The U-bend of life: Why, beyond middle age, people get happier as they get older

https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2010/12/16/the-u-bend-of-life

by ianrahman • 3 years ago

43 29 3 years ago

economist.com

archo• 3 years ago

https://archive.is/KUano

falcor84• 3 years ago

(2010)

crickey3• 3 years ago

Survivor bias, those who are happy enough not to off themselves in one given way or another will scew the statistics

mensetmanusman2• 3 years ago

It’s more a radius of curvature effect. People are born with sharp personalities and views on how the world should be.

Eventually, you run up against the weathering affects of reality, your sharp edges smooth to a gentler polish, and you become far more stable and content.

pg_1234• 3 years ago

Actually people are born with no expectations.

They are raised to believe in "one right way".

Over time they learn it is just one of many, and much of the "value system" they were raised on is bullshit.

If they move past this, they can focus on enjoying the rest of their lives.

lapcat5• 3 years ago

The suicide rate is not that high. Fewer than 50k last year in the US, an all-time high, from a population of 330M.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/cdc-data-finds-...

theGnuMe• 3 years ago

I suggest you take a second look at that article you reference. They haven't calculated the rate for this year so you have no evidence for your claim.

Straight from the article:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II.

tmnvix2• 3 years ago

Some bad/rough maths:

50k / 330M * 70 = 0.01.

50k from 330M per year assuming a 70 year average lifespan would mean 1% of the population dies by suicide. Not insignificant.

sowbug• 3 years ago

I'm not sure survivorship bias applies when the topic of discussion is, literally, all people who have survived beyond a certain age. How else are we to make age-based observations?

southernplaces7• 3 years ago

Since the vast majority of people don't "off themselves" at any given age, with being past middle age included, that's one hell of a broad survivor bias you're talking about. Even among the most absolutely suicide-prone age cohort in the U.S.A, (those 45 to 54) the rate is no higher than 20 per 100,000. Like I said, survivor bias where the survivors represent 99.995% of the group?

ldx1024• 3 years ago

I would say a big reason for the U-bend in many cases is that as you get deeper into middle age you can actually see retirement on the horizon, and then eventually you get there and aren't shackled by a job.

euroderf• 3 years ago

In that later part of the curve, you've made your bed and now you lie in it. So relax - it's not going to fly you to the moon.

mharig• 3 years ago

#Menot

The raising idiocacy of the monkey horde bothers me more and more.

dangus• 3 years ago

The curve starts to go up right around five years before retirement age.

If I knew that I wouldn’t go to work ever again in five years and I’d probably be pretty happy too.

I bet it’s nice to not have to think about the long term career implications of coasting at work. I think I could get away with quiet quitting for 5 years.

mikhailfranco• 3 years ago

I guess the posted HN title should include (2010), but the conclusions are timeless.

The U-bend of life: Why, beyond middle age, people get happier as they get older

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