
ForeverLonely82
Experienced
- Dec 22, 2021
- 210
Life is short for those who are living but unbearably long for us who just exist.
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I've read basically the same thing in a book about primitive cultures once, but the author said around 30yrs, and said that people older than that were given more respect because it was much rarer than now.
To keep going on this, the reasoning is that say a 15 year old would have at that age basically all the knowledge necessary to survive being passed down early on in life and be capable to reproduce so by the time he is 30 he would have a complete generation with another 15yr old. A key point though is that a 15 yr old would certainly die without having relatives and a "communal" type tribe to fall back on when their parents die. So to constitute a "complete generation" you dont have to be a full adult or completely independent because humans arent made to be independent they are social.I've read basically the same thing in a book about primitive cultures once, but the author said around 30yrs, and said that people older than that were given more respect because it was much rarer than now.
Either the child survives or not (Natural Selection). Usually other members of the tribe take care of the orphan. Nature is just cruel by default, it only cares about spreading the genes that serve no purpose other than existing for no reason at all.I have a problem with Zinkenagel - yes, you can procreate by the age of 25, hell, some girls are fertile around 10 years old. But, if everyone died at 25, who would raise the children?
Your input is always appreciated! It's a discussion after all and it's interesting to hear other people's opinions especially when someone's had as much life experience as you've had!With nine decades behind me I felt compelled to join this thread. I regret though that I have no deep profound thoughts to share. I can only add some things that popped into my head while reading the previous posts.
First off, I agree that we live too long, at least I have. At the same time don't think everyone over 60 is a doddering old fart. I was racing motorcycles in my mid 70s and was still pretty active doing things that brought me pleasure until a couple of years ago.
But, had I died at say 50, I wouldn't know that I was missing pleasurable things. Dead is dead. I also wouldn't have developed cancer, and my knees wouldn't have gotten so bad that I now sometimes use a cane.
When I learned I had cancer I told the doctor that I wasn't going to treat it. I wasn't interested in longevity, only quality of life. 13 Years later and it still hasn't killed me or even brought me much pain.
It would be easy to ramble on with nine decades of experiences but I don't want to do that. I've been a subscriber to PPeH over a year and have made all my CTB preparations. I'm just waiting for what seems like a proper time. I'm one of the newbies here that found this site from the NYT article. I joined here thinking I might learn something that wasn't covered in PPeH. I've jumpted into some threads here when I thought I could be helpful but, like here, I doubt my contributions add much.
I've never heard that fable but I like it!There's an Aesop's fable about this.
Zeus (or Jove) created Man, but gave him a short life. The Man insists on more, but Zeus doesn't budge. Since the Man had intelligence, when the winter came, he built a house, and used fire to heat it. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. It's a Donkey.
"Can I come in and stay warm?"
"You can, but I want some of your life years."
The Donkey says OK, comes in, and stays warm. Later on, the winter gets colder. There's another knock on the door. It's a Dog.
"Can I come in and stay warm?"
"You can, but I want some of your life years."
The Dog says OK, comes in, comes in and stays warm. The winter gets even more brutal. There's yet another knock on the door. It's a Monkey.
"Can I come in and stay warm?"
"You can, but I want some of your life years."
The Monkey says OK, comes in, and stays warm. The animals hunker down until spring arrives. Once it gets warm enough, the animals leave.
And so... this how it is today. The Man lives a fairly pleasant life only in the years originally given to him: a delicate balance of burden and joy. During the Donkey's years, he just works and works, and doesn't know why. During the Dog's years, he's too weak to do much, and just growls at everyone walking past. And during the Monkey's years, he's a little more than a laughingstock for the people around him.
That's why I like the idea of a 30-year life expectancy, which was true in the Middle Ages. And I'm 38.