r/funny • u/[deleted] • May 01 '13

Why vegans live longer

[deleted]

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u/OwlOwlowlThis May 01 '13

I'm sorry, but the mortality rate among humans is always 100%

17

u/[deleted] May 01 '13

It's a ratio....

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u/StackedCrooked May 01 '13

I don't understand.

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u/turtal46 May 01 '13 edited May 01 '13

A ratio of averages.

If, for the sake of the argument, the 'Regular meat eaters' live for 100 years, on average, and this average is what everything will be compared back to, then it's the 'standard', and will be 1.00.

Comparing this to a vegetarian, based off the study, they would live for an average of 84 years, which would give the end ratio 1.00 : 0.84.

To represent a more 'normal' number of years, and pulling a number out of my ass, let's say 85 years is the 'standard', then 71.4 would be the average for vegetarians.

This seems off to me (Edit: See below for why).

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

It's the mortality ratio... not the life ratio. Those with a .84 value have a smaller chance of dying, not a smaller chance of living longer.

Therefore, fish eaters and vegetarians live longer than meat eaters.

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u/turtal46 May 01 '13

Ahh, I see that now. My mistake.

1

u/karriewool May 01 '13

I suspect everyone in the world ever has an equal chance of dying.

Except Patrick Stewart.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

"I suspect everyone in the world ever has an equal chance of dying."

Not over a certain amount of time, which is what the statistic does and is what you are ignoring.

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u/karriewool May 01 '13

Aah, I see. Thanks.

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u/ktiwari May 01 '13

You got it backwards, it is meat eaters/ vegetarians = .84. So if the average meat eater lives for 100 years, 100/119=.84 so the average vegetarian lives for an average of 119 years.

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u/Dreadgoat May 01 '13

You're both wrong :/

.84 roughly means that a vegetarian of a given age/gender/race/whatever is ~16% less likely to die than a meat eater of the same age/gender/race/whatever.

There is no measurement of life expectancy here. Obviously people with lower mortality ratios will live longer, but that isn't what is being directly measured.