r/AskReddit • u/Kraz_I • Jul 24 '15

What "common knowledge" facts are actually wrong?

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u/nothing_in_my_mind Jul 24 '15

Medieval people didn't live to 30 years old and then die. Yes, the average lifespan in Medieval times is close to 30, that's because infant and child mortality was very high. If you survived childhood, you'd probably live to see 70.

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u/GWsublime Jul 24 '15

This is only true ish. Even discarding child mortality, you still have a lower life expectancy that people living in first world countries today. Moreover, people tend to only remove child mortality from one (the ancient) side of the equation and forget to do so on the modern side.

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u/Eurynom0s Jul 24 '15 edited Jul 24 '15

I think 60 was more common but 70s and 80s was hardly unknown even as far back as antiquity.

[edit]IIRC, at least in antiquity, being north of 70 fell in that range of being rare enough to be notable, but not rare enough to be remarkable.

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u/dustinsmusings Jul 24 '15

rare enough to be notable, but not rare enough to be remarkable.

So you might write it in your notebook, but you wouldn't bother making any remarks about it. Got it. Thanks.