# Man lives for 70 years without water and food **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856 "2010-04-30T13:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/61 "2010-05-12T08:55:34Z")
Yes, _Surprising claims require surprising evidence_ doesn’t seem to work quite as well as a dismissive statement. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/62 "2010-05-12T12:14:09Z")
I don’t really like the original if it’s used purely in a dismissive sense, but that’s a problem of attitude rather than methodology. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/63 "2010-05-12T12:21:19Z")
Hmmm… scientific methodology? It has its obvious uses, but it’s not quite a flawless system yet, while it is still being interpreted by humans. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/64 "2010-05-12T12:35:43Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > My thoughts exactly. In any debate about the supernatural, the skeptics will insist that they _would_ believe the claim _if_ it were subjected to scientific study. Then when a claim about the supernatural is subjected to scientific study, they just go on insisting that the claim is false. I am a skeptic. If the thrust of your point were correct I would believe nothing. Yet that isn’t the case at all. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/65 "2010-05-12T12:38:06Z")
You do realise the word “believe” is a human construct and has no objective meaning, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/66 "2010-05-12T12:41:11Z")
Can one “realise” something that isn’t correct? What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/67 "2010-05-12T12:44:14Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Hmmm… scientific methodology? It has its obvious uses, but it’s not quite a flawless system yet, while it is still being interpreted by humans. Can you think of any notable examples where it’s let us down badly, and some other approach would have worked better? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/68 "2010-05-12T12:48:16Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You do realise the word “believe” is a human construct and has no objective meaning, don’t you? All of the words in the dictionary are just made up. ‘Believe’ has a comprehensible meaning describing a mental state that has certain fairly consistent sets of attributes and outcomes. What’s the problem with that? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/69 "2010-05-12T12:50:39Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You do realise the word “believe” is a human construct and has no objective meaning, don’t you? It has as much meaning as anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/70 "2010-05-12T15:56:21Z")
I love how the accounts strain to make this sound credible by surrounding the guy with sciency-sounding stuff. Giving him CAT scans and MRIs and measuring his heart rate and so forth are completely beside the point, and only reveal that the doctors involved are either complicit or unbelievably naive. Here is a test of reasonable skepticism. When you are told that a man has survived for years without food and water, is your first response: a.) “That sounds crazy! I’d love to see a good test of his claim, overseen by conjurers so there’s no fraud.” b.) “Squeeeee! I bet astronauts would benefit from that ability! Let me call NASA.” Randi has written about this - he’d see scientists studying paranormal claims with a great amount of apparent rigor - lots of statistics and analysis, etc. But they didn’t have any knowledge of parlor tricks, and would overlook things like a girl being able to look out of a gap between her face and a pair of goggles they’d painted over “to make sure she couldn’t see.” If he’s allowed to gargle, he has the opportunity to drink. If he’s allowed to take a bath, he can urinate without it being seen. Humans can survive without food for this period, and if you don’t eat, it’s feasible you might not have a bowel movement in that time. No one here is saying they would never, under any circumstances believe this claim. They’re just saying it’s so far from what we know, we’d better make sure there is no fraud before jumping ahead to studying the guy’s various systems. And the experiment clearly fails to take the most simple and obvious precautions to prevent fraud. So it’s worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/71 "2010-05-12T16:26:46Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > No one here is saying they would never, under any circumstances believe this claim. I’ll say it, then. Tell me that a guy can go, say, 1 month without water and 6 months without food, I’ll probably be skeptical but open to a well-conducted scientific study of this claim. Tell me that a guy has lived for _70 years_ with no food or water, and yes, I would never, under any circumstances believe this claim. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/72 "2010-05-12T16:41:06Z")
hell _I_ went 3 months without food … but i was drinking water, on an IV and managed to keep plain tea down without vomiting … and I lost weight. [thanks to being _very_ sick] but I wasn’t very frisky:( ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/73 "2010-05-12T19:05:19Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’ll say it, then. > > Tell me that a guy can go, say, 1 month without water and 6 months without food, I’ll probably be skeptical but open to a well-conducted scientific study of this claim. > > Tell me that a guy has lived for _70 years_ with no food or water, and yes, I would never, under any circumstances believe this claim. I don’t believe the claim, I think an alien with no knowledge of human biology and only a passing acquaintance with the laws of thermodynamics would not believe the claim, but declaring that you _will never under any circumstances believe the claim_ is not skepticism, it’s dogmatism. ETA: also, it’s only a statement of your intent at this moment. So what? - you might change your mind tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/74 "2010-05-12T19:19:01Z")
There’s no reason to tack on “under any circumstances” though. Of course, in a different reality one might believe differently. Just say “I’ll never believe such a claim”, and let the circumstances be what they are. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/75 "2010-05-12T19:52:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t believe the claim, I think an alien with no knowledge of human biology and only a passing acquaintance with the laws of thermodynamics would not believe the claim, but declaring that you _will never under any circumstances believe the claim_ is not skepticism, it’s dogmatism. > > ETA: also, it’s only a statement of your intent at this moment. So what? - you might change your mind tomorrow. People need food and water to live. I highly doubt that I’ll change my mind about that [del]anytime soon[/del] ever. But if it will make you feel better: I don’t currently believe this claim, and I cannot currently imagine any set of circumstances under which I would believe this claim at any future time. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/76 "2010-05-12T21:14:33Z")
Playing Devil’s advocate. . . This has been carried in quite a few press outlets. I seriously doubt that any serious news editor really believed this story–but it’s something fun to report, sorta like human interest stories that news programs often air at the end of a broadcast, like the farmer who can hold 40 eggs in one hand. If you have a really weird story that might make you hit an extra click then you might possibly see another screen with another ad that you might possibly click on. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/77 "2010-05-12T21:46:42Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > People need food and water to live. I highly doubt that I’ll change my mind about that [del]anytime soon[/del] ever. Of course, people need food and water to live - I share your doubts probably quite closely. > [@](#): > > But if it will make you feel better: I don’t currently believe this claim, and I cannot currently imagine any set of circumstances under which I would believe this claim at any future time. Me too. It’s a highly extraordinary claim. I think it’s unlikely in the extreme that the highly extraordinary evidence required to support it will ever be forthcoming. I don’t think I necessarily even have a very open mind about any possibility of it being true - I just stop short of declaring that nothing will ever convince me, because that’s a declaration about me, not the claim under examination. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/78 "2010-05-13T00:13:29Z")
All I’m saying is that “Nothing _could ever_ convince me this was true” is pretty much a faith statement, not compatible with skepticism. Do I think this is legit? Hells no. Do I think it’s possible the researchers, whatever level of rigor they used, will produce evidence sufficient to overcome the reasonable presumption of fraud? No way. But if JREF tested the guy, and their protocols seemed good, and they said he’s legit and gave him $1M, I would have to reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/79 "2010-05-13T03:25:40Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > This has been carried in quite a few press outlets. I seriously doubt that any serious news editor really believed this story–but it’s something fun to report, sorta like human interest stories that news programs often air at the end of a broadcast, like the farmer who can hold 40 eggs in one hand. If you have a really weird story that might make you hit an extra click then you might possibly see another screen with another ad that you might possibly click on. If you’re going to pretend that you’re a legitimate news team and not just _The Onion_ with better funding, you have a responsibility to not go spouting bullshit just to get attention. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856/80 "2010-05-13T13:53:22Z")
Well. . . another example. . . Several years ago, CNN had a link that said something like “Fossil Cyclops skull found in Greece.” The article then went on to say that the skull was actually that of an elephant or some other probosidian. It then indicated that since [probosidian skulls](http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythiccreatures/land/images/2Dwarf-elephant-skull_lg.jpg) have a large central hole (between the trunk and nasal cavity) that maybe ancient Greeks thought that these skulls they were digging up belonged to some fantastic race of monocular giants. Same thing. Completely misleading headline, but it got my curiosity, and I clicked on it, which was the intended purpose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-lives-for-70-years-without-water-and-food/537856.md?page=5)