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Isn't this longer than the average life expectancy of that time? I wonder what kind of incentives they had for such long-term projects.
by galgalesh 6y ago
Isn't this longer than the average life expectancy of that time? I wonder what kind of incentives they had for such long-term projects.
- nosianu 6y agoThe average was skewed by child and women (during/after birth) mortality. In lecture [0] the professor mentions as an aside: > And what is interesting, if you take out the childhood mortality, the Victorian person between 1850 and 1880 lived slightly longer, if he was a male, than you do today That's well after the middle ages, but still also well before modern medicine and technology, such as good sanitation and water systems. [0] https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/return-of-the-microbes-how-infections-are-once-more-taking-over https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/return-of-the-... (has the full text to search for the context of the quote)
- jacquesm 6y agoDental work is also a big driver in longevity, as is washing hands by doctors.
- bhickey 6y agoCan you expand on this? Were abscesses killing people or something else?
- jacquesm 6y agohttps://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in...
- emiliobumachar 6y agoYou know the very extreme of dental issues, nerve infections? Well, they're the very extreme because when it gets to the point of aching intensely all the time, anyone gets treated in a matter of days. If there's no treatment, it keeps moving in.
- Joker_vD 6y agoOne of the things that always puzzled me about human anatomy is why the heck are there nerves inside the teeth?
- nojs 6y agoThat’s an interesting claim. I guess it implies that although we’ve reduced childhood mortality, the people we’ve saved go on to live shorter than average lives?
- gowld 6y agoI find that suspect. 1 because I doubt statistics for the poor were as accurate, and 2 because people alive today aren't dead yet so we don't know their life expectancy, which has been steadily trending upward for a century even for middle aged people. https://www.infoplease.com/us/health-statistics/life-expectancy-age-1850-2011 https://www.infoplease.com/us/health-statistics/life-expecta...
- Swenrekcah 6y agoI'd guess the kings, clergy and nobles liked their legacy and the people generally, then as today, like to work on something that improves society. And also, the average life expectancy at birth is a lot lower than the age an adult can expect to live to. People got old in the middle ages, it was just not as common, but probably more common for the aristocracy.
- gowld 6y ago> like to work on something that improves society. like to have other people work on something that improves society.
- jb1991 6y ago“Average” lifespan is a misleading metric prior to the early to mid-20th-century because it’s heavily influenced by those who died before age 5.
- BerislavLopac 6y agoAs others said, it isn't. Child mortality was particularly high, which reduces the average age, making it not very suitable for understanding the reality at the time. Barring violent death, people who survived past the age of 15 normally lived to 60+.
- bserge 6y agoKing wants a bridge, king gets a bridge. Whether it's for the country and people or his own satisfaction, if he could pay or force people to do it, they'd do it. And bridges were infinitely more useful than fancy castles, for example.