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I feel very much the same way. Working in an office is incredibly dull, society feels incredibly dull. I romanticise primitive life, and people often rebut tha

I feel very much the same way. Working in an office is incredibly dull, society feels incredibly dull. I romanticise primitive life, and people often rebut that you would die at 30. I would be ok with that though, trading some amount of life expectancy for increased excitement, purpose, and struggle. I do this in some ways through moderately dangerous activities, off roading (moto and Jeep) and snowboarding. I do not think the incredibly comfortable and coddled bay area corporate life is for me. It is another matter to figure out what is, and what will be sustainable.

WalterBright 7y ago
> die at 30. I would be ok with that Speaking as someone considerably older than that, I bet you change your mind on your 30th birthday.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Fortunately, also their odds: https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-by-age-in-the-UK-1700-to-2013.png https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-b...
- TACIXAT 7y ago
  I'll take that bet. I'm past 30. What did I win?
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    > What did I win? Life after 30.
dredmorbius 7y ago
The premise that you'd drop dead on your 30th birthday is ... largely false. Infant and childhood mortality was increadibly higher, though this also may have improved overall fitness through selection pressures. Once adulthood was attained, life expectency was ... at the very least modestly comparable to modern experiences, and long-lived individuals were not uncommon throughout history. Ironically, the development of cities and trade (and their contingent roles in providing for incubation and transmission of disease) added substantially to mortality. Even in (the relatively disease-ridden) England and Wales of the mid-19th century, as a 20 year old, you'd be likely to live to about 60, by 30, nearly 65, and at 50, you'd likely ive to see 70. https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-by-age-in-the-UK-1700-to-2013.png https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-b... Beyond disease, other causes were accidents, injuries (infection being a real possibility), famine, war, and violence. Though most of those causes tended to be episodic. See: http://www.fraser-courtman.co.uk/list_of_famines_&_pestilences_england.html http://www.fraser-courtman.co.uk/list_of_famines_&_pestilenc... Keep in mind that without cities and trade, few infectious diseases could spread much beyond a localised tribe. Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome makes a strong argument that the plagues and pestilences which afflicted the empire co-evolved with it. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691166834/the-fate-of-rome https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691166834/th...

WalterBright 7y ago

> die at 30. I would be ok with that Speaking as someone considerably older than that, I bet you change your mind on your 30th birthday.

dredmorbius 7y ago
Fortunately, also their odds: https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-by-age-in-the-UK-1700-to-2013.png https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-b...
TACIXAT 7y ago
I'll take that bet. I'm past 30. What did I win?
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > What did I win? Life after 30.

dredmorbius 7y ago

The premise that you'd drop dead on your 30th birthday is ... largely false. Infant and childhood mortality was increadibly higher, though this also may have improved overall fitness through selection pressures. Once adulthood was attained, life expectency was ... at the very least modestly comparable to modern experiences, and long-lived individuals were not uncommon throughout history. Ironically, the development of cities and trade (and their contingent roles in providing for incubation and transmission of disease) added substantially to mortality. Even in (the relatively disease-ridden) England and Wales of the mid-19th century, as a 20 year old, you'd be likely to live to about 60, by 30, nearly 65, and at 50, you'd likely ive to see 70. https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-by-age-in-the-UK-1700-to-2013.png https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-b... Beyond disease, other causes were accidents, injuries (infection being a real possibility), famine, war, and violence. Though most of those causes tended to be episodic. See: http://www.fraser-courtman.co.uk/list_of_famines_&_pestilences_england.html http://www.fraser-courtman.co.uk/list_of_famines_&_pestilenc... Keep in mind that without cities and trade, few infectious diseases could spread much beyond a localised tribe. Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome makes a strong argument that the plagues and pestilences which afflicted the empire co-evolved with it. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691166834/the-fate-of-rome https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691166834/th...