Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people (generally supercentenarians), either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but which current scientific evidence does not support, nor the reasons for the claims. While literal interpretations of such myths may appear to indicate extraordinarily long lifespans, experts believe such figures may be the result of incorrect translations of number systems through various languages, coupled along with the cultural and symbolic significance of certain numbers. The phrase "longevity tradition" may include "purifications, rituals, longevity practices, meditations, and alchemy" that have been believed to confer greater human longevity, especially in Chinese culture. Modern science indicates various ways in which genetics, diet, and lifestyle affect human longevity. It also allows us to determine the age of human remains with a fair degree of precision. The record for the maximum verified lifespan in the modern world is 122+1⁄2 years for women (Jeanne Calment) and 116 years for men (Jiroemon Kimura). Some scientists estimate that in case of the most ideal conditions people can live up to 127 years. This does not exclude the theoretical possibility that in the case of a fortunate combination of mutations there could be a person who lives longer. Though the lifespan of humans is one of the longest in nature, there are animals that live longer. For example, some individuals of the Galapagos tortoise live more than 175 years, and some individuals of the bowhead whale more than 200 years. Some scientists cautiously suggest that the human body can have sufficient resources to live up to 150 years.
Longevity claims in religion
Abrahamic religions
Judaism Several parts of the Hebrew Bible, including the Torah, Joshua, Job, and Chronicles, mention individuals with very long lifespans, up to the 969 years of Methuselah. The Sefer haYashar narrates that all of the long-lived people belonged to a special class and that Methusaleh was the last member. The aforementioned patriarch lived long enough to preach alongside his great-grandson Noah in the antediluvian world.
Christianity Some Christian apologists explain the extreme ages in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) as ancient mistranslations that converted the word "month" to "year", mistaking lunar cycles for solar ones: this would turn an age of 969 years into a more reasonable 969 lunar months, or about 78.3 solar years. Donald Etz says that the Genesis 5 numbers were multiplied by ten by a later editor. Both these interpretations introduce an inconsistency: they would mean that the ages of the first nine patriarchs at fatherhood, ranging from 62 to 230 years in the manuscripts, would then be transformed into an implausible range such as 5 to 18+1⁄2 years. Others say that the first list, of only 10 names for 1,656 years, may contain generational gaps, which would have been represented by the lengthy lifetimes attributed to the patriarchs. Nineteenth-century critic Vincent Goehlert suggests the lifetimes "represented epochs merely, to which were given the names of the personages especially prominent in such epochs, who, in consequence of their comparatively long lives, were able to acquire an exalted influence". Those biblical scholars that teach literal interpretation give explanations for the advanced ages of the early patriarchs. In one view, man was originally to have everlasting life, but as sin was introduced into the world by Adam, its influence became greater with each generation and God progressively shortened man's life. In a second view, before Noah's flood, a "firmament" over the earth (Genesis 1:6–8) contributed to people's advanced ages. The Bible's own (brief) explanation for these ages approaches the question from a different angle, explaining instead the relative shortness of normal lives in Genesis 6:3 (CSB): "And the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.'" Conservative apologist William Lane Craig believes that the longevity myths should be understood as 'mytho-history', where the ages of culturally significant figures were exaggerated to make a political or theological point. He points to similar practices found in neighboring cultures such as the Babylonians and argues that both Hebrews and Babylonians were aware that human longevity was biologically unfeasible. Similar arguments were made by professor Robert Gnuse. Here are some more modern examples of Christian longevity claims:
Scolastica Oliveri is said to have lived in Bivona, Italy, 1448–1578 (age 129–130), according to the archive of Monastero di San Paolo in Bivona located in Palermo. Around 1912, the Maharishi of Kailash was said by missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh to be a Christian hermit of over 300 years of age in a Himalayan mountain cave, with whom he spent some time in deep fellowship. Singh said the Maharishi was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and baptized by the nephew of St. Francis Xavier.
Islam Ibrahim (إِبْرَاهِيم) was said to have lived to 168–169 years. His wife Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament whose age is given. She died at 127 (Genesis 23:1). In the Quran, Noah allegedly lived for 950 years with his people. According to 19th-century scholars, Abdul Azziz al-Hafeed al-Habashi (عبد العزيز الحبشي) lived 673–674 Gregorian years, or 694–695 Islamic years, between 581 and 1276 AH (equivalent to 1185–1859 AD). In Twelver Shia Islam, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi is believed to currently be in Occultation and still alive (age 1157).
Buddhism Vipassī, the twenty-second of twenty-eight Buddhas, lived for either 80,000 or 100,000 years. In Vipassī's time, the longevity of humans was 84,000 years. Taṇhaṅkara, the first Buddha, lived for 100,000 years.
Falun Gong Chapter 2 of Falun Gong by Li Hongzhi (2001) states,
A person in Japan named Mitsu Taira lived to be 242 years old. During the Tang dynasty in our country, there was a monk called Hui Zhao [慧昭, 526–815] who lived to be 290 [288–289] years old. According to the county annals of Yong Tai in Fujian Province, Chen Jun [陈俊] was born in the first year of Zhong He time (881 AD) under the reign of Emperor Xi Zong during the Tang Dynasty. He died in the Tai Ding time of the Yuan Dynasty (1324 AD), after living for 443 years.
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