Selective focus of a modern smartphone. Photo: Zinkevych (Getty)
Unless you’re eating asbestos five nights a week, scientists say your time on this planet is potentially infinite.
According to Scientific American, a human being’s chances of dying increase the older they get, but that shouldn’t be news to anybody who made it past the fourth grade without cheating off the smarter kid next to them. However, a recent statistical analysis of the “super elderly” revealed a “mortality plateau” once you reach 105 years of age.
That’s amazing news for anybody who can hang on for that long.
More good news (well, for a-holes): Being A Stubborn Jerk Can Actually Help You Live Longer
“If there is a mortality plateau, then there is no limit to human longevity,” Jean-Marie Robine at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in Montpellier said. “The odds of someone dying from one birthday to the next are roughly 50:50.”
Hypothetically, this means somebody like the oldest person on the planet — currently living large at 117 — could live forever. While most experts argue humans cannot live forever (duh), others have looked at recent data and come to the conclusion that “death risk flattens out in one’s ultra-golden years and human lifespan does not have an upper threshold.”
Of course, this theory would be way cooler if it kicked in somewhere around 35.
