It is All in the Rate. The Birth Rate, That Is

Human predicted outcome: If we get rid of modern medicine and replace it with “the strongest live and the rest die”, we will be returning to the deep past of humans. Mortality was high in childhood before 5 and higher throughout life due to injury and disease (see what is known below in the google AI response). Why do some people want to go back to the experience of that kind of set of outcomes for the normally aging human? They want harsh, unpredictable childhood mortality back? What?

google AI query: What was the mortality rate for humans from 300,000 years ago until now

google AI response:

Human mortality rates were extremely high for most of history, with life expectancy at birth often 25–35 years (due to massive infant/child deaths, with 40–50% dying before age 5), but if you survived childhood, you could reach 50s or 60s; today, life expectancy is ~73+ years globally, near 80 in developed nations, thanks to medicine, sanitation, and better living, dropping mortality rates dramatically.

Early Human History (300,000 Years Ago to ~1800s)

Life Expectancy at Birth: Very low, averaging 10 to 35 years.
Infant Mortality: Extremely high; nearly half of all children died before age 5.
Post-Childhood Survival: People who survived childhood often lived longer, reaching 50s or 60s, though this varied greatly.
Causes: Disease, malnutrition, accidents, violence, and childbirth were major killers.

The Shift (1800s — Present)

Industrial Revolution: Saw slight improvements, but pollution was a major challenge.
20th Century Onward: Massive drops in mortality due to public health, sanitation, medicine (vaccines, antibiotics), and better nutrition.
Modern Era: Life expectancy now exceeds 80 in many places; infant mortality is under 1% in high-income countries.

Mortality Rate vs. Life Expectancy

High Infant Mortality: This drastically lowers the average “life expectancy at birth,” making it seem like nobody lived long.
Actual Lifespan: The potential maximum age (lifespan) has always been around 100–120 years; the average (life expectancy) changed dramatically.

In essence, for most of human existence, high death rates in childhood kept averages low, but surviving childhood meant a decent chance at a longer life, something now accessible to nearly everyone.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.