Seventy years. That is the magic number. You’ve probably heard it in a church, seen it in a dusty history book, or maybe heard your grandpa grumble about being on "borrowed time" once he hit the big 7-0. The phrase three score and ten isn't just some poetic way to say seventy; it has acted as a psychological ceiling for humanity for over two thousand years. It’s a heavy concept. Honestly, it's kinda wild how a single line of ancient poetry still dictates how we view retirement, aging, and our own mortality in 2026.
Most people think we’re living way longer than our ancestors. In some ways, sure, that’s true. We have antibiotics and seatbelts. But if you look at the data, the "limit" hasn't shifted as much as you'd think. We aren't necessarily pushing the maximum age of the human species; we’re just getting more people to the finish line of three score and ten.
Where the Heck Did This Number Come From?
It’s Biblical. Specifically, it's from Psalm 90:10. The King James Version reads: "The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
A "score" is twenty. So, $3 \times 20 + 10 = 70$.
The interesting part is that Moses (traditionally credited with this Psalm) wasn't setting a biological rule. He was lamenting. He was basically saying, "Life is short, and even if you make it to 80, it's probably gonna hurt." It’s a grim outlook. Yet, we’ve taken this poetic sigh and turned it into a sociological benchmark. For centuries, if you hit seventy, you had "completed" a full life. Anything after that was a bonus round.
The Longevity Myth vs. Reality
People love to say that people in the "old days" died at 30. That is a massive misunderstanding of "average life expectancy." If you have two people, and one dies at birth while the other lives to 70, the average is 35. That doesn't mean the 35-year-old was an elder.
If you survived childhood in the 1700s, you had a very real shot at hitting three score and ten.
Think about Benjamin Franklin. He died at 84. John Adams made it to 90. These guys were living well into their "fourscore" years without modern heart surgery or statins. The biological "hard drive" of a human being seems to be naturally partitioned for about 70 to 85 years. What has changed isn't the ceiling—it's the floor. We’ve raised the floor so that "seventy" is now the expectation rather than a lucky break for the elite.
Why 70 Still Feels Like a Turning Point
There is a psychological weight to this number. Even today, the US Social Security Administration sets the maximum benefit age at 70. You can retire earlier, sure, but 70 is the point where they basically say, "Okay, that's it, take the money." It’s the modern, bureaucratic version of three score and ten.
We see it in politics, too. Lately, there’s been a massive cultural debate about whether people should be holding high-level offices once they pass that seventy-year mark. It’s a weird tension. We have 75-year-olds running marathons, yet we still have this ancient voice in the back of our heads whispering that seventy is the beginning of the end.
Biologically, things do start to "clunk" around this age.
- Cellular Senescence: Your cells stop dividing as effectively. They become "zombie cells."
- Sarcopenia: Muscle mass drops off a cliff if you aren't actively lifting heavy things.
- Cognitive Processing: It’s not that you get "dumb," but the RAM—the working memory—slows down.
But here is the nuance.
Gerontologists, like Dr. Valter Longo or David Sinclair, often talk about "healthspan" versus "lifespan." If you hit three score and ten but you spent the last decade in a hospital bed, did you really "live" those years? The goal shifted from just hitting the number to making the number irrelevant.
The Cultural Shadow of Seventy
In literature and art, this timeframe is everywhere. Shakespeare’s "Seven Ages of Man" doesn't give a specific year, but the final stage—"second childishness and mere oblivion"—perfectly matches the ancient fear of what happens after seventy. It's the "fourscore" labor and sorrow Moses mentioned.
But then you have the outliers.
Look at someone like Grandma Moses, who didn't even start painting seriously until she was 78. She blew right past three score and ten and started a whole new career. Or Fauja Singh, who ran a marathon at 100. These people are the "glitches in the matrix." They prove that while seventy is a common biological pivot point, it isn't a locked door.
We’ve built our whole society around this 70-year arc.
Education for 20 years.
Work for 40 years.
Relax for 10 years.
Then, curtains.
But what happens when the "ten" becomes thirty? If you live to 100, the three score and ten model breaks. You can't just "relax" for 30 years; you’ll go broke or lose your mind. This is why we're seeing a rise in "encore careers." People are hitting 70 and realizing they aren't "done," but they don't know what to do with the "extra" time because the cultural script ends at seventy.
Is the "Natural" Limit Higher?
Some researchers argue that the human body has a hard limit around 120. Jeanne Calment, the French woman who lived to 122, is the gold standard here. But for the vast majority of us, the engine starts to smoke around 70 or 80.
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A study published in Nature suggested that even if we cure cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, the natural decay of our "systemic integrity" would still take us out by about 90. So, the ancients weren't just being poetic. They were observing a biological reality that we are still fighting against. They saw that after three score and ten, the "strength" of a person really does start to fade into "labour."
It’s kinda humbling.
Despite all our tech, the basic human warranty hasn't changed much since the Bronze Age. We've just gotten better at honoring the warranty.
How to Handle Your Own Three Score and Ten
If you’re approaching this age or planning for it, you have to look at it differently than your parents did. Seventy isn't the finish line anymore. It's more like a major pit stop where you have to change the tires and decide where you're driving for the next leg.
Don't let the ancient "sorrow and labour" quote get in your head. The data shows that "subjective well-being"—basically how happy you feel—actually tends to peak in the 60s and 70s for many people. You've stopped caring what people think. You've (hopefully) figured out who you are.
Actionable Steps for the "Bonus Round"
- Prioritize Protein and Resistance: After 70, your body is a "leaky bucket" for muscle. You need more protein than a 20-year-old to maintain the same muscle mass. If you don't lift, you'll lose the "strength" Moses talked about.
- Audit Your Social Wealth: Isolation is a faster killer than smoking at age 70. If your "three score" was spent working, your "and ten" needs to be spent connecting.
- Reframing the Number: Stop using the phrase "at my age." It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The brain is neuroplastic until the day you die. Learn a language. Pick up a guitar.
- Financial Longevity: Ensure your portfolio is built for 95, not 70. The biggest risk today isn't dying; it's living much longer than three score and ten and running out of gas.
The reality of three score and ten is that it’s a benchmark, not a boundary. We are the first generations in human history that get to decide what the "plus" years look like. Whether those years are "labour and sorrow" or a vibrant second act depends entirely on how we treat the first seventy. Treat your body like it has to last a century, and your seventy might just be the prime of your life.
It’s all about the perspective of that ancient number. You can see it as a looming deadline, or you can see it as the point where the "required" part of life ends and the "optional" part begins. Most of the stress of life comes from the "required" stuff—mortgages, parenting, climbing ladders. Once you clear that seventy-year hurdle, you're playing with house money. Use it well.