Why can't people live over 100 years?

[smahala1991]

I was watching the news that Angela Lansbury passed away at 96. I just wonder why we can't see people from the times like The Civil War and Revolutionary War be alive and able to tell their stories firsthand? Methuselah lived to be 969 years old.

[NamerOfStars]

Telomere degeneration, mostly; replication errors build up in human cells, and eventually it can't hold itself together. If you mean on the sense of a larger scale, because that's not the point of life.

Think of it in evolutionary terms: what would happen to an animal that could suddenly swim and fly and run very fast, and fight like a lion while having the strength of an elephant? If it was a predator, it'd run down its prey, wipe it out, then starve. If it weren't, it'd kill or drive off its predators, wipe out its food sources, then starve. Immortality would be a SERIOUS disadvantage to a species.

It's actually a lot better for us than for most animals: the octopus mates and then dies. Bean plants go to seed, then give themselves a death hormone. Even other creatures that have babies that need lots of care typically die after those babies reach adulthood. Giant-brained mammals build complex societies that have advantages to having old people (or other animals) stick around. In the end, though, we still need to die.

Society needs it, too; we couldn't have the civil rights movement until all of the slaveholders, all of their kids, and most of their grandkids were gone. Would you be willing to lock society down into its current form forever? If not, when do you think you'd be willing to?

[Soteris]

There are two main reasons why we can't live beyond around 100 years. First is biology, we are meant to live long enough to reproduce and raise the next generation. We are not meant to live for the sake of living. Us living to 30 years is a good number for life since it allows us to reproduce and continue our species and then pass away. The fact that we have more than tripled this age in the modern day is simply because we were built with redundancy to live a healthy life at around age 30.

But there is also another reason why we won't really live past 100 years old and why Methuselah did not live to become 969 years old. You see, accidents happens and sometimes accidents become fatal. At around 100 years old you are expected to suffer around 1 fatal accidents that would kill you anyways due to pure bad luck. So even if Methuselah could live for that long biologically, which he could not, he would still trip down some stairs or something one of those days and die anyway long before he became 969 years old.

[MysticAngel5000]

People can (and do) live to be over 100. My great grandma lived to be 103. It is indeed possible. It is sad that some of our most beloved people can't live longer... or just live forever... but that just isn't how life works unfortunately.

[WhitneySnow]

Human lifespan hasn’t expanded that long yet

[WindAtMyBack]

It's become very common for people to reach 100. Most people don't die directly from age though. Most die from some other reason, or it's only indirectly related to age. Most deaths are at least partially preventable.

The aging process is a mutation. Cells don't replicate exactly. When enough cells mutate, we show signs of aging. I think in the lifetime of young people today, the aging process will be beat by modern medicine. If someone doesn't die from another cause, they might live for hundreds of years.

[HawkPerception]

If you read a book from 1000+ years ago, no matter what was in it, you would believe it without question?

[exitseven]

For the first time we have seen life expectancies go down. I want to live to be over a hundred and think that eventually all diseases including aging will be treatable.

[888theGreat]

there are 100,000 people in US 100 or older. I would say that is a lot. It is predicted it will be 500,000 by 2060, if Democrats don't put the kill rule in play and if they stop murdering babies.

[Sevenpointfive]

who the hell wants to live that long? all crusty and ugly

[Snakeyes7]

Some do actually. I don't know where I have heard this but apparently the first person to live to 150 has already been born. Grain of salt, I could be wrong.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, I agree that would be cool to live over the age of 100

[TroyDT2]

Lots of people live to 100. My great grandfather (maternal, paternal) lived to 102.

[Redstang88]

Once in a while people do, but it’s just biology. And that is obviously wildly exaggerated

[CaptainSmartass]

Because the human body isn't meant to live that long.

Simples...

[NathanDavis]

well... we actually can

[msc545]

Limited by cellular division.