The Island Where People Forget To Die
 

This guy was told he had 6 months to live in America so he moved back to a Geek island to die... That was 35 years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/ma...ewanted=1&_r=0

Good ole folklore stories that get past on through generations....

There are certain demographic groups that have really long lives AND high life quality: Okinawans, Sardinians, and Seventh Day Adventists

Is Chris Hardwicke on this Geek Island?

I definitely believe cancer can be beat by means other that drugs and surgery....but I'd still 100% rely on a doctor. I also think longevity relies not only on nutrition, but amount of activity. I have a couple of uncles who are 90. One retired just a couple of years ago, and has a handshake like a bear trap. The other retired at 55 and looks like a wrinkled-ass husk of a man.

While I think nutrition, exercise and lifestyle does play a big role I think living to be very old 90+ is often just dumb luck. I head stories all the time about people who never smoked, hardly drank, exercised and lived a healthy life dying at 65 while someone like my aunt who smoked half her life and drank pretty much every day of her life lived to be 95.

Blessed are the Geeks...

My mom is 76, and looks like she's in her early 60's. She eats sausage, bacon and eggs more than a human should, but she never smoked or drank and has taken vitamins her entire life. She's healthy and never needed to go to the hospital from being sick with one of the usual maladies that effect most families. There's also a special gene in my family that gives everyone Tom Cruise disease. If there's someone who I think is 10 years older than me, I'll find out that we're the same age. That could be called luck. But I could also get killed by a car, or a German Sheppard attack.

I agree with this. I think from the moment you're born you have a predetermined date of death. I think diet and keeping active can maybe extend you 5 years one way or the other. At the end of the day it's all about genes.

Translation ....

"Geek" == Greek
"past on" == passed on
"effect" == affect
"head stories" == heard stories

I hate when someone says "for all intensive purposes".

I think it's the lack of stress. I think that's a huge part.

I watched a pretty weird documentary the other day about water I need to write something about.

The overall moral to the story was, be thankful to water. It was kind of surreal but it could probably connect with most people. I'm not sure on it being a skeptic, but a lot of it made sense in theory.

Probably... :)

As a real sceptic you would know it's complete bullshit.

I also think diet and exercise can make that quality of life in your later years better. Let me give you two examples. One friend of mine had a grandmother that was very active. She ate well, took care of her self and was always out in her garden and working on projects. She died of a heart attack at 78 and was living on her own, enjoying her life right up until that day.

Another friend's grandfather was just the opposite. He smoked his whole life, drank a lot of beer and didn't take care of himself. He lived to be 82, but the last 15 years of his life he had to wear oxygen and all he could do was sit around and watch TV. Just leaving the house to go to dinner or something was an event for him.

To me the lady who lived the more active life was probably a lot happier in her later years.

LOL I was going to comment on this. . . then I realized I am on the list. :)

You'd think all those electronics would reduce the geek lifespan.. ;)

loved me some ikari warriors

how about sticking to what science, medicine and statistics say about this instead of "I think..."?

i am kind of surprised that this was posted here lol

I come from this island and i live there still a part of my life and probably is the only place I can call home. Lately even more as we are building a cultural center there as the island lacks one.

Its a very special place in many ways. The article is a bit an urban legend and the locals arent really fond of it and such reports as we dont really like turists there lol

Truth is that indeed lots of the older people get to go very old(have several in my family over 100 years), but this is more due to a way of life and eating that is now gone...

Some elements remain but my generation of Ikarians for example will not live so much for sure haha.

My GFs mom is pushing 80. The lady is strong as an ox and still has ALL of her teeth!!! Never even had a single cavity. She still carries heavy things around and moves like she is 30 years old. It is absolutely incredible.

Of course she looks old as dirt as most older Asians do, but she doesn't act like it.

She doesn't drink, smoke, or take modern medicine of any kind. Gets her water from their well. If she feels ill, she makes old Thai / Chinese herbal stuff with plants and roots gathered from the area. She eats chicken, beef, pork, and veggies.

But she's not alone. Most of her friends and ladies in the area are the same way. It's remarkable really. All of them who refuse modern meds and don't abuse themselves with toxins, are old, very healthy, and very active.

Go figure.

Western Medicine is a money making scam :2 cents:

faux healthy people die young all the time.. If they don't get their blood pressure checked regularly and have proper blood work done often they'll never know what hit them until its too late.

being healthy is more than eating some vegetables and going for a run.


..also people may live long unhealthy lives but they'd be the first to admit that its not a pleasant ending to that lifestyle... can be 20 years of extra pain and suffering for people like that.

should they sign up to your conspiracy hotline to find out how they can be healthier like a cave troll?

You can't call it a scam. It saves a lot of lives. However, the amount of medicine that is pushed by doctors, as they are paid to push them, is appalling. But, if given when it's actually needed, modern medicine does exactly what it is supposed to do.

in specific, its a combination of many things in the island. The climate is very good as its basically a mountain, so combines sea and hight being very green(unlike the typical greek islands...). Then the "eat little" concept(modesty in general is a big part of the culture here still), they used to eat very healthy(fish, wild goats we got plenty and most important lots of homemade vegetables and herbs), for centuries they didnt import anything almost, not even cigs.

Alcohol consumption is even today basically homemade wine as well, usually fresh without medicines, almost everybody produces his own wine here and rarely u will see people drinking something else.

Another important factor is the water, there is a lot of radio under the island(many hot springs, used since the ancient times for health cures). From what they say it helps as long as u dont overexpose/consume.

What is also a decisive element i believe, is that people are pretty active, walk a lot(no public transport lol), dance and they also multitask. From all my friends almost nobody has just 1 job. During the year all switch to different activities.

Due to historical reasons, the culture is not so much geared to $, people are even proud of living with the basics and this of course reduces the stress a lot heh.

Obviously not everything is a paradise here, medical facilities/options are very very limited, work wise or for education as well. Being pagan and old fashion can be romantic and great but in many aspects of life can be from problematic till annoying if you are not up for it...

So most people that are here have made a choice for this type of life, thus population is small, bit over 7k people spread in 100 villages.

Many come but few stay :p

There is a mental aspect to it. My grandma took in her sister who was very skinny and frail into her house. Every year people thought this is the year she is going to die. Well after 25 years together it is my grandma who eventually died. The amazing thing is that her sister who had hung on to life for all this time passed away the very next day. Basically she said bye to everybody said she wanted to be with her sister closed her eyes and was gone.