Science Forums 2

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by goku

over 500, of course

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Oh yeah goku? Who was that?

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Can you offer evidence to back that up goku?

Note that the original post of this thread states

Originally Posted by CraigD

[The poll is] intended to measure beliefs concerning the maximum human lifespan. Although you are welcome to do so, it’s not necessary to cite a documented example of a specific individual supporting your belief.

Goku’s vote, and his explanation that it is due to belief in the literal interpretation of the Bible, thus, establishes only that Goku believes that a human being has reached an age greater than 500 years, not that there is any scientific support for his belief.

I’m slightly surprised that the only 201+ vote has been from a Biblical fundamentalists, as the belief is not unique to this community.

In the terminology of the study of longevity myths, Goku’s is known as a patriarch myth.

An interesting theory of Biblical scholarship, which I’d not encountered until researching this thread, is that they are due to mistranslation of the word for “month” as “year”. If so, the biblical claim of the age of the Biblical patriarchs (eg: 969/12 months = 80 years, 6 months, or if the months were the then-common lunar months, 969/12.4 = slightly over 78 years), while exceptional given the life expectancy in the time and culture they were written, are not scientifically implausible.