Chapter 1, Problem 3FDD

Critical Thinking:

Do Male Symphony Conductors Really Live Longer?

Several media reports made the interesting observation that male symphony conductors live longer than other males.

John Amaral wrote in Awaken that orchestra conductors “live longer than almost any other group of people by three to seven years.” Robert Levine wrote in Polyphonic.org that they live longer “because they stand up while working.” Some provided other explanations for this phenomenon, often referring to cardiovascular activity. But do male symphony conductors really live longer than other groups of males? The Internet can be researched for possible answers. Let’s also consider the following.

3. Without any disabilities, males qualify for Medicare if they are 65 or older and meet a few other requirements. If we compare life spans of males on Medicare to life spans of males randomly selected from the general population, why would we find that males on Medicare have longer life spans?