# Oldest living human. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 28, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769 "2008-11-28T05:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/1 "2008-11-28T05:52:32Z")
How can wikipedia claim that Jeanne Calment was the oldest living confirmed human? I faintly remember some dude named Moses living a good 500 years, or so my bible confirms… ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/2 "2008-11-28T05:55:04Z")
Are you serious? ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/3 "2008-11-28T06:02:33Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Are you serious? Yes, it’s a good read if you have never read it. I’d like to suggest you start at John. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/4 "2008-11-28T06:05:39Z")
No love for poor old Methuselah then? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/5 "2008-11-28T06:14:06Z")
Folklore notwithstanding, the operative term here is “confirmed.” ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/6 "2008-11-28T06:14:25Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > No love for poor old Methuselah then? Or even him, who lived til 900? ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/7 "2008-11-28T06:16:46Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Folklore notwithstanding, the operative term here is “confirmed.” Yes, my bible **confirms** it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/8 "2008-11-28T06:29:28Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Yes, my bible **confirms** it. Most Bible experts, including religious ones, will tell you that the Bible is not meant to be taken literally. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/9 "2008-11-28T06:40:40Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Yes, my bible **confirms** it. For that matter, how dare them science-types say that the Japanese archipelago was created through volcanic activity and plate tectonics! My copy of the Kojiki clearly _confirms_ that they were created when Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto thrust a jewelled spear into the primordial seas, churning the seas and creating the first island, upon to which they descended and, after doing the nasty, Izanami gave birth to the eight great islands. Seriously! Plate tectonics? Who needs that pseudoscience jangle when we have a perfectly good explanation already in print? Plate tectonics… Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/10 "2008-11-28T06:49:11Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Yes, my bible **confirms** it. Is that your standard of proof? Is it only confirmed if it’s written down in the bible or will any written record suffice? I **confirm** in this post that my next-door neighbor Rob is 10,000,000 years old. Do I win? As I’m sure you’re aware, folks like the GBOWR expect pretty thorough documentation before they’ll accept a claim. For human longevity they’ll be looking for verifiable independent evidence - birth certificates, birth announcements, hospital records, school enrollment, etc. They might send someone out to meet the person, check that there is actually somebody living there under that name who looks old, etc. While Rob is definitely a real guy living next to me, the fact that he appears to be about 30 and every record associated with him doesn’t go back beyond the late 1970s might make my claim harder to accept and me saying “No really, trust me” isn’t going to cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/11 "2008-11-28T06:50:12Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > Plate tectonics… Ha! But the afterlife is _documented_ to contain a beer volcano. How can this be possible if you reject the notion of plate tectonics? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/12 "2008-11-28T07:00:41Z")
_takes deep breath_ TR– _breaks off, choking and sputtering_ Just realized it wasn’t the pit. All the same, I don’t think I’ll be responding to your well-thought-out and incisive analysis of this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/13 "2008-11-28T07:16:10Z")
Praise Jesus! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/14 "2008-11-28T07:25:22Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > Praise Jesus! I he were to come back next week, would he still be in his 30’s or would be be, like, 2000 years old? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/15 "2008-11-28T08:11:19Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > _takes deep breath_ TR– > _breaks off, choking and sputtering_ > Just realized it wasn’t the pit. All the same, I don’t think I’ll be responding to your well-thought-out and incisive analysis of this issue. It’s an even better well-thought-out and incicive analysis than you think, since the Bible _actually_ claims Moses’ age at death was around 120 or so… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/16 "2008-11-28T08:43:41Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > I he were to come back next week, would he still be in his 30’s or would be be, like, 2000 years old? He would be…um…praise Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/17 "2008-11-28T08:59:31Z")
\ I’m going to move this over to _Great Debates_. **Copperwindow** , you can witness all you want over there. GQ \> GD \ ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/18 "2008-11-28T09:51:37Z")
Obviously, the oldest man is Connor MacLeod. Wikipedia fails again. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/19 "2008-11-28T10:17:04Z")
Out of interest, what parts of the Bible clue us in to Moses’ age? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769/20 "2008-11-28T11:05:20Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > \ > > I’m going to move this over to _Great Debates_. > > **Copperwindow** , you can witness all you want over there. > > GQ \> GD > > \ Is this really a “Great Debate”? Shouldn’t we have a separate board for “Lunacy”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human/474769.md?page=2)