Old?

June 29th, 2024| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

What is “old”?

You’re never 36 and a half, but you’re 4 and a half going on 5!

Then you get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You hop, skip, and jump to the next number. How old are you? “I’m gonna be 16.” You could be 12, but you’re gonna be 16.

And then the greatest day of your life happens—you become 21. Even the words ceremonial—you become 21! Yesssssss!!!!

But then you turn 30. Uh, oh! What happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. “He turned … and we had to throw him out.”

What changed? You become 21, you turn 30, then you’re pushing 40. It’s downhill now.

Soon you reach 50, and make it to 60. Now you’re accelerating so fast, you hit 70. Bang!

It’s day by day after that. You hit Thursday. And, later, after you’ve crossed 80, you hit lunch.

But a curious thing happens at 90. You begin going backwards. “I was just 92.”

You become a kid all over again at 100. “I’m 100 … and a half!”

So, what is “old”?

We now know the answer. Or, at least, some psychologists from Germany think they do. In “Postponing Old Age: Evidence for Historical Change Toward a Later Perceived Onset of Old Age,” published in Psychology and Aging recently.

If you’ve been dreading the thought of aging, this is good news. Because what is considered “old” has shifted. Compared to previous generations, people now put off considering themselves “old” until later in life.

The scientists analyzed data from over 14,000 people born between 1911 and 1974 who participated in the ongoing German Aging Survey. Participants were asked a simple question: “At what age would you describe someone as old?”

According to the team’s findings, people in their mid-60s believe “old age” begins around 75. This perception, though, varied significantly across different generations or “birth cohorts.” People born later, especially those born after 1935, tended to push back the age at which they considered someone old. In other words, the threshold for being considered “old” has shifted upwards over time.

[So, yes, old is old, but at least the subjective aspect of aging has shifted.]

But, said study author Markus Wettstein from Humboldt University in Germany:

Life expectancy has increased, which might contribute to a later perceived onset of old age. Also, some aspects of health have improved over time, so that people of a certain age who were regarded as old in the past may no longer be considered old nowadays.”

All this has shifted the perception of what exactly is “old.” The goalpost has shifted. Perhaps even changes to retirement age could have had an impact. In Germany, the retirement age has gradually increased from 65 and will reach 67 by 2031. If people are working longer, hey, they ain’t old yet.

The study also revealed some interesting demographic differences. Women, on average, considered old age to start two-and-a-half years later than men did.

Does it all matter? It might. Our perception may have real impacts on health and well-being.

But there is one surefire way of being blessed when you’re “old” (whatever that age might be):

The righteous like a palm tree will flourish,
like a cedar in Lebanon he will grow high.
Planted in the house of Yahweh—
in the courts of our God they will flourish.
They will still prosper in old age;
healthy and fresh they will be,
to proclaim that Yahweh is upright—
my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 92:12–15

SOURCE: Study Finds; Psychology and Aging