choice makes it a no brainer IMHO ... bit more excitement in Option A & a real likelyhood of popping your cloggs before 50 in Option B may swing it the other way. I voted A anyway 
TX.
TX.
12 January 2011, 09:55 PM
#20
B
Between 95 and 100 you dont tend to have much of a life then anyway, so I rather go younger than being stuck in a home not know who anyone is even your own kids, not being able to feed my self and someone to help me go to the loo. cant be nice.
Between 95 and 100 you dont tend to have much of a life then anyway, so I rather go younger than being stuck in a home not know who anyone is even your own kids, not being able to feed my self and someone to help me go to the loo. cant be nice.
12 January 2011, 10:42 PM
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I will say this in respect to the 'no life after 70 thing'. Remember that for those of us that are 40 or under, there is a liklihood that our quality of life post 70 years of age will be markedly better than the quality of life of 70 year old people today. Medical advances should keep us fitter, healthier and active for longer. There will probably be even more drugs to keep our peckers stiff and hard
12 January 2011, 11:20 PM
#23
I voted A to provide all the best that I to ensure that my 3 little girls can have the best start in life so that they can live the life of B, but without the prospect of a shortened life. And since I'll live to 100, get to see them marry, have kids of their own and enjoy my grandchildren. With the advances in medical science, by the time I reach 70, who knows, we may have the technology to slow down the ageing process significantly.
12 January 2011, 11:33 PM
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Drive too fast at times (on country roads), been in knocked myeslf out twice and broken my ankle mountain biking, now skiing and looking forward to chucking myself down my first "black" this season....
....."B"!
....."B"!
12 January 2011, 11:51 PM
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13 January 2011, 11:12 AM
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I am ready to bet that at the age of 70 you will want to live just as much as you do at the moment. If you look after yourself there is no reason why you can't enjoy life just as much at that age. Life is what you make of it and as you get older your horizons change.
Les
Les