[decimon]

Much true but I don't believe he's telling the full story.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

What’s missing?

[the OlLine Rebel]

As a graveyard (and general history) conniseur, I can assure it’s true.

Many people died at ancient ages very long ago, such as in their 80s back in the 1700s. The problem was many died in infancy (tons) up until probably mid-1900s (I have an uncle that died as an infant/toddler in the ‘30s). They’re all over the graveyards. And that’s just regular death.

I think the problem - as usual - is that they’re using averages rather than medians.

Meanwhile, I don’t believe much that there’s been a decline in murder. In some places, sure, but not in the cities!

[proxy_user]

Plenty died in their 40s and 50s from diseases we can now control, such as diabetes.

[Paradox]

I wish EVERYBODY knew this simple fact. I have often debated with people about various issues, when they bring up the "average life expectancy was 40"(or some other low number). I've had this happen here on FreeRepublic even.

A properly functioning human body is probably good for 80-90 years. Take away infant mortality, and the median life expectancy has probably not changed all that much.

We DO have better medicines and what not, but then again, our lifestyles as of late are making us die even sooner than we should, if we didn't have such poor lifestyle habits.

[dalereed]

I can count on 2 hands all relatives that have died under 90 in the last 200 years.

I have 4 that have lived past 100.

My Great Great Grandfather died @ 104 and I met my Great Grandfather when he was 100 that died at 101.

[brytlea]

I’m thinking not. Certainly, if you take infant mortality out of the mix, the average life span increases. However, people routinely died of infectious diseases in the past that we now consider much less of a threat. My father’s father died at age 32 of pneumonia after having the flu. This was before antibiotics. Clean water and sewer systems also decreased deaths from diseases.
I think the point of the article is that the human life span (that is, what you could live to be if you didn’t die from infectious disease, accident, etc) have not changed much. I think it’s interesting that in the Bible, God gave man a lifespan of about 120 years. That seems to be the upper limit.

[SampleMan]

But the inclusion of infant mortality rates in calculating life expectancy creates the mistaken impression that earlier generations died at a young age; Americans were not dying en masse at the age of 46 in 1907. The fact is that the maximum human lifespan — a concept often confused with "life expectancy" — has remained more or less the same for thousands of years.

Probably longer than that. But the statement is misleading. What we have today is a system of Mulligans. Got appendicitis? No problem, we'll do a simple operation and presto, you get a mulligan to keep trying for that maximum age. Got a bad bacterial infection? No problem take some penicillin and take another Mulligan. I'm 44 and have already gotten two Mulligan's (once at infancy and once at 24) for easily treatable problems that would most likely have killed me 100 years ago.

[Flag_This]

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
Psalm 90:10

I find this verse interesting re. the topic at hand.

[SunkenCiv]

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[ApplegateRanch]

ITMT, the mortality rate has never changed: one death per live birth...with one notable exception.

[aruanan]

Americans were not dying en masse at the age of 46 in 1907. The fact is that the maximum human lifespan — a concept often confused with "life expectancy" — has remained more or less the same for thousands of years. The idea that our ancestors routinely died young (say, at age 40) has no basis in scientific fact.

That "maximum human life span" has remained the same for thousands of years doesn't mean that there aren't conditions under which the majority of the population will fail to reach that maximum. Retirement age for purposes of Social Security was chosen because of the relatively few number of years the retiree would collect after retiring. People now live a lot longer and are far more active now at retirement age than they were at the beginning of the 20th century. This writer really needs to read Robert W. Fogel's Nobel Prize Lecture.

[marsh2]

I am assuming they had some way of removing those who died at war. That would load deaths with younger people and skew the average.