Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2020 July 11

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July 11

Statistics about aging and supercentenarians

I was looking at the following chart: Ten oldest verified people ever. You can see that nearly all of the listed names "cluster" in the 117-year age-range (plus or minus a few days, weeks, months). Then, we have a 119-year-old ... and then we have a 122-year-old. Doesn't that seem like an awfully large "gap"? With all of the millions and millions of people who have died throughout history, wouldn't we (statistically) "expect" at least a few people to be present in that wide gap (age 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, etc.)? I am well aware of the limitations in collecting this data ... I am aware of statistical outliers ... but, this situation still seems rather odd to me. Thoughts? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:04, 11 July 2020 (UTC)

The statistical oddity is part of why Jeane Calment's longevity is disputed by some @Joseph A. Spadaro:.--Jasper Deng (talk) 19:03, 11 July 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. Yes, I had read about the Calment dispute ... and how statistical anomaly played a part in the reasoning. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:00, 11 July 2020 (UTC)