Maybe it's not "optimal" but considering that obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc rates have all been climbing like crazy for the last 50 years The s

Maybe it's not "optimal" but considering that obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc rates have all been climbing like crazy for the last 50 years The statement you make here is a commonly made statement here on Hacker News, and I believe you are making it honestly based on the latest information you heard. Nevertheless, the statement is incorrect in large part. You are correct that rates of obesity are going up. But age-adjusted rates of heart disease, cancer, and several other diseases are steadily going down and have been going down for my whole lifetime (more than fifty years).[1] That's why the greatest increase in life expectancy in recent years in developed countries is actually coming from reduced death rates at OLD ages--the infant mortality rates in developed countries have already been very low for most of my lifetime. See an article in a series on Slate, "Why Are You Not Dead Yet? Life expectancy doubled in past 150 years. Here’s why"[2] for more background information. [1] http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v307/n3/box/scientificamerican0912-54_BX1.html http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v307/n3/box... [2] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science_of_longevity/2013/09/life_expectancy_history_public_health_and_medical_advances_that_lead_to.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science_of_...