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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 1487943" data-attributes="member: 177">My point is that we aren't really talking about average lifespans.&nbsp; It seems to me we're more talking about potential lifespan.&nbsp; People like to point out that the &quot;average lifespan&quot; of folks in Europe during the Middle Ages was around 30.&nbsp; But that includes infant mortality, death by accident and violence, which have major impact on the average, but little to do with our discussion.&nbsp; Really, we should be talking about the lifespan of those who don't die due to those causes.&nbsp; For every baby who dies in it's first year (and these were common), died young in war, etc, there had to be individuals and groups of individuals who lived well past the average.&nbsp; This would imply that those 60 year old ancient Greeks were probably not all that uncommon.&nbsp; Every village had it's old codgers.&nbsp; Also, when we speak of the aid of medicine, we must be careful.&nbsp; Medicine for pregnant mothers and infants increases our average lifespan relative to the past, yes.&nbsp; However, much of the medicine we think of as extending our lives as we get old is actually fixing problems that didn't occur much in the past.&nbsp; Ancienct Greeks and Europeans of the Middle Ages didn't smoke tobacco.&nbsp; Nor did they have high-cholesterol, high-sodium diets and inactive lives.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 1487943, member: 177"] My point is that we [i]aren't[/i] really talking about average lifespans. It seems to me we're more talking about potential lifespan. People like to point out that the "average lifespan" of folks in Europe during the Middle Ages was around 30. But that includes infant mortality, death by accident and violence, which have major impact on the average, but little to do with our discussion. Really, we should be talking about the lifespan of those who don't die due to those causes. For every baby who dies in it's first year (and these were common), died young in war, etc, there had to be individuals and groups of individuals who lived well past the average. This would imply that those 60 year old ancient Greeks were probably not all that uncommon. Every village had it's old codgers. Also, when we speak of the aid of medicine, we must be careful. Medicine for pregnant mothers and infants increases our average lifespan relative to the past, yes. However, much of the medicine we think of as extending our lives as we get old is actually fixing problems that didn't occur much in the past. Ancienct Greeks and Europeans of the Middle Ages didn't smoke tobacco. Nor did they have high-cholesterol, high-sodium diets and inactive lives. [/QUOTE]

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