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Does the human lifespan have a limit?

nature.com

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Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#41

Post by bequanna »

okl wrote: post #7
FL33TW00D wrote: post #3

Whenever this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of the fact that the bible knew of this long before any statistician. 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). As a non Christian this always baffles me.

Funny, because there are many bible characters older than 120 years. One of many contradictions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB3g6mXLEKk

The Bible is many different books combined. Some contain practical advice for living, others have philosophical rules of thumb, allegories, etc.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#42

Post by krapp »

bsedlm wrote: post #26
acchow wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many numbers are in the Bible, and how many of them are wrong (which we conveniently gloss over). The world was made in 6 days?

why assume that they meant earth days? if they're creating earth, then how could it be that they're using earth days? (allegedely, earth is just getting created) also, what if a day is a rotation around a body's axis, then what about a solar day (the sun spins around itself once)? what about a galactic day?

>if they're creating earth, then how could it be that they're using earth days? (allegedely, earth is just getting created)

Because this is a myth from thousands of years ago, and "scientific" accuracy wasn't relevant, much less possible. Read any ancient creation myth, or most ancient myth at all, it's closer to dream logic than anything remotely realistic. They meant earth days because those were the only kind of days they were aware of, and because there's no reason to believe they made the story more complex than that.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#43

Post by staticassertion »

14 wrote: post #5
FL33TW00D wrote: post #3

Whenever this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of the fact that the bible knew of this long before any statistician. 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). As a non Christian this always baffles me.

So if we get a single human who, without dispute as the oldest woman has some controversy as to the validity of her age, lives past the age of 120 will that be proof the bible is untrue and all it’s writings are false? Because I have a funny feeling now that people are much more documented we will pass the 120 year mark any time.

No one would care. We already have a 122 year old, no one's tossing their bible out over it. Conflicts in religious texts are common and always resolved one way or the other.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#44

Post by cogman10 »

FL33TW00D wrote: post #3

Whenever this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of the fact that the bible knew of this long before any statistician. 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). As a non Christian this always baffles me.

Then go read Psalms 90:10 and realize the bible has contradictions.

As an athiest, there's nothing baffling here. Someone guessed 120, perhaps they even knew someone that lived that long or near that long. This sort of "they got this right!" thing happens in a lot of other religions (look up "proofs of the Koran" for examples from the Islamic perspective). Even mormons got it right that some ancient american civs discovered concrete.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#45

Post by allisdust »

ALittleLight wrote: post #38
allisdust wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that's actually quite insightful. There are theories on cell death after some generations, dna damage etc. But I'm not sure how they explain the refresh during birth/zygote formation. Could it be that birth is nothing but a glorified error correction with two unrelated dna to ensure probability of damage is low. If so, can the same be done with two unrelated dna pairs again again and the result applied back to a…

There are clonal trees that have lived much longer than 512 years too with the same DNA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_trees

Trees in general live longer probably because of their tougher cell walls? Or may be their error correction mechanisms happen during cell division? (just guessing)

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#46

Post by krapp »

vorejdajo wrote: post #30
acchow wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many numbers are in the Bible, and how many of them are wrong (which we conveniently gloss over). The world was made in 6 days?

Current scientific models lack a robust cause of origin of life. We don't know the beginning. If we do know the origin, how likely would it change our estimations of age of things? You have to realize that these numbers are linear extrapolations(educated guesses) and more importantly, they are not tested like vaccines or medicines(neither can be tested).

current scientific models are far more robust than "In the beginning, God made the Heavens and the Earth."

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#47

Post by giantg2 »

FL33TW00D wrote: post #3

Whenever this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of the fact that the bible knew of this long before any statistician. 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). As a non Christian this always baffles me.

Many of the numbers in the Bible are not literal. Partly due to translation and cultural meanings of various phrases.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#48

Post by staticman2 »

bsedlm wrote: post #26
acchow wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many numbers are in the Bible, and how many of them are wrong (which we conveniently gloss over). The world was made in 6 days?

why assume that they meant earth days? if they're creating earth, then how could it be that they're using earth days? (allegedely, earth is just getting created) also, what if a day is a rotation around a body's axis, then what about a solar day (the sun spins around itself once)? what about a galactic day?

If the bible was written by humans before humans knew about carbon dating and evolution I would assume humans meant 6 days. I mean, why wouldn't they believe it was 6 days? That was just as plausible as anything else.

If you are dedicated to the idea the writer of the bible wasn't human then you might go down the rabbit hole of alternative explanations.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#49

Post by vmception »

This is just a waiting game to resolve.

By the time we have consistent birth records we will also have better treatments for chronic diseases.

There is likely an upper limit, as I believe oxygen itself is corrosive, but even then a gradual but more comprehensive repair process should help.

Re: Does the human lifespan have a limit?

#50

Post by staticman2 »

FL33TW00D wrote: post #3

Whenever this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of the fact that the bible knew of this long before any statistician. 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). As a non Christian this always baffles me.

The verse you quoted doesn't say our maximum age is 120, it literally say we live to 120.

It must have been obviously inaccurate even when it was written.

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