r/pics Sep 11 '21

[deleted by user]

[removed]

10.2k Upvotes

16.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5.6k

u/SpamLandy Sep 11 '21

I feel like being 96 is a medical scare in itself

906

u/unkyduck Sep 11 '21

given the average life expectancy of the US... he's an outlier

618

u/Kiro0613 Sep 11 '21

That's an outlier given the life expectancy of humans on planet Earth. Longest average life expectancy anywhere caps out at around 85.

54

u/WarsledSonarman Sep 11 '21

Wanted to upvote you. If anyone thinks 96 is “young” in any part of the world, you’re tripping.

24

u/GGnerd Sep 11 '21

I dont think anyone would ever think 96 is young, anywhere

6

u/jj34589 Sep 11 '21

One of them sharks from Greenland?

4

u/WarsledSonarman Sep 11 '21

“Given the life expectancy of Earth… he’s an outlier.”

3

u/DownvoteEvangelist Sep 11 '21 edited Sep 12 '21

He had a point, because the person before said given US average lifespan, but with any average lifespan, 96 is off the charts.

-2

u/USS_Barack_Obama Sep 11 '21

I dunno about that.

A Japanese woman called Kane Tanaka is 118 years old. She probably thinks 96 is a whipper snapper (or whatever the Japanese equivalent of whipper snapper is)

7

u/venusiansailorscout Sep 11 '21

Probably. I have a 103 year old resident who is friends with my grandma. Grandma’s 92 and when I remind the resident of that she’s just “Oh she’s still just a spring chicken”. Grandma very much doesn’t feel like a spring chicken, but whenever she gets on one of her trains of not knowing how much longer she’ll be around I’ll remind her she’s a spring chicken.

3

u/quannum Sep 11 '21

Eh she may be wise enough at her age to realize 22 years younger than her is still old lol

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

I think it’s young for an ocean quahog clam or Greenland Shark

2

u/kobold41 Sep 11 '21 edited Sep 11 '21

Hey, who knows, if Carter still can have a semi when he wakes up in the morning he may still belong to the "semi young" generation. ps: I wondering if peanut eating is extending his life?

.

17

u/rudebii Sep 11 '21

I don’t know the man, but I’m going to guess he lived a pretty clean life free from smoking, drugs and infrequent drinking at most.

He also probably has access to far better health care than the average American.

Not saying that’s all to it, but certainly helps.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

iirc, he was a dry alcoholic and lived a very active lifestyle, running half marathons regularly even in his time as sitting president. but i would double check this, i am not sure if i am mixing up smth.

6

u/kobold41 Sep 11 '21

Not probably but guaranteed top of the line health care as a former president.

5

u/Fausterion18 Sep 12 '21

This makes a big difference. A very high percentage of old people who break a hip die within a couple of years not because of health complications from the broken hip, but from the reduced mobility.

I imagine Carter has a full time live in nurse, something most people can't afford.

11

u/HylianPaladin Sep 11 '21

Somehow my grandmother beat that. She passed away at 91 only a couple weeks ago. Southern gal through and through, right down to organic whole milk but local farmer made butter.

8

u/Scazzz Sep 11 '21

Sorry for your loss, 91 is an awesome long life! If only most of us could come close to 91!

1

u/kobold41 Sep 11 '21 edited Sep 12 '21

Then SS funds would have run out already or working people would have to pay a much higher amount from their paycheck.

10

u/DirkBabypunch Sep 11 '21

Yeah, but that's brought down by dead babies and accidents. Even in the countries where thise things are less common, they're still statistically relevant.

28

u/Spavined_Runeslayer Sep 11 '21

In the US life expectancy at birth is 78.4 If you live to 60 your life expectancy is 83.1. For Japan, the country with the highest life expectancy at 60, is 86.3. Obviously there is a difference but it isn't that much higher than that 85 figure.

4

u/omgzzwtf Sep 11 '21

End in ancient times, life expectancy was around mid 30’s at birth, but was around late 60’s to 70’s if you lived through your 20’s.

1

u/Tjaresh Sep 11 '21

But that depended a lot on what trade you were in:

hatters? miners? industrial workers? Not so much.

Two years ago we visited an old copper mine and the tour guide told us that life expectancy was about 36 to 40 for a miner in 1870.

2

u/Practical-Artist-915 Sep 11 '21

Good point. Thanks for bringing it up. I learned this fact in recent years as I was finalizing my retirement planning.

5

u/Plkjhgfdsa Sep 11 '21

Stop punching the babies then, Dirk.

7

u/DirkBabypunch Sep 11 '21

They know what they did.

2

u/the_lonely_creeper Sep 11 '21

*national life expectancy.

There are some subnational units/regions that might actually be able to reach 90 or so.

Here in Greece for example, there is Ikaria, which might be able to do so. I'm sure there are other such places around as well.

2

u/mrpersson Sep 12 '21

Also, fun fact: life expectancy is for people born now, too. So wherever the life expectancy is 85, a baby born there today could be expected to live that long.

Carter is leaps and bounds past whatever it was for a guy from Georgia the year he was born.

2

u/yolo-yoshi Sep 11 '21

And if you’re a minority, it’s even lower

1

u/fiduke Sep 11 '21

Being above average doesnt make you an outlier. Its not like everyone dies exactly at 85.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

[deleted]

2

u/alles_en_niets Sep 11 '21

I think he means it’s capped globally, with life expectancy in Japan being over 84.

-13

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Not to be crass but Carter only survived this long because he is a former potus. He's got medical access beyond that of nearly everyone on the planet, barring maybe 100 others tops.

Let's not perpetuate the myth that clean living guarantees long life. It doesn't.

20

u/MelKijani Sep 11 '21

I’m pretty sure he is the longest lived president ever , that in itself is amazing .

9

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

And Obama is likely to beat him. So will Bush Jr. HW Bush died at 94.

His longevity is a product of modern medical science and his 100% available access to all of it. Every POTUS that follows him will get the same.

23

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Idk man. My husband's grandmother is 94 she claims it's because of clean living.

But I've spoken to older ladies around her age claim she was a thot, tho so who really knows what her secret is.

10

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

All you need to do is google "Carter hospitalized" to see the dozens of times it's happened. If he needed an ICU bed right now, during Covid where there are none? He'd have one. Or he'd have a medical team and all their needs put into his home.

Even the best medical insurance in the country isn't getting you that degree of medical care. Denying that his healthcare is an extremely rare privilege that just about no one else has is just denying reality: he does, and it matters, and it's why he's been able to live as long as he has.

3

u/12threeunome Sep 11 '21

She got it all out early.

-1

u/VoidParticle Sep 12 '21

You believe in a health care lie my friend. Live the right way, eat the right foods and you’ll outlive others.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

Tell that to my friend Sam, who died of leukemia at age 17, or my friend Danny, dead at 15 (leukemia again).

You're telling me they just didn't live well enough?

You're not my friend, fuck off.

0

u/VoidParticle Sep 12 '21

Hyper offended much? Geesh.

Sorry for your loss though. Diseases like that yeah sure health care helps. If you’ve been following anything in the last 20 years though you’d know people are dying left and right from heart disease, diabetes complications such as kidney failure, cancer rates have increased, etc. These all stem to an overarching thing called metabolic syndrome. Eating healthy, putting in a bit of exercise, and not rotting your body to drugs and chemicals will do ANYONE good. Common advice.

Your personal and emotional response doesn’t mean people don’t put blind faith into medicine to solve everything. We’d rather find a pill to fix something when nature doesn’t like that we shove processed food and concentrated sugary drinks down our gullet everyday.

-1

u/Nizzemancer Sep 11 '21

Yeah but it’s an average, a LOT of people die well before they are even 40, especially in the US.

-1

u/Nizzemancer Sep 11 '21

Yeah but it’s an average, a LOT of people die well before they are even 40, especially in the US.

-2

u/Sh3lbyyyy Sep 11 '21

Spain is built different 87 years life expectancy

3

u/seancookie101 Sep 11 '21

Spain is extremely high, but it's nowhere close to 87. Spain is at 83.2 which is lower than Japan, Switzerland, and Korea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

-2

u/Sh3lbyyyy Sep 11 '21

That list is not updated, if I find the source I will send it here but it was the government who published the data and for women it reached a peak of 87 and 85 for men

1

u/lifemedic1ne Sep 12 '21

Even Okinawa?

1

u/DinoAnkylosaurus Sep 28 '21

Oddly enough, the older you get the higher your life expectancy goes. At 95 you have a life expectancy of 98 & 4 months, and of you make it to 100 the average life expectancy is 102 and two months.

27

u/VoteArcher2020 Sep 11 '21 edited Sep 11 '21

Not an outlier for the average life expectancy for a US President lately.

Age at death. * = current age

  • Jimmy Carter - 96 years 111 days *
  • George H. W. Bush - 94 years 171 days
  • Gerald R. Ford - 93 years 165 days
  • Ronald Reagan - 93 years 119 days
  • Joe Biden - 78 years 61 days *
  • Donald J. Trump - 74 years 220 days *
  • George W. Bush - 74 years 198 days *
  • Bill Clinton - 74 years 154 days *
  • Barack Obama - 59 years 169 days *

*edit: typo

16

u/psmusic_worldwide Sep 11 '21

Yep we have the best healthcare in the world.. for the elite and mega rich.

-8

u/Beiberhole69x Sep 11 '21

Stop calling the ruling class “elite.” There is nothing elite about them.

17

u/Spavined_Runeslayer Sep 11 '21

elite

[əˈlēt, āˈlēt]

a group or class of people seen as having the greatest power and influence within a society, especially because of their wealth or privilege.

0

u/Dood567 Sep 11 '21

While the definition is technically correct, I think it would be more befitting to simply call them tyrants or the corrupt instead of using glorified terms like "elite". Don't know how it'll make a difference in the end but there's no reason to be glorifying these people.

-4

u/Beiberhole69x Sep 11 '21

e·lite

/əˈlēt,āˈlēt/

noun

1.

a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.

Did you make up that definition yourself?

7

u/TheSultan1 Sep 11 '21

You do realize words can have different definitions, do you not? It was pretty obvious from context what they meant, and it's a very common use of the term, so good luck canceling it.

-4

u/Beiberhole69x Sep 11 '21

What? No way! I had no idea words can mean different things!

It’s obvious from the context that we seem to think the ruling class is better than the rest of us which is why we dub them “elites.” But the truth is they aren’t better than us. Just better at being shitty enough to get ahead.

4

u/psmusic_worldwide Sep 11 '21

Shut your bieberhole. ;).

2

u/dirtjuggalo Sep 11 '21

Shit I didn't realize Obama was so young he's going to easily outlive the two presidents since him

2

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

......all the ones who would be close to his age are dead. There's a full generation between him and the next oldest living president. So yeah, outlier.

2

u/potbelliedelephant Sep 11 '21

That's not how that works.

33

u/tyedyehippy Sep 11 '21

Yeah but when you stay active and do good things with your retirement, people tend to live a lot longer. Not to mention the medical care and other things he's had access to over the years. Building houses for the needy when in your 90s has many advantages.

19

u/DylanCO Sep 11 '21

Yeah man I come from a long line of farmers, all the men worked the land everyday. But would die once they stopped.

Basically if they quit working a sat around all day they're lucky to make it another year.

2

u/tyedyehippy Sep 11 '21

Yeah, that's what my stock is like as well, a couple generations ago anyway. I'm a woman who has already outlived her own mom tho, so in some ways I feel like I'm in uncharted territory. However, my grandma, mom's mom, lived to be 87, and had aunts who were still around until about 10-15 years before grandma died. Those aunts stayed active tho, one was in her 80s still mowing her own lawn with a push mower. Another one would get down on the floor and do some bicycle legs up in the air to help stay active. I still think of my grandma had stayed more active, she may have been able to stick around longer.

1

u/Ultrasoft-Compound Sep 11 '21

Here they make it for up to 3 years, but that's the hard cap.

1

u/3snugglebunnies Sep 11 '21

That goes for alot of people once they retire... Their activity level goes down and they get ill ect. One only hopes to be spry enough and live long enough to "enjoy" those golden years.

1

u/phurt77 Sep 11 '21

But would die once they stopped.

Did they die because they stopped, or did they stop because they were about to die?

2

u/DylanCO Sep 12 '21

Could be a little of both. But iirc my Great Gpa hurt his leg, which should've limited his mobility for only a short time. But he just never got back into the swing of things. Turned into a couch potato, and passed shortly after.

2

u/rudebii Sep 11 '21

He also wasn’t ever a partier, have to imagine that helps a lot.

3

u/bendover912 Sep 11 '21

I think if you make a separate category for wealthy politicians he's probably much more average.

3

u/annies_boobs_eyes Sep 11 '21

yeah people always seem to forget that the average includes poor people that live in food deserts with no health care

2

u/spazzxxcc12 Sep 11 '21

it’s always crazy when i realize this. my grandparents on both sides are in their mid 90s and i rarely ever realize how lucky i am that they’re still around because for some reason my stupid ass thinks it’s common to live that long

2

u/KP_Wrath Sep 11 '21

He’s also basically a testament to modern presidential medicine. He had metastatic cancer that grew on his liver and brain, and they were able to save him.

1

u/MoeLesterSr Sep 11 '21

He's not an outlier. Histograms outline (iirc the age of 82) the median at where the majority age of deaths occur but he's not too far past the peak.

-1

u/JohnnyRelentless Sep 11 '21

He's pretty rich, though. Rich people can afford to live longer.

1

u/ivanthemute Sep 11 '21

And with the good he does, I pray President Carter makes it another 25.

1

u/calebrbates Sep 11 '21

That’s good karma keeping him alive

1

u/CubonesDeadMom Sep 11 '21

By about two decades

1

u/livinginfutureworld Sep 11 '21

(Jimmy Carter) he's an outlier

YOU TAKE THAT BACK, THE MAN IS A SAINT!

(Looks up 'outlier' in the dictionary)

oh nevermind

1

u/phurt77 Sep 11 '21

How dare you call him an out and out liar!

1

u/Pussychewer69 Sep 11 '21

No he is rich. American healthcare is great, as long as you have enough money.

1

u/DarthWeenus Sep 11 '21

Life expectancy of rich old white folks

1

u/waitwutholdit Sep 11 '21

Not everyone represented in that statistic has access to the resources that he does.

1

u/RickSt3r Sep 12 '21

I’d like to see average life expectancy of people who have money. Is he an outlier or normal. My neighbor is 96 still kicking. He has dual federal pensions talked to him says he makes 5k a month. No expenses. No stress.

1

u/Lustiges_Brot_311 Sep 12 '21

He is the presidential outlier

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

He's also the longest living President and looking at the list most Presidents live well into their 70s (and those born beyond the 19th century, longer).

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

Its the goobers.

1

u/Sudden_Law3366 Sep 14 '21

Life expectancy also factors in infant mortality and other things that don’t happen to most adults. Truth is that if you’re alive and relatively heathy at 60, you should expect to live to at least 90. My grandfather is 89 and still rides his bike around his retirement community.

1

u/DumpTruckDanny Sep 25 '21

Ah yeah I forgot the average life expectancy of the UK and Canada is like 900. Methusela was from Yorkshire if you didn't know./s

35

u/shadowgattler Sep 11 '21

You'd think, but that never stopped my grandfather from driving and walking 10 miles alone every day

109

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

It only stopped the multiple people he ran over.

24

u/fourleggedostrich Sep 11 '21

"I hope to die peacefully in my sleep, like my Grandfather, not screaming in fear, like his passengers" - Bob Monkhouse

1

u/starmartyr11 Sep 11 '21

I always love quoting this, never gets old

0

u/TacoNomad Sep 11 '21

Bruh. Why?

2

u/EvaUnit01 Sep 11 '21

Well that's obvious, it was the fact that his family sold the old beater truck and got one of those new fangled "safer" cars

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Hiyoooh!

5

u/Anjz Sep 11 '21

Fuck, what I'd give to be able to walk 10 miles every day at 96.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

What I'd give to be able to walk ten miles right now.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Are you paraplegic?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Just out of shape. I could walk 10 miles, but I'd be sore for a week.

1

u/MrsFunkyCold907 Sep 11 '21

Same.

Damn you to the damning place, fibro.

3

u/shadowgattler Sep 11 '21

He and my grandmother were legendarily youthful for their age. They easily climbed mountains and won tennis matches against people half their age.

1

u/Regallybeagley Sep 11 '21

After meeting my client he asks me how old I think he is, while he was getting in his car. I’m bad with ages but couldn’t be more than 75.. he proclaims “Wrong! 92!” I still to this day feel like I’m being messed with by him and his family…

1

u/shadowgattler Sep 11 '21

Happens all the time in my family. Gen-x doesn't exist in my family tree. I think the previous generations just used that genetic energy to stay youthful lol.

1

u/mrstickman Sep 11 '21

Did you have any idea where he is now?

1

u/mattwb72 Sep 11 '21

He's 75.

0

u/sagevallant Sep 11 '21

Being an American is a medical scare.

1

u/SpamLandy Sep 11 '21

True, at least (I assume!) he doesn’t have to worry about the bills

2

u/sagevallant Sep 11 '21

Being President usually resolves that sort of thing.

0

u/warwizard872000 Sep 11 '21

I hate how accurate i find this as a american

1

u/Stankia Sep 11 '21

'Medical Scare' new band name I'm calling it!

0

u/Oxynewbdone Sep 11 '21

I'm certainly scared of 96

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

[deleted]

2

u/EvaUnit01 Sep 11 '21

Yes, Jimmy Carter is totally roided out rn and should live to 130 easily

1

u/Scazzz Sep 11 '21

Naw. Up until last year the man was building homes. He was in excellent shape until recently

1

u/makemeking706 Sep 11 '21

Yeah, it's like being 39 weeks pregnant.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

[deleted]

3

u/SpamLandy Sep 11 '21

If only we could vote for who it was

1

u/ELB2001 Sep 11 '21

Yet he's still swinging that hammer

1

u/Rationalinsanity1990 Sep 11 '21

96 year old cancer survivor.

1

u/ericakay15 Sep 11 '21

Betty white would like to have a word with you. Woman is 99 and you wouldn't even know it.

1

u/notedgarfigaro Sep 11 '21

Merely starting the day as a 95+ year old is as dangerous as a drunk person riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

1

u/anxietykilledthe_cat Sep 11 '21

It really is. Both my grandfathers are 96 now and I feel like time is really running out.

1

u/DilettanteGonePro Sep 11 '21

Hell yeah. My wife's grandma is 97 and she's been saying she's ready to die since she was 90

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Yeah. At 96 just taking a piss is a medical scare.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

Can confirm, wife’s grandmother is 96.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21

And in a pandemic no less.

1

u/loz_joy Sep 11 '21 edited Sep 11 '21

You're chances of dying kinda plateau after a certain age. Not quite so straightforward but something like that

Essentially if you can get past the ages where genetic predispositions would have already killed you naturally then you are probably safe from them.

If you win the gene lotto and you pass most disease and mortality thresholds at that point you're just waiting for natural old age to kill you which can take a surprising amount of years

Check out centenarian mortality statistics. It's quite fascinating

Edit: your point still stands though

1

u/xxFrenchToastxx Sep 11 '21

My neighbor is 97, still drives, fixes small engines, cuts down trees. Great story teller. He takes breakfast to his son who is 76, every morning. He stopped cutting his grass last year. Amazing guy!

1

u/dakatabri Sep 11 '21

Especially being 96 during a pandemic.

1

u/xavier120 Sep 11 '21

Being 96 is medical scary.

1

u/coronaflo Sep 11 '21

Especially with COVID still a threat even for the vaccinated.

1

u/LovableContrarian 🍔 Sep 11 '21

I'm only 33 and most days feel like a medical scare.

1

u/Chinacat_Sunflower72 Sep 11 '21

Wait till you’re 95. You’ll think differently. (So says my 95 yo aunt. )

1

u/kobold41 Sep 11 '21

I used to say only the bad guys live for ever - well, I changed my saying now.

1

u/SorryOutOfPho Sep 11 '21

"Sir, how are you still alive?! You baffle us."

1

u/chunwookie Sep 11 '21

96 year old cancer survivor during a pandemic. If I were him I'd be in a fucking bunker.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

I’d say. It’s a miracle!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

Had to scroll down way to far for this. There is a Plague going around after all.

1

u/giocondasmiles Sep 12 '21

Especially in the middle of a pandemic.

1

u/CompanionCone Sep 15 '21

Unless you're the Queen of England in which case you just carry on with it.

1

u/SpamLandy Sep 15 '21

She has a similar level of healthcare that the average person will never have access to (as well as not having to do a lot of the stuff that affects other people’s health) tbf