May 3, 2017

Would You Want To Live Forever If You Could?

What would happen if people all over the world stopped aging and never died? If we had the ability to stop aging at 25 and we could live for as long as we wanted, how long we people actually choose to live? Lifetime Daily surveyed 2,000 Americans to determine how long they’d choose to live and under what conditions. Here is what they found out.

Surprisingly, 57% of Americans said that they’d only want to live another 100 years or less. 25% of those who were surveyed said they’d live another 76 to 100 years, 20% said they’d live an additional 51 to 75 years, while 15% revealed that they would want to live another 101 to 200 years. If you look at the data based on age, Americans 60 and older said they’d want 51 to 100 more years, while those under 30 were more likely to want only an additional 26 to 50 years.

The study found that men were more likely than women to respond that they would want a longer life span. When looking at the data by gender, 28% of women would be happy with an addition 51 to 75 years (versus 14% of men), but as the amount of years climbs, only 14% of women said that they’d want another 101 to 200 years and 7% were found to desire an additional 201 to 500 years, compared to 16% and 10% of men respectively.

When it comes to prolonging life, the study revealed that Americans were willing to put up with quite a bit if that meant more time on earth. 79% of respondents said they’d still want a longer life even if that meant they had to work the entire time, 73% said they would accept outliving everyone else except their family, and 63% would like a few extra years if it were only with their significant other. Conversely, 12% answered that they’d extend their life if they were paralyzed, 27% with a chronic illness, and 36% if they lived in poverty.

As far as why Americans want to live longer, a common theme was the desire to accomplish more in life. 13% of respondents said it was because they want to experience more in life and another 13% said it was to travel more while 11% revealed that it was to pursue hobbies. Surprisingly, only 7% responded that it was to avoid death and even less revealed that it was to make more money (5%).

With a longer lifespan, Americans revealed what they would do differently if given the chance. A majority confessed that they change their drug habits, relationship status, smoking and drinking habits, and the likelihood of having children. The data also shows that men were more likely to make changes in their lives in these categories than women.

A factor to consider when thinking about with the possibility of a long life is what the future may hold. A large number of those surveyed were not too concerned about having to adapt to future technologies (41%) but at least 35% said they were somewhat concerned about the possible collapse of civilization in the future and 20% said they were very concerned about the possibility of human extinction.

Check out Lifetime Daily to get some tips on staying healthy.

Source: Visual News