3 ms·

You misunderstood him. You can't die from alzheimer's at 80 if you died from malaria at 72, is what he's saying.

• Retric 11y ago
  Assuming early death was fairly random then the number of people living to 70+ may have been much smaller, but the survivors would probably not differ significantly from the overall population. However, I don't think we can find a lot of actual evidence to support one interpretation over another. PS: It should be noted that due to low human birth rates disease and accidental death really can't kill over that high a % of the population each year. 90% survival change per year = 28% of people reaching 12 years old which is far from sustainable. 95% survival chance = 54% live to 12 which is at the edge of sustainable. ~.95 ^ 75 = 2% which would suggest 2+% of the population should hit 75 assuming a steady rate of accidental / disease related deaths. (Which is unlikely) Granted, real world death rates do increase after puberty, but even still a significant portion of preindustrial society was likely over 70. Barring a strong exponential population growth rate.