A book was recommended to me, called Should We Stay or Should We Go (no question mark, for some reason). The Author is Lionel Shriver, copyright 2021. It is a story about Cyril and Kay in the UK who look into the future and decide that the risks are too great that they will spend their Golden Years in complete dotage with dementia or cancer, or worse, and decide to call it quits at age 80 (looking forward from age 51). This is driven by dealing with their parents who did actually have dementia and cancer, and worse, and suffered terribly, and were a burden on the British Health System for many years. Watching them in decline was a big deal for Kay and Cyril, and they made a Pact not to go down that path themselves.
The book poses a series of alternate possible futures for the 2 heroes, some that are better than expected, and some that are worse. In one possible future Kay takes the pills and dies, and Cyril lives on, but has a stroke that paralyzes him and relegates him to a bed for many years, helpless and a total drain on the system, which he despises. In another possible future a global cure for cancer and all diseases is found and they live forever, but maybe not all that happily. After all, if there is nothing that will kill you, and you are perpetually 25 years old, what is there to live for? After 500 years (or more), and you have done everything and tried everything, what is left?
I have summarized the book by chapter, since that is how the possible futures are presented, and I have struggled to find the Big Questions in each of them. The text is well written, and I recommend reading it. Spoiler Alert: I tell it like it is, and Cyril and Kay variously live and die in each chapter, depending on how things turn out. I left out a ton of well written prose, which I really liked, so dive in deep and enjoy what I found to be so great.
But back to the BQ: Is it, What is our purpose in life? What is our duty to others? Does life have a meaning? Is there a force that directs our lives? Do we have free choice? Does true love transcend our lives? (True love is a theme that weaves itself through the stories and is a warm, wonderful connection that Kay and Cyril grasp from time to time.) Or perhaps another question? One that pops out to me is: Why are our kids such shits! Or at least Cyril and Kay's kids are.
If we were to predict our individual futures, what would we predict? How long will we live? What sort of quality of life will we have? Is a poor quality of life worth living? Would we be better off to pick a date where we still have all our faculties and decide to end it on a high note? What would we give up?
It is tempting to say that a life lived well and ended at the right time is far better than a life lived only OK and hung onto long past its "used-by date" would be. Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse!