MercatorNet: Longevity. Modern girls and their careers | MercatorNet

Karl Stephan's discussion of the limits to human longevity in today's issue of MercatorNet led me to newspaper accounts of Jeanne Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 at the age of 122 -- the oldest person on record. 

Madame Calment was quite a character. She was born before the telephone, lived her whole life in the Mediterranean city of Arles, and died at the birth of the internet. As a young girl, she met Vincent van Gogh during his two-year stay in Arles in 1888 and 1889. She was unimpressed by the famous artist. "Very ugly," she said. 

Madame Calment outlived her husband (who died in 1942 after eating spoiled preserved cherries), her daughter, her grandson -- and her landlord. When she was 90, this unlucky gentleman purchased her flat on a contingency contract, agreeing to pay her 2.500 francs a month until she died. She outlived him, but not before he had paid her twice what the flat was worth. ''In life, one sometimes makes bad deals,'' was her comment.

Madame Calment quit cycling at 100 and smoking at 116. She had a sardonic wit. ''Until next year, perhaps,'' a visitor told her, to which she retorted: ''I don't see why not! You don't look so bad to me.'' Toward the end of her long life, she began to look her age. But she maintained otherwise to visitors, telling them: ''I've never had but one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it.''

Michael Cook 
Editor 
MERCATORNET

As medicine improves, how long can we expect to live? By Karl D. Stephan We seem to have a built-in expiration date of about 115 years Read the full article

 

All the boxes have been ticked, but single career women are still not happy By Julia Vidmar Today's young women are over-achievers and the young men are under-achievers. Read the full article

 

Siblings with benefits By Tamara El-Rahi A little gratitude for my siblings as I settle into motherhood. Read the full article

 

Let’s cut Donald Trump some slack By Michael Cook Yes, he's lewd and crude. But Clinton's policies will further sexualise America's moral ecology Read the full article

 

Eugenics: could screening for Down Syndrome bring us full-circle? By Peter Saunders Cost-benefit analysis of the lives of disabled people could lead to a dark future Read the full article

 

Japan’s cure for the heartache of childlessness By Marcus Roberts A robot. Read the full article

MERCATORNET | New Media Foundation 
Suite 12A, Level 2, 5 George Street, North Strathfied NSW 2137, Australia 

Designed by elleston
New Media Foundation | Suite 12A, Level 2, 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | AUSTRALIA | +61 2 8005 8605