--- title: This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80 description: “Is there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to?” Via Flourish: A... canonical: https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-31T05:01:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:09:46.689Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80 og:description: Can you answer it? og:url: https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteae3d25f19773526/69877cb8428a9e5451cc6e00/cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4256 og:image:height: 2394 og:image:alt: cake og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80 twitter:description: Can you answer it? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteae3d25f19773526/69877cb8428a9e5451cc6e00/cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80 > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 31, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Lighting 93 candles on a cake Lighting 93 candles on a cakeGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 31, 2015 5:01 AM UTC **_“Is there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to?”_** Via [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439190763/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439190763): --- > “” --- And: --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/what-yesno-question-can-likely-predict-whethe-40474/)**_._** **Join over 150,000 readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD). Related posts: [How To Be A Good Kisser – 10 Tips From Scientific Research](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/08/how-to-be-a-good-kisser/) [Recipe For A Happy Marriage: The 7 Scientific Secrets](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/recipe-for-a-happy-marriage-2/) [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/"},"headline":"This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80","datePublished":"2015-01-31T05:01:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:09:46.689Z","description":"“Is there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to?” Via Flourish: A...","url":"https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/","keywords":["Psychology","Happiness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteae3d25f19773526/69877cb8428a9e5451cc6e00/cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteae3d25f19773526/69877cb8428a9e5451cc6e00/cake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cake","caption":"cake","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3688763/predict-alive-happy-age-80/","name":"This Question Can Predict Whether You Will Be Alive and Happy at Age 80"}}]}] ```