Patrick Mosher traces how human life expectancy doubled from 36 years in 1926 to 72 in 2017, driven by economic development and medical advances. He argues we've grown physically but questions whether our emotional intelligence has kept pace with this rapid change, calling for conscious evolution to match our extended lifespans.
Chapters
I've had lots of conversations recently about time. Perhaps it's because over the last year, most people have radically transformed how they spend their time. I love to think about time at a global level and across generations. Big picture stuff. So let's begin. Guess what the global life expectancy was in 1926? Okay, got a number in your head? All right. What was it in 2017? Got that number? 1926, global life expectancy, 2017. So most people are way off. In 1926, the average global life expectancy was 36 years old. And in 2017, it was 72. So here we have it on this graph. From 1800, it was 31 years, and then in 1926, it was about 36 years, and then in 2017, 72 years. So why did I pick 1926? Seems kind of odd. Well, that's the year my dad was born. And isn't it amazing to think in just 2 generations, from my dad to me, we doubled life expectancy on the planet? And when I talk to people about time, I like to push this graph. Researchers believe early humans from 30,000 years ago lived about 30 years. Extrapolating the time dimension on this graph to the left For 30,000— this is 1800— 30,000 years before, it was 30 years old. So that means from about 30,000 years all the way up to around 1926, it's a flat line. What happened in this 91 years from 1926 to 2017? Well, researchers say the primary contributor to increases in global life expectancy come from economic development, resulting in causes of death to transition from communicable diseases like infections, parasites, pandemics, plagues, to non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer. Maybe that's why this pandemic is so scary for us. We feel vulnerable, as people did forever before my dad was born. So our extended life comes from amazing advances in medical care, advanced health strategies, changes in nutrition, lifestyle, etc. So when you feel stressed about anything, stop, take a moment, Take a breath. Get a picture in your head of a beloved grandmother, grandfather, a great aunt that you loved, or whomever, and give thanks to your ancestors because they gave you the greatest gift any human can bestow on another, time. Yes, you are blessed. Every person on the planet has more time in a lifetime than ever before in human history. That means our human species is evolving at an alarming rate. You can see it right here. And I wonder, remember that kid in 6th grade that got that growth spurt and was 6 foot tall? In my class, it was John. And John had massive catching up to do with his body. Gross motor and fine motor skills were discombobulated. He hunched over to feel like everyone else. People thought he was older and was ostracized for lacking maturity. He lacked the emotional maturity to go with his size, and he strove to feel normal. Lots of growing up to do in so little time. So here's my hypothesis. Natural evolution typically takes many generations over many, many centuries. For example, we still have the coccyx bone, which is a remnant of tails we used to have as humans. Do you remember anybody with tails? As a human species, we're seeing evolutionary changes in our lifetime. Kudos to us! But as a human species, we're experiencing a growth spurt like that kid in 6th grade. So in the last 90 years, have we as an entire human species doubled our emotional intelligence? In the last 90 years, have we as a human species doubled our social skills, able to live in community with our diverse populations? Are we emotionally and socially evolved enough to handle our growth spurt. We're not there, and I have hope. We as human species got to the top of the food chain because we adapt better than any other species. The word adapt comes from Latin, to join fitted. Adapt is my word for 2021, and we're in the midst of a conscious evolution. We must adapt, join fitted, emotionally and socially. So reach deep into your DNA, find your most authentic self, and then be extremely human. Be you and adapt.
