3 ms·
That's not true. There were always different roles for older people. They didn't just keep doing the same job their whole lives.
by tensor 5mo ago
That's not true. There were always different roles for older people. They didn't just keep doing the same job their whole lives.
- pavel_lishin 5mo agoAnd people who were injured to the point where they couldn't "work" anymore were still cared for by their community.
- weirdmantis69 5mo agoI mean, that just isn't true. There are amazon tribes today where they just send them down the river to die... your ideas are a disney-fied version of a false past that never existed.
- DangitBobby 5mo agoUnspecified Amazon tribes don't represent the lion's share of historical treatment of aging populations. One negative example doesn't undermine the point.
- ryoshoe 5mo agoThey're right. We've found remains that show how thousands of years ago people took care of people that would have died without external assistance. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-patagonian-hunter-disabled.html https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-patagonian-hunter-disa...
- pavel_lishin 5mo agoYes, humanity is full of various societies that do things differently. These ideas aren't disney-fied - they're just accurate representations of the fact that people care for each other, most of the time. I appreciate your anecdote, but here's a few counter-examples: - Neanderthals took care of their elderly: https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-cared-for-each-other-and-survived-into-old-age-new-research-93110 https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-cared-for-each-othe... - Neanderthals took care of a child that likely had a developmental condition: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn9310 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn9310 - other Hominids also did this at some point in the last few million years: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/deformed-skull-of-prehistoric-child-suggests-that-early-humans-cared-for-disabled-children https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/deformed-... - 2500 year old woman had a jaw prosthetic made: https://www.vice.com/en/article/mummified-skull-reveals-iron-age-woman-survived-brutal-jaw-surgery/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/mummified-skull-reveals-iron... - 15k years ago, someone with a broken femur was cared for well enough to heal: https://www.forbes.com/sites/remyblumenfeld/2020/03/21/how-a-15000-year-old-human-bone-could-help-you-through-the--coronavirus/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/remyblumenfeld/2020/03/21/how-a... - Neanderthals pre-chewed food or provided soft foods for someone who lost their teeth: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/care-worn-fossils https://www.sciencenews.org/article/care-worn-fossils - 4000 years ago, a man who was almost certainly a quadraplegic was still being cared for: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/17/878896381/ancient-bones-offer-clues-to-how-long-ago-humans-cared-for-the-vulnerable https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/17/8788963...
- brokenmachine 5mo agoI thought that a major reason humans were so successful is because the older members of the tribe could protect the children while the others hunted.