[November 2003 journal entry]
Reading Getting a Grip on Evolution reminded me that – until social/medical advances a couple of centuries ago in western societies – (1) infant and maternal mortality was very high (with infant mortality estimated to have been as high as 40% by five years of age several centuries ago), (2) a typical lifespan did not commonly exceed forty years or so (estimated to be several years fewer in pre-recorded history), and (3) a view of life beyond reproductive years was largely an idea/experience neither conceived or developed.
