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'Longest Living Human' Says He Is Ready For Death At 145 (telegraph.co.uk)

Slashdot reader schwit1 quotes an article from The Telegraph: An Indonesian man who claims to be the longest living human in recorded history has described how he "just wants to die". Mbah Gotho, from Sragen in central Java, was born on December 31, 1870, according to the date of birth on his identity card. Now officials at the local record office say they have finally been able to confirm that remarkable date as genuine. If independently confirmed, the findings would make Mr Gotho a staggering 145 years old -- and the longest lived human in recorded history.
"One of Mr Gotho's grandsons said his grandfather has been preparing for his death ever since he was 122," according to the article. Though he lived long enough to meet his great-great grandchildren, he's already outlived four wives, all 10 of his brothers and sisters, and all of his children.

9 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, because being "posted to Reddit" and "ripped to shreds" there is an obvious sign of credibility.

    Are you forgetting the time that Reddit collectively lynched an innocent man in an effort to identify the suspects behind the Boston Marathon bombing, by any chance? Allow me to enlighten you:

    https://gawker.com/reddit-apol...

    Of course, being a redditor I'm sure you'll simply dismiss the entire post for being a link from Gawker, despite the fact that 70% of the content is direct quotes from Erik Martin, apologizing for the boorish and ignorant behaviour of people like you. Feel free. Redditors are like conspiracy theorists, they'll cherry-pick whatever details fit their own narrative and then circle-jerk around on their own, respective corner of the site.

    Do us all a favour and go back there for good. Redditors are the pus-filled herpes sores of the Internet.

  2. Re:Captain Kirk says... by queazocotal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well - no.
    The person in the article has a sharply declining quality of life - having to have help going to the bathroom, and significant amounts of care, being able to do very little for himself, as well as being blind.
    Many people in this condition - even at a much, much younger age, would contemplate ending it.

  3. Verify by DNA analysis by Steve1952 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It would be interesting to use DNA analysis on the 145-year-old and his relatives (living or dead) to verify his age. If his story checks out, then (for example), it could be verified if he is indeed the father or brother to various other people, some long dead, with known dates of birth or death.

  4. Extraordinary claims require ... by davidwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... extraordinary evidence.

    An identity card whose date has only recently been confirmed isn't enough.

    You still need to confirm that the card-holder is the person who matches the genuine records.

    You also have to assess the credibility of those in the records office and answer questions like "why wasn't this confirmed long ago, like when he applied for a penson (no pension? okay, I'll accept that) or when he hit age 100 (not important enough? okay, I'll accept that), age 110 (you better have a darn good answer) or when he got to be the oldest man in his country (every month of delay in searching for accurate records from this point on makes his claim less and less credible).

    It's been 30+ years since he would've been the oldest person in the world. If there haven't been serious, continuous, diligent, credible efforts to find and authenticate his age since the mid-to-late 1980s, then it will take something extra-ordinary, such as confirmation that he fathered someone known to be born more than, say, 120 years ago, for his claim to be accepted. Even if there has been a serious, continuous, diligent, credible effort to find proof of his age for the last 30 years, the fact that it took so long to find it hurts his claim.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:Extraordinary claims require ... by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "outliers can be very unusual indeed."

      There's outliers and there's statistical impossibilities. The chances of him having lived 23 years (almost a 3rd of the average humans lifespan) longer than the next oldest person I'm afraid are so close to zero that you couldn't tell the difference.

  5. Precisely. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People want to believe that he is depressed because his kids and wives are gone. It is romantic to be depressed when you have no family or lovers.

    Smart people don't make others responsible for their own happiness. Wives and kids come and go (especially today, thanks to the divorce revolution). Once you can find the natural wellspring of joy within, you are no longer dependent on these ever-changing circumstances to be happy.

    But...when your daily routine is an ongoing repetition of pain and indignity, with no realistic means of pursuing self-cultivation (nor even just enjoying hobbies), the continual displeasure can easily overwhelm any sense of calm contentedness. Under these circumstances, even the most enlightened of minds will realize that life is handing them their hat, and gracefully take their leave.

     

  6. Re:December 30th by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It me, fam.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  7. Re:Seriously? by Calydor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I will sooner dismiss the know-nothing who says "That can't be true, don't bother checking it!" than the know-nothing who says "That might be true, go check it."

    --
    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  8. Re:Captain Kirk says... by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Given a young healthy pain free body, you would never finish your interests.

    There would always be new "pokemon go"'s coming along to get excited about.
    New musical instruments to master.
    New places to see (because they are changing if you live long enough. The world today is almost completely different than it was in 1935.
    New inventions to be excited about.
    A much longer investment horizon mean you'd probably go through being wealthy and being poor multiple times (I was wiped out in the panic of 2160, 2310, 2470, the big one of 3107, and was broke again in 3705. But today in 4212, I'm comfortably wealthy.)

    People who are old, people who are unhappy, people who know they will be old and unhappy in only 30 years make it sound bad to live for a thousand years. But the last 1000 years rocked.

    Even with the expected collapses of non-renewable resources and likely associated rapid population collapse, you'd then have an awesome world with fewer neat things but less crowding and get to see all the areas ruined by overuse recover and see the seas verdant with life again as it was in the 1870's.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.