Looking beyond a mere numbers game, what does ‘older’ age have to offer in terms of benefits and rewards?

And how does our relative age influence our thinking about ourselves, others, and life in general?

Since our words, acting as labels, influence our thinking. Does it help if, for instance, we re-label the latter phase of our life from ‘Old Age’ to ‘Mature Years’?

There is also a relative perspective on age itself. When you’re 30 years old, then someome who is 50 is starting to look old. But to a 70 year old, a 50 year old person is still a young ‘n.

So when do we start to get old? The common retirement age of 65 is a relatively new invention. It was created by the Prussian general Otto Von Bismark, when he was pressed to give a pension to old and loyal soldiers. ‘What’ he asked ‘is their average life-span?’ When he was advised that it was 66, he granted a pension from the age of 65.

There seems to be a fluid trade-off between age and youth, depending on how we are defining the quality of life. There are many ingredients to quality, and within these qualities there is room for several perspectives.

When we are younger we may have more energy, however what experience and skills do we have to channel it through? In contrast, an older person may have less energy, but they may well be able to channel it more skillfully and be more serene about the outcome.

With greater age, there comes the potential for a wider range of interests, which we have cultivated through the years. This range of interests and skills can seriously enrich our lives, if we chose to express them.

An older person may not have the capacity to do hard labor, or to fight in wars, but who wants those anyway?

So our perspective is key to our perception of the quality of life in older age. And this will come from a combination of personal choice, subjective experience and cultural conditioning.

What can also influence our quality perception of older age, is our definition of pleasure. Whilst it may seem self-evident that our tastes and needs do change over our lifetime, if we persist in defining pleasure in terms of the pursuits of youth, we are misleading ourselves.

Our self-perception can also have a bearing on our experience of older age. How do we define ourselves? What do we believe ourselves to be? If our belief system only allows us to be bodies, then we are severely limiting our self-view and subsequent experience in older age.

So, in a way, our personal and collective views on older age reveal a lot about our understanding of humanity, and what it means to be human.

Sources:
1. The Long Life, by Helen Small,
2007, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

© David R. Durham

If we look back through Western history to some of the first written records of attitudes to older generations, then it seems that the ancient Greeks had a bit of a problem with old age.

With their pantheon of gods who were ageless and deathless and their worship of the beauty and athleticism of youth, it is seems hardly surprising that the features of old age were unattractive to them.

With its increasing frailty, increased risk of ill health and impending death, it seemed to have little to offer.

Another feature which opened up a generation gap was the increasing literacy of the population. This meant that oral traditions and stories which had been passed down personally from one generation to the next, could now studied and read.

There was a thawing of their negative attitudes during the 5th century. This came about when some of their noble philosophers and statesmen were still active and productive in their seventies and eighties.

So in both Greek and subsequent Roman cultures, the elderly may be given some respect for their wisdom and experience, their frailty still created doubts as to their value.

A lot depended on a person’s social class and wealth. The wealthy and privileged could have their roles and status change agreeably as they got old, but for the poor it was a case of continuing to work until you drop.

This latter point highlights one of the key aspects of the attitudes and treatment of elderly people in Western Europe, throughout history and right up to the present day. And that is that your experience of old age would be greatly affected by your gender, social class, religious group and general cultural traditions.

In the middle ages, the contrast of the benefits of wisdom and experience versus the deteriorating health and vitality once again came to the forefront. Some early steps were taken to make make provisions for the elderly, with a pattern developing of going into monastic retreats or lay religious communities in old age.

During the 15th & 16th centuries, it is hard to separate out views on the elderly from the prevailing Christian religion’s take on old age. For instance, the elderly could be viewed as a kind old teacher, whilst at the same time identifying vanity as a vice of old age.

Moving into the 17th & 18th centuries, the negative views on old age derived from antiquity began to be questioned, and a more positive cultural view began to emerge. However, as life expectancy ages started to increase, tensions began to surface, especially in the poorer classes. Here the harshness of economic reality caused some to question how many generations could a household support.

The coming of the industrial revolution created a whole new set of circumstances. The young tended to move away to the newly developing cities, with the older generations being left behind in the countryside.

Another effect was that many parents lost their role as teachers of the new generation, as new skills, trades and professions evolved. And as people got older it brought into question their ability to keep up with machines, and to learn new skills as required in a fast changing environment.

This period also saw the beginning of saving societies to help people to prepare for old age, and the social provision of poor houses.

Sources:
1. Handbook of the Humanities and Aging,
Eds. T. R. Cole, D. D. Van Tassel & R. Kastenbaum,
1992, Springer Publishing Co., New York.

2. The Long History of Old Age,
Ed. Pat Thane,
2005, Thames & Hudson, London.

© David R. Durham