>Lifetimes centuries ago were 30-40 years on average. Only a handful of people lived 60 or more years. Today, many people live to 100, many more to 80 The aver

>Lifetimes centuries ago were 30-40 years on average. Only a handful of people lived 60 or more years. Today, many people live to 100, many more to 80 The average in previous centuries was heavily skewed by infant/childhood mortality. Plenty of people lived into their 80's back then. It's just that half of their brothers and sisters died before age 10, which dragged the average down. Still more succumbed to disease and infection before even middle age. The average isn't going up because people live longer, it's going up because fewer people die young.