Fighting Death Through Hope

Death is a bummer. That we have known for some time. But researchers in Holland have found that the converse is also true: bummers can lead to death.

Based on this result, we can add a positive outlook to wealth and success as reasons to keep on living. (See: "Why The Rich Live Longer.") Other reasons include the desire to avoid the estate tax, which kicks in only upon death.

The Dutch study conducted by researchers at Wageningen University and the Leiden University Medical Center indicates that older adults with a positive mental outlook live longer than those with a gloomier view. It was based on a series of interviews of 999 elderly men and women, which assessed outlook, and a nine-year follow-up period in which 397 of the respondents died.

How surprising that being poor and pessimistic might reduce the desire to live. How much more surprising that Forbes would link wealth (rather than what follows from wealth -- education and healthcare) with longevity. But if we accept this rather dubious assertion that tax avoidance keeps people alive and kicking, perhaps we should add spite as a contributing factor to a long life.

A possible corollary of this theory: If ignorance is bliss, the clueless should live long (more so if they prosper).