Question 10 of 24
How long did your grandparents tend to last?
Pick one to continue — the dead don't get to skip homework.
Do 'good genes' actually exist?
💀 A grim little fact
Everyone wants to believe long life runs in the family. The science is spicier. Classic family-tree studies suggested the heritability of human lifespan is as low as ~7% — because couples tend to resemble each other (assortative mating), which fooled older estimates into over-crediting genes. A 2025 study pushed back, arguing that once you strip out random accidents, intrinsic heritability is closer to 50%.
Translation: genetics matter, but nobody's holding a golden ticket. Most of your lifespan is written by luck and lifestyle, not lineage.
🔮 Myth vs. Morty
Myth: "My gran smoked two packs a day and lived to 95, so I'm basically bulletproof." That's survivorship bias wearing a cardigan. You remember the one indestructible gran; you don't tally the neighbours who ran identical habits and left early. Gran won a lottery. Lotteries are, famously, not a retirement plan.
Sources: lifespan heritability studies (family pedigree ~7%; 2025 twin re-analysis ~50%) · Entertainment only — not medical advice.