Posted by bob on January 7, 2002, at 0:01:31
In reply to Re: Previous Life Expectancies » bob, posted by Jane D on January 6, 2002, at 23:27:12
Jane:
You're absolutely right, we cannot know -- I'm just guessing of course. You're also right that most of us would have been dead in primitive conditions. I think the change came when humans became altruistic. In such cases, offspring of ours that surely would have died because they were too young to fend for themselves would have been helped by others. Who knows, altruism may be the reason why early-onset mental illness is prevalent today, if these disorders are mostly genetic. It allowed the offspring to continue on in the absence of parents.
poster:bob
thread:88953
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020103/msgs/89135.html