Comments on: Falsehood: “If this was the Stone Age, I’d be dead by now”

By: Nous nous sommes trop longtemps laissés berner par ces 10 croyances populaires, il est temps de connaître la vérité – Juste pour le fun

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 17:24:29 +0000

[…] l’espérance de vie moyenne était de 30 ans, mais cela ne signifiait pas que tout le monde mourait après 29 ans. Un pourcentage élevé de mortalité infantile […]

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 01:39:31 +0000

In reply to Mandy Jones. Mandy, I think you are probably correct.

By: Mandy Jones

Mandy Jones — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 01:27:11 +0000

I’m sorry about the first link. Let me try again. https://paleoleap.com/why-cavemen-didnt-die-young/

By: Mandy Jones

Mandy Jones — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 01:25:53 +0000

You seem to be stating that the average age of first child tend to happen around 12, but do you proof on that? I mean not saying that there was no first-time 12 year old mothers, but that most of the mothers were probably much older ( over 15?). Matter of fact, girls did not reach menarche on average until 16 ( during the stone age of course)-https://paleoleap.com/why-cavemen-didnt-die-young/
I also read that sex with pubescent girls (10-13?) rarely occurs- https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/interrogating-claims-about-natural-sexual-behavior-more-on-deep-thinking-hebephile/

By: David Whitlock

David Whitlock — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 17:57:31 +0000

In reply to Li D. By "modern era", I mean ~1900. Historic maternal mortality rates are ~1% per pregnancy. They still are in undeveloped regions without access to "modern" medicine.

By: Falsehood: "If this was the Stone Age, I'd be dead by now" - Greg Laden's Blog

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:48:07 +0000

[…] post has moved HERE. To the stone age […]

By: Li D

Li D — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 21:07:17 +0000

^^^^ ” ~1% per pregnancy”.
Golly!
This one single figure gives enormous background to history. Not the history of war and empires, but the history of the mudane daily routine that is the basis for culture.
Its rather broadened my perspective.
Thankyou.

By: David Whitlock

David Whitlock — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 15:48:09 +0000

I suspect a “reason” for menopause is that there was essentially no reproductive benefit from female reproductive organs not senescing, so there was no evolutionary pressure for them to evolve the capacity to not senesce.

There were reproductive benefits for the rest of the phenotype not senescing, so it evolved the capacity to not senesce. That is why reproductive organs senesce first in women, not so much in men.

Also, maternal mortality before the modern era was ~1% per pregnancy, and that increases with maternal age. Pregnancy with a high likelihood of death may be of insufficient reproductive benefit for evolution to allow it to happen. Also, living females that are pair-bonded to males and/or the alpha males, may reduce the deaths of young males fighting those older males for access to females.

By: Rich Bly

Rich Bly — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:43:15 +0000

Greg, I think a lot what we call life expectancy is actually an energy/resource question. If a culture has a high energy/resource base life expectancy is probably higher than a culture with a low energy/resource base. I remember a film from long ago that followed an Eskimo family. The grandmother could no longer provide enough energy/resource to equal her needed requirements. The family left the grandmother on the ice as they travelled on. Whereas, in our culture we can provide the energy/resources to keep now non-producing people alive.