3 ms·
Average life expectancy was around 40 only because many died in infancy, which is itself unrelated to red meat consumption. If you lived past that stage, the av
by NackerHughes 3y ago
Average life expectancy was around 40 only because many died in infancy, which is itself unrelated to red meat consumption. If you lived past that stage, the average life expectancy was more around 70, the origin of the phrase ‘threescore years and ten’.
- littlestymaar 3y agoIt's more complicated than this, longevity (which is the concept you're looking for) was indeed higher than 40 years, but at the same time mortality all along life was still much higher than today and most people died before old age (men more so than women though). But that's why I added the second sentence: from an evolutionary perspective it actually doesn't matter if you die from cancer at 60 when you're close to being great-grand father, you've done your job of reproducing and raising your kids well enough and as such it's a good time to go. People often don't get this, but from a biological perspective death is not actually a bad thing, the only thing that matters is that you leave descendants bearing your genes behind you.