There are three kinds of death. There is living to a ripe old age, passing away quietly in a nursing home surrounded by loved ones. There is randomly being hit by a drunk driver, which is pure tragedy. And there is dying in a skydiving accident.

The person who dies in a skydiving accident at 35 can have lived more than the person who passes away quietly at 95 but never took any risks. It's still tragic, but I think you can celebrate someone who lived life to the fullest, in a way that you can't if they just let themselves rot away with dementia.

You either peak and start to decline at some time in your life, or you continuously go up, never peaking before your death.

When people say "the alternative is death" it's a class 2 or class 3 death. But it matters which one it is.