The statistics you are using are biased to refer only to the people who have survived until now. To refer to premature death, you need to compare an individual’s lifetime with that of all people of roughly the same birthdate and birth conditions, including the negative life expectancy of those who are already dead.
Yes, though what the right reference class of people is is tricky. For it’s possible for a whole cohort to die prematurely (e.g. from plague or war).
Maybe it’s just that dying prematurely is dying ‘earlier than expected’ (as another comment suggests), but various different things can influence what people expect; it’s not as clear-cut concept as it seems.
The statistics you are using are biased to refer only to the people who have survived until now. To refer to premature death, you need to compare an individual’s lifetime with that of all people of roughly the same birthdate and birth conditions, including the negative life expectancy of those who are already dead.
Yes, though what the right reference class of people is is tricky. For it’s possible for a whole cohort to die prematurely (e.g. from plague or war).
Maybe it’s just that dying prematurely is dying ‘earlier than expected’ (as another comment suggests), but various different things can influence what people expect; it’s not as clear-cut concept as it seems.