Seeker_Of_Knowledge- t1_iuha9fl wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:53 AM

Reply to comment by rasa2013 in ELI5: How exactly do people die of old age? by MirielTheDog

The inconsistency man. You said "we don't know why" and then in the next second you said "it is partly genetic luck".

Upper-Wolf6040 t1_iuhi5hu wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:33 AM

He said "we don't really know why every time, Its partly genetic luck".

The key words are "every time" and "partly"

Seeker_Of_Knowledge- t1_iuhii99 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:37 AM

And this is exactly why I said inconsistency.

If it one time a genetic and the other time it is not genetic. Then it is clearly shouldn't be taken as a reliable data. Hell, it shouldn't be even taken as assumption.

ixramuffin t1_iuhkhrj wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:58 AM

Medicine deals with averages. We rarely know what is happening to individuals. Saying that "something is partly genetic" and "we don't know why every time" are not exclusive at all. On average, genetics has an influence. We just usually don't know "when" and "for whom".

Seeker_Of_Knowledge- t1_iuk2tv5 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 10:46 PM

Oh I see the point. Thanks, it now make sense.

Medicine deals with averages is super interesting concept I haven't thought about before.

Upper-Wolf6040 t1_iuhjf61 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:47 AM

That still doesn't make sense. They're not saying one time is genetic and the other time is not genetic. I think youre misinterpreting what they're saying.

rasa2013 t1_iuieeeb wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:50 PM

That's an interesting interpretation. Genetics plays a role, but we don't know the specifics. We just know it's involved. Ergo, we don't really know why.