All mammals get the same amount of heartbeats, very broadly speaking. Take humans, for instance. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say your heart beats once a second. On average, this probably isn’t too far off. Sixty seconds are in a minute, and sixty minutes are in an hour. That’s 3,600 heartbeats per hour, or 86,400 in a 24-hour day. 365 days in a year means 31,536,000 heartbeats per year. After 32 years, you will have produced a little over a billion heartbeats.
One more example of why math is bad! According to this, I’m about 2/3’s through my available heartbeats. Does the stress of thinking about this cause my heart to beat faster??? I think it does. Seriously tho, I agree with the point and Tim McGraw “live like you are dying”, it’s a good motto.
I think part (between the two “***”) of the following two quotes from my favorite book and Charlie Munger sums up what I would do with my remaining breaths:
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. ***Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.***”
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
And
“•••Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. ••• Systematically you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. Nevertheless, you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.” - Charlie Munger
I work with elderly and I’m taking care of my elderly parents. I’m amazed by the spectrum of quality in human lifespans. My conclusion: it’s diabetes that’s the killer. With some exceptions, cancer can be controlled or even cured. Heart conditions can be controlled by medication or cured by surgery. But type 2 diabetes, if not caught early and aggressively controlled by meds and massive lifestyle change, causes vascular damage. Vascular damage ruins everything very slowly.
Excellent observation. I might add: treatment for diabetes can often make things much, much worse for people. The side effects of "fixing" something like that (especially diabetes) is very high indeed.
Well, this is the starkest case I've ever read against high-intensity exercise.
I will no longer be wasting my precious heartbeats on frivolous stuff like staying in shape!
Goodbye, running. Hello, living to 120 years!
If you sleep for most of that time, you might wake up with another 50 years or so in front of you! Maybe try sleeping in cold water, too.
Now you're speaking my language!
If I never wake up, I can live forever!
Thought-provoking article as usual. Still, it won't stop me from continuing my daily exercises.
Me neither. The benefits vastly outweigh the negatives!
Stoic math….😩. I’m glad someone enjoys it and does it for me 😆
This feels fitting very today, as I am celebrating my husband's 60th birthday!
Congratulations to both of you!
Thank you! Lots of heartbeats!
One more example of why math is bad! According to this, I’m about 2/3’s through my available heartbeats. Does the stress of thinking about this cause my heart to beat faster??? I think it does. Seriously tho, I agree with the point and Tim McGraw “live like you are dying”, it’s a good motto.
Alternatively, "Live each day as though it were your last" is often attributed to Marcus Aurelius, and the stoic math checks out.
Live each day, each moment to the fullest. The older I get and fewer heartbeats, the more meaning this has in my life.
I think part (between the two “***”) of the following two quotes from my favorite book and Charlie Munger sums up what I would do with my remaining breaths:
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. ***Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.***”
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
And
“•••Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. ••• Systematically you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. Nevertheless, you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.” - Charlie Munger
RIP Uncle Charlie! He will be missed dearly.
This is fascinating!
Thanks, Jim!
I work with elderly and I’m taking care of my elderly parents. I’m amazed by the spectrum of quality in human lifespans. My conclusion: it’s diabetes that’s the killer. With some exceptions, cancer can be controlled or even cured. Heart conditions can be controlled by medication or cured by surgery. But type 2 diabetes, if not caught early and aggressively controlled by meds and massive lifestyle change, causes vascular damage. Vascular damage ruins everything very slowly.
Excellent observation. I might add: treatment for diabetes can often make things much, much worse for people. The side effects of "fixing" something like that (especially diabetes) is very high indeed.