[deleted] t1_ivcf5jh wrote on November 6, 2022 at 10:55 PM

Reply to comment by sumane12 in Becoming increasingly pessimistic about LEV + curing aging by Phoenix5869

I would just keep in mind that the older life expectancy numbers are all based on averaging across a much higher infant mortality rate.

People didn’t exactly live that much less; it’s just that way waaaay more babies died in pregnancy / childbirth or in the months directly afterwards. So I would take those figures with a grain of salt as I wouldn’t exactly call that life extension in the way most people imagine it.

So when you say “90% of humans died before they were 40” that’s misleading; most of the people dying that led to that figure did so before they were even 1, and then when you calculate an average life expectancy that drags the total down to around 40.

For those that survived early childhood they often lived almost as long as people do today. People were never exactly dying of old age at 40.

sumane12 t1_ivcjass wrote on November 6, 2022 at 11:25 PM

Of course you are correct, but it still needs to be considered. Ultimately we are slowly fighting against everything that eventually kills us. we take a reduction in infant mortality as "matter of fact" but let me tell you, my second son was born 3 weeks ago and my wife and I did not get to the hospital in time and I had to deliver him myself on our bedroom floor. Miraculously everything went well and the ambulance arrived seconds later to take both him and my wife to the hospital, but it was such a dangerous situation. After that I will never take infant mortality for granted again.

With regards to your statement about people living almost as long as today, I disagree with. Yes 40 was never considered "old age" (as far as I am aware) but 50 and 60 definitely was. Living to 60, 300 years ago, would be like living to 100 today, very unusual and only perfect health, diet and environment would get you there. Now my dad is in his 60's working at a comfortable rate, and getting plenty of exercise and apart from type 1diabetes, has no major health concerns.

People are living longer, its just a fact, yes infant mortality skewes the data, but if you remove infant mortality from the data, I believe we have atleast doubled life expectancy from when modern humans first evolved.