Comment by mysterypie | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mysterypie | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> this makes me think that telomeres are not the main cause of aging-related death

That's an interesting argument, but couldn't you use the same reasoning to argue that telomeres are the main cause of aging-related death? The mental model I'm thinking is: As you run out of telomeres, you get diseases and you can't reproduce - and that’s maladaptive. So there’s evolutionary pressure to slow down the shortening rate, up to the point where you have children (plus grandchildren in the case of humans). When you're living long enough to have one or two generations of offspring, there’s no more pressure to correct the telomere problem.

Wouldn't your argument and mine be equally consistent with the featured article (that shortening rate predicts life span)?

If you lived longer still you might father more children.

Yes, but because of increased risk of disease and lower physical ability, you would also be a larger strain on your group/family. I think we should see this more as a survival of offspring and less as fathering more offspring.

There's probably pressure for species to not have longer lifespans. Youthful thinking and fresh perspectives are important. Wise old perspectives can get deeply ingrained and can't be changed easily. The free market for example experiences similar phenomenon where a new startup will outcompete a big old corporation. An industry that moves quicker (tech) evolves faster than one that doesn't (healthcare).

The evidence doesn't support what you imply: that older people can't learn or come up with novel ideas. Fresh perspectives are important, but there are more ways than ignorance (e.g. youth) to find them. For example, cross domain work often yields amazing new results; it's a great way to bring in fresh perspectives.

In evolutionary terms you become a competitor with your male offspring for reproduction, which may hinder natural variation.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com