2 ms·

For antibiotics, it is at least partly due to the psychology of numbers. If you live in a village of 1000 and 1 person dies every year, then it's doing pretty w

For antibiotics, it is at least partly due to the psychology of numbers. If you live in a village of 1000 and 1 person dies every year, then it's doing pretty well. But on a planet of 8 billion, 8 million people dying without penicillin sounds like a tragedy... Individual people who need penicillin are doing better today, but as a whole past generations did as well as today, at least in the fact that they survived and produced us. In other words, we are doing BETTER when it comes to average individual comfort but the same in terms of surviving.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
> but as a whole past generations did as well as today, As a “whole”, how did past generations do with maternal/infant/toddler/child mortality and morbidity? Was that “as well” as today?
- vouaobrasil 3y ago
  It depends on how you measure "well". In terms of evolution and survivorship of genes, we did perfectly well. In terms of average well-being, of course we are better today.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    I would classify a species developing cures for illnesses as evolving.