I&#x27;m not saying parents are programmed to fall over and die exactly the moment they have sucessfully reproduced, clearly in those species incl us only the offspring of caring+longer-lived parents have survived to reproduce themselves --- past that prime age we just lose that comparative youthful invincibility against &quot;environmental stress and accumulated damage and the resulting ever-accelerating degeneration&quot; (incl &quot;western diet&quot;) because there never was selection pressure favouring people who thrive well into old age and age in supreme health on any chow or fodder without suffering severe degeneration and disease.