Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human mortality rates

Re:Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human morta... by Dewie on Monday December 30, 2013 @11:47AM (#6985328)

How much of that life expectancy 100 years ago were affected by child mortality? We haven't really doubled our longevity, we just took care of some things that lead to a lot more children reaching adulthood. The bulk of that might have been pretty simple, like better hygiene.

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Re:Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human morta... by mcguire on Monday December 30, 2013 @12:48PM (#6985737)

Given the stochastic nature of a lifespan, I believe the statement,

"We haven't really doubled our longevity, we just took care of some things that lead to a lot more [younger people] reaching [an older age]."

is, and will remain, true.

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Re:Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human morta... by dorfsmay on Monday December 30, 2013 @11:52AM (#6985370)

Exactly, Socrates was 71 when he was put to death.

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Re:Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human morta... by 31reasons on Monday December 30, 2013 @02:05PM (#6986191)

Are you suggesting modern medical science not helping people live longer by treating Cancer, Organ Transplants, Bypass surgeries etc ? I am seeing so much pessimism on HN , it seems unlikely that majority of people here are hackers.

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Re:Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human morta... by Dewie on Monday December 30, 2013 @02:37PM (#6986377)

I'm saying that the bulk of that increase in average lifespan was due to relatively simple advances in medicine/medical understanding.

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