tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post7396544047104877678..comments2023-12-27T16:39:40.424+11:00Comments on Ecstathy: Life expectancy may not be what you expectEfriquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08526031804261484547noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-34254276940397091942008-09-04T22:11:00.000+10:002008-09-04T22:11:00.000+10:00I wonder what would happen to life expectancy figu...<I>I wonder what would happen to life expectancy figures if they would be calculated not from birth, but from conception.</I><BR/><BR/>Considering that most pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion, often before obvious signs of pregnancy are seen and even without the mother's knowledge, I'd say it's likely that average life expentancy would turn out to be low, by that calculation.<BR/><BR/>The question is what the hell is the point of calculating it that way? Getting numbers that sound scary but don't really mean anything?Valhar2000https://www.blogger.com/profile/05467019327257867276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-19029528339652574642008-09-04T04:27:00.000+10:002008-09-04T04:27:00.000+10:00I wonder what would happen to life expectancy figu...I wonder what would happen to life expectancy figures if they would be calculated not from birth, but from conception.<BR/><BR/>The reduction in infant mortality that our culture has seen would be eliminated, and perhaps, the progression in life expectancy that we attribute to modern society would not be as drastic as we like to think it is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-14736731493090777302008-09-02T23:22:00.000+10:002008-09-02T23:22:00.000+10:00I don't remember the source, but I beleive Isaac A...I don't remember the source, but I beleive Isaac Asimov said that the maximum life span has remained pretty much constant, close to 100 years.<BR/><BR/>That would indicate that being 95 years old is much better reason to be "staring death in the face" than being a 20 year old Roman.Valhar2000https://www.blogger.com/profile/05467019327257867276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-45200939952407200122008-09-01T14:05:00.000+10:002008-09-01T14:05:00.000+10:00good example of how data, LE = 25, can be skewed b...good example of how data, LE = 25, can be skewed by specifics in the situation discussed<BR/><BR/>perhaps when talking about roman LE lets agree to say that half of all people born died as infants and most surviving didn't live past 50Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06666649045756463534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-23307537209935202952008-09-01T10:54:00.000+10:002008-09-01T10:54:00.000+10:00I think this post is overly wordy. Just call the ...I think this post is overly wordy. Just call the life expectancy distribution for Romans bimodal and be done with it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16585706372153581015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237013510406351701.post-29096718912603722942008-09-01T03:11:00.000+10:002008-09-01T03:11:00.000+10:00... dramatically improved infant mortality.I know ...<I>... dramatically improved infant mortality.</I><BR/><BR/>I know what you mean, but it sounds a little... weird. You might want to rephrase this to "... dramatically <I>reduced</I> infant mortality."Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.com