For all but our most recent history, death was a common, ever-present possibility. It didn’t matter whether you were five or fifty. Every day was a r… - Atul Gawande

all human beings err, but they err frequently and in predictable, patterned ways.

Whereas today people often understate their age to census takers, studies of past censuses have revealed that they used to overstate it.

terminally ill cancer patients who were put on a mechanical ventilator, given electrical defibrillation or chest compressions, or admitted, near death, to intensive care had a substantially worse quality of life in their last week than those who received no such interventions. And, six months after their death, their caregivers were three times as likely to suffer major depression.