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guynamedjames t1_iy6bbl9 wrote

Reply to comment by birdsneedkarmatoo in How the Great Depression shaped people’s DNA. Researchers have found that the cells of people who were conceived during the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1939 and, at its height, saw about 25% of the US workforce unemployed, show signs of accelerated ageing. by MistWeaver80

There's pretty solid evidence that even under perfect conditions people won't live past ~120. There's so many people on earth that you'd expect to see pretty much every outlier occur, and yet only one person ever cracked 120 (died at 122 I believe) and nearly all other ultra long lives have died in the 1-teens. So that's one area that we roughly know.

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SplitPerspective t1_iy72rab wrote

If perfect people mate with perfect people, inevitably mutations will arise that lengthen lifespan, and then continue with that perfect on perfect and you’ll increase human longevity.

In the past those with short lifespans were less likely to mate, so in all likelihood only those with longer lifespans mated.

Now, there’s no need / external pressure to live longer.

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Fenix42 t1_iy7i2mj wrote

>In the past those with short lifespans were less likely to mate, so in all likelihood only those with longer lifespans mated.

Humans can have kids at like 12-13. Living to 50+ for men might mean more kids if you can keep finding mates. You will be competing with younger healthier males for those mates. You also have to factor in that a LOT more men died from violence in the past. Hunting, farming, and war tend to reduce the male population a ton.

Women tended tomdie in child birth of those first kid a lot more in the past. They also can't really have kids past their late 40s. Living longer won't change that.

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Left_Membership_9888 t1_iy8e5ke wrote

Her name was Jeanne Calment. She died at 122. She stopped smoking in her 90s when she went into a nursing home. Then she decided it was silly to stop because she enjoyed it so, she started again. Stop doing things you enjoy and you may as well pack it in.
You probably missed that part...or maybe they left it out. Moderation in all things.

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