Lifespans are not necessarily longer now, but the average life expectancy is,... mostly due to higher infant mortality in earlier times.
If you have two people and one live to be 90 and the other dies at one month old, the average life expectancy is 45, but the longest lifespan is 90.
If you have two people and one lives to be 70 and the other dies at 50, the average life expectancy is 60 and the longest lifespan is 70.
This is how the medical industry ‘games’ the system - by saving more youngsters, and not necessarily by providing more time at the end of life - - oh don’t get me wrong, the medical establishment might have actually given each of us a couple of years at the end of our lives. Is it quality time? ...And at what cost?
Saved me the trouble of posting. :)