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> In the past 200 years, the average life expectancy of humans has more than doubled because of modern medicine and changes in lifestyle I thought this idea th

> In the past 200 years, the average life expectancy of humans has more than doubled because of modern medicine and changes in lifestyle I thought this idea that humans had short lifespans historically was thoroughly debunked. Humans have historically had high infant mortality rates which threw the numbers off, but if you survived past the age of three you were pretty likely to make it to your sixties or seventies.

pharrington 7y ago
Your second sentence directly contradicts your first.
- mullingitover 7y ago
  Maybe a better way of putting it is that averages are a garbage statistic when looking at these numbers, because they hide the fact that the normal human lifespan is and always has been roughly the same.
jariel 7y ago
Infant mortality, curable disease, violence, famine, bad hygiene, death from things that are maybe not 'curable' in the strict sense, but with the right hygiene, conditions, general treatment - we can cure.
psychometry 7y ago
Mortality rate actually reaches its minimum around age 10 or 11, so you would see even longer lifespans if you only look at people who survive at least to their teens.
3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago
> Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. How old is this proverb?
- hprotagonist 7y ago
  youngest is within a 500 year window around the date of the composition of the Psalms (it's psalm 90) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Origins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Origins
philipkglass 7y ago
It's true that infant mortality has decreased faster than other mortality in the past century. Even people who survived past infancy had significantly higher mortality rates at the beginning of the 20th century, though. See "Table 6 - Period Life Tables for the Social Security Area by Calendar Year and Sex" for detailed information from the United States: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_studies/study120.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_studies/study120.pdf In the table series for 1900, male life expectancy at birth was 46.4 years and female life expectancy was 49 years. For the survivors of infant mortality, additional life expectancy at age 6 was 53.2 years and 54.3 years respectively. Most children could not expect to reach their 60th birthday even if they had survived infancy. At age 18, remaining life expectancy was 41.7 and 42.9 years, for total expected age at death of 59.7 and 60.9 years respectively; weighted by sex distribution at age 18, these young adults had an average life expectancy of 60.3 years.
- ColanR 7y ago
  I don't think that looking at lifespans for the industrial revolution has any bearing on what lifespans used to be 'historically'. It was pretty clear to me, from reading the GP that they were talking about pre-industrial revolution times.
  - philipkglass 7y ago
    Remaining life expectancy at age 18 was even lower in 1800 or 1700, from what I can tell. You can find small exceptions (like aristocrats in particular countries) but I'm not aware of any large (50,000 people or more) preindustrial population where the average teenager could expect to die older than age 60. I would be delighted to see counterexamples. EDIT: This was interesting. "Lifespans of the European Elite, 800–1800". It examines the lifespans of European aristocrats over the thousand years prior to the Industrial Revolution. It limits its analysis to people who reached at least 20 years of age. Per Figure 8, the average lifespan remained below 60 in the entire time period. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/lifespans-of-the-european-elite-8001800/BE252C4B25C4AAC29ED62D591A1675AC/core-reader https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-...
abj 7y ago
You're right it's debunked, but even if you take survival rate at age 15 in the Paleolithic era life expectancy was 54 [1]. There were some aristocratic populations that last over 64 at age 21 [1]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy
caiocaiocaio 7y ago
I've certainly seen that on internet, but I don't known of any real research or hard data, and just go to any old graveyard and work out people's ages. Seems like clickbait debunking rather than real debunking.
duelingjello 7y ago
I'd say that lots of kids and infants dying in the past dragged down the average to seem comparatively low compared to today. Of those who lived past 18, I'd wager most adults lived almost as long as today unless an infection or simple mechanical injury happened. Cancer, Alzheimer's, CHD, diabetes' complications and pneumonia gets most people these days. If you live long enough these days, either your heart will give out, your circulatory system will leak and you'll die from shock, you'll get pneumonia or an infection. Finally, the vast majority of end-of-life operations are worse than nothing at all by worsening quality-of-life... hospice is better in most circumstances. PS: follow the holistic/comprehensive list of preventative lifestyle changes for Alzheimer's so you can go out with your mind as intact as possible and stay fit/able-bodied to where you don't need long-term care (LTC). As an example, the grandpa of that young guy from that show Gold Rush; what a full- and active-life that guy had.
wetpaws 7y ago
Life expectancy != maximum lifespan
otabdeveloper2 7y ago
> I thought this idea that humans had short lifespans historically was thoroughly debunked. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3. I don't know how old Genesis really is, but 2000 B.C. might be a good enough guess. So yeah, pretty thoroughly.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

pharrington 7y ago

Your second sentence directly contradicts your first.

mullingitover 7y ago
Maybe a better way of putting it is that averages are a garbage statistic when looking at these numbers, because they hide the fact that the normal human lifespan is and always has been roughly the same.

jariel 7y ago

Infant mortality, curable disease, violence, famine, bad hygiene, death from things that are maybe not 'curable' in the strict sense, but with the right hygiene, conditions, general treatment - we can cure.

psychometry 7y ago

Mortality rate actually reaches its minimum around age 10 or 11, so you would see even longer lifespans if you only look at people who survive at least to their teens.

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago

> Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. How old is this proverb?

hprotagonist 7y ago
youngest is within a 500 year window around the date of the composition of the Psalms (it's psalm 90) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Origins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Origins

philipkglass 7y ago

It's true that infant mortality has decreased faster than other mortality in the past century. Even people who survived past infancy had significantly higher mortality rates at the beginning of the 20th century, though. See "Table 6 - Period Life Tables for the Social Security Area by Calendar Year and Sex" for detailed information from the United States: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_studies/study120.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_studies/study120.pdf In the table series for 1900, male life expectancy at birth was 46.4 years and female life expectancy was 49 years. For the survivors of infant mortality, additional life expectancy at age 6 was 53.2 years and 54.3 years respectively. Most children could not expect to reach their 60th birthday even if they had survived infancy. At age 18, remaining life expectancy was 41.7 and 42.9 years, for total expected age at death of 59.7 and 60.9 years respectively; weighted by sex distribution at age 18, these young adults had an average life expectancy of 60.3 years.

ColanR 7y ago
I don't think that looking at lifespans for the industrial revolution has any bearing on what lifespans used to be 'historically'. It was pretty clear to me, from reading the GP that they were talking about pre-industrial revolution times.
- philipkglass 7y ago
  Remaining life expectancy at age 18 was even lower in 1800 or 1700, from what I can tell. You can find small exceptions (like aristocrats in particular countries) but I'm not aware of any large (50,000 people or more) preindustrial population where the average teenager could expect to die older than age 60. I would be delighted to see counterexamples. EDIT: This was interesting. "Lifespans of the European Elite, 800–1800". It examines the lifespans of European aristocrats over the thousand years prior to the Industrial Revolution. It limits its analysis to people who reached at least 20 years of age. Per Figure 8, the average lifespan remained below 60 in the entire time period. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/lifespans-of-the-european-elite-8001800/BE252C4B25C4AAC29ED62D591A1675AC/core-reader https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-...

abj 7y ago

You're right it's debunked, but even if you take survival rate at age 15 in the Paleolithic era life expectancy was 54 [1]. There were some aristocratic populations that last over 64 at age 21 [1]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

caiocaiocaio 7y ago

I've certainly seen that on internet, but I don't known of any real research or hard data, and just go to any old graveyard and work out people's ages. Seems like clickbait debunking rather than real debunking.

duelingjello 7y ago

I'd say that lots of kids and infants dying in the past dragged down the average to seem comparatively low compared to today. Of those who lived past 18, I'd wager most adults lived almost as long as today unless an infection or simple mechanical injury happened. Cancer, Alzheimer's, CHD, diabetes' complications and pneumonia gets most people these days. If you live long enough these days, either your heart will give out, your circulatory system will leak and you'll die from shock, you'll get pneumonia or an infection. Finally, the vast majority of end-of-life operations are worse than nothing at all by worsening quality-of-life... hospice is better in most circumstances. PS: follow the holistic/comprehensive list of preventative lifestyle changes for Alzheimer's so you can go out with your mind as intact as possible and stay fit/able-bodied to where you don't need long-term care (LTC). As an example, the grandpa of that young guy from that show Gold Rush; what a full- and active-life that guy had.

wetpaws 7y ago

Life expectancy != maximum lifespan

otabdeveloper2 7y ago

> I thought this idea that humans had short lifespans historically was thoroughly debunked. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3. I don't know how old Genesis really is, but 2000 B.C. might be a good enough guess. So yeah, pretty thoroughly.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]