Why do bodies suck?

[conuly]

Seriously, why?

*****

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Comments

(frozen)

[nodrog]

We're not made to last - and we don't.  Our teeth are a good example: Why don't they heal, like bone? Why don't we grow new ones, like sharks? Because there's no need - they last as long as needed, or they did until now…

There's a documentary I saw on YouTube that speaks to this; our medical technology patches the patched patching, like trying to keep an Edsel running with duct tape, until we die of causes unknown to earlier cultures.  [Pancreatic cancer? WTF?!]

Nope:  The Trojan War was fought by high-school football teams.  Adult at 14, family by 17, flourish til late thirties, dead at forty or so - that's the human life cycle.

(frozen)

[conuly]

Nope: The Trojan War was fought by high-school football teams. Adult at 14, family by 17, flourish til late thirties, dead at forty or so - that's the human life cycle.

Even in Biblical times people knew that humans who survive to adulthood live until they are 60 or 70. When we say that the lifespan in the past was "only until age 40" we are not taking the high childhood mortality rates into effect.

(frozen) Re: PSY - “Gangnam Style”

[conuly]

Okay, listen. You're kinda an asshole, and it'd be one thing if you were an asshole everybody else agrees with, but you're not, which is even more assholish. Keep it up and you're going on autoscreen.

May I discuss this?

[nodrog]

Yes, I'm aware of that and did do.  The Roman rite of manhood happened at fourteen; girls who married were often still playing with dolls and other toys.  Just so, in medieval times girls could marry at twelve.  There was good reason for this:  If she lived to be thirty she was lucky. - And thus might indeed live to be sixty, even 70, but she'd have buried two husbands and all her kinfolk by then.


[Please excuse me - I have no wish to be abrasive.  I permit disagreement, you see, and thereby often run afoul of those who don’t.  Ad hominem attacks or other trolling is one thing - barring any discussion or expression of contrary views is quite another.  The punishment then becomes the real crime.  Don’t you agree?]

Re: May I discuss this?

[conuly]

You can discuss it, that's fine. But you have a history now of tending to say rude or offensive things or phrasing your disagreement in rude ways.

Like, let's say you're an atheist. I'm an atheist, I've spent my time hanging around atheist places. Lots of atheists think it's the height of wit to refer to God as a "sky daddy" or a "magical fairy" or an "invisible friend". This sort of thing is tolerable in newbie atheists and tiresome in the rest of the population, but it's mostly okay when everybody else hearing it is an atheist too. And if a random Christian pops in and tries to convert everybody then they can hardly be surprised at the reception they get, right?

But when atheists pull this sort of thing in mixed forum, in response to religious people who have not tried to convert them nor insulted them or anything like that, then it's just stupid, and it's offensive for the sake of causing offense.

Likewise, responding to every mention of Catholicism with leering comments about pedophilia, whether or not it's even remotely relevant to the topic at hand.

It's one thing to say "I think religion is wrong, and by the way the Catholic Church has a lot of answering to do for how it's handled child abuse allegations" and another to be a jerk about it at every drop of the proverbial hat. (I'm picking these random examples because god knows I don't want to start a nitpick argument.)

Disagreement is one thing... usually, though personally I think if you're going against community norms it's best to be evidence-based. Rudeness is another, and at best you walk that fine line. It's a problem, and one that ultimately causes me to have to moderate lest you piss off other people and I end up with a flamewar in my inbox. I don't have the time or energy for that, and you're not the one who has to calm everybody down if there's a fight over here.

Yes, I'm aware of that and did do. The Roman rite of manhood happened at fourteen; girls who married were often still playing with dolls and other toys. Just so, in medieval times girls could marry at twelve. There was good reason for this: If she lived to be thirty she was lucky. - And thus might indeed live to be sixty, even 70, but she'd have buried two husbands and all her kinfolk by then.

You're going to have to look at the data. Although it's hard to find specific evidence on the marriage practices of the non-elite, what we do find suggests that marriage in the past, even in medieval ages, tended to happen in the late teens or early twenties - and even when the elites married earlier there is no sign that they consummated the marriage early, probably precisely because young pregnancy carries a high risk of death.

Most people who made it to the age of 12, if they didn't die in war or childbirth or some horrific accident, would make it to the age of 60. Now, that's a big "if", but it doesn't mean the 30 year olds sat down and thanked their lucky stars. Living to 30 isn't exceptional so long as you passed the age of 13 or 14.

Re: May I discuss this?

[nodrog]

Thank you for an intelligent and sensible reply.  I take your point, and I will try to behave better.

Seriously.

[shadowkat]

Been wondering much the same thing today. My body and I are NOT getting along. At all.

[thornsilver]

Because God is a crap bioengineer. He is an OK engineer though.

[conuly]

He is the worst, and all his fixes for earlier decisions are suuuuuuuuper kludgey.

[greghousesgf]

god, I want fudge now.

[conuly]

I don't make fudge often enough. I ought to make some for the 4th.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I saw a thing that said "I can't believe I have to go on washing this stupid body until I die." That's two of the main reasons bodies suck: the older they get, the more constant, expensive, time-consuming maintenance they require, AND even with the very best of care and maintenance, they still deteriorate and die in a century or less. But on top of that, they're pretty hardy; they can take a horrific amount of permanent damage and yet survive, even if only as a helpless, miserable, pain-wracked cripple. Bodies suck because they're built to endure way more horror, adversity and agony than our minds can stand.

Bodies also suck because they're not built to do all the things our minds can imagine and long for. Even with the very best of training, the best equipment, youth, strength, talent, drive... our reach will ALWAYS exceed our grasp; we will never ever be able to achieve the heights of which we dream.

[conuly]

Or the depths either, comes to it - like the dream of a long and happy life eating nothing but mint chocolate chip ice cream and doing nothing more strenuous than snuggling the animals.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Y'know, that particular dream, I have achieved - not that I ate only ice cream, but I could have if I'd wished. Remember last year, when I went for a month to puppy-sit my friends' little poodle while they were overseas? Big, beautiful, totally secluded house all to myself; a sumptuous and fascinating library; miles of pristine forest to walk in - I had nothing at all to do but amuse myself and the pup-dog.

It was lovely, for sure, but a month was quite long enough. They came home to find all their flowerbeds meticulously weeded, because I'm not really well-adapted to having no work for my hands.

[conuly]

I am now overly jealous, but I'm not sure if I'm more jealous of you or the friends.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Probably of the friends - at least, you surely would be if you saw their house; it's quite stunning.

It's a funny thing, though - all my life, I longed for a house like that, but now, not so much. It's too big and too isolated; must require a shit-ton of constant maintenance - I'm not particularly handy at that sort of thing, nor interested in becoming so, and paying other people to do it would be ridiculously expensive. Miles of pristine forest to walk in is lovely, but there's nothing but forest within walking distance (and for me, 'walking distance' is at least five miles) - it's like, 10 miles to the nearest outpost of civilization, a little general store and not-so-great pizza parlor; it's twice that far to a real town.

As I say, a month was quite long enough. I walked and read and sunbathed and played with Coco, who really is a little darling, but very high-maintenance - my daughter called every day, as she always does; I hardly saw or spoke to anyone else. It was all very restful, and I enjoyed it very much as a vacation, but I wouldn't enjoy it as a lifestyle. It was good for me to find that out, because I used to be somewhat envious of my friends as well, and now I'm not.

[conuly]

I would like a very large library to live adjacent to, but only if other people clean it up.

In fact, what I want is a library apartment to some library where I get to choose all the books. I'm sure the NYPL could make a mint if they started renting out their apartments.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

But do you not already have access to most of the world's libraries online?

[conuly]

If I want to read something that happens to be online, yes.

If I want to read something older that only exists in print, not so much.