Summary

The article "When Are We Old?" reflects on societal perceptions of aging, questioning the fixation on numerical age and advocating for a more nuanced understanding of old age that transcends physical decline.

Abstract

The article "When Are We Old?" delves into the concept of old age, challenging the societal obsession with numerical age and the tendency to label age groups with indelible markers. The author, who has professionally addressed myths and stereotypes in human development, acknowledges the cultural pervasiveness of biases and emphasizes the need for better categorization of age groups without reinforcing stereotypes. The piece suggests that physical activity and ability are often used as personal benchmarks for old age, as seen in the author's own reflections on skiing and observing athletes like Tom Brady. However, the author recognizes that this measurement is subjective and not universally applicable. The article encourages further contemplation on how to describe different age groups more effectively and invites readers to share their thoughts on the matter.

Opinions

The author believes that the focus on specific numerical ages to define old age is misguided and that a better understanding of age should not be based solely on physical capabilities.
There is a critique of the use of rigid age group categorizations in research and teaching, which can perpetuate stereotypes and biases.
The author admits to having their own biases regarding old age, particularly in relation to physical activity and the ability to engage in sports.
The article suggests that the definition of "old" is highly individual and should not be determined by societal standards or the decline in physical abilities.
The author emphasizes the importance of being aware of cultural biases related to age without accepting them as universal truths.
There is a call to action for readers to consider and contribute their perspectives on when a person is considered old and how society can improve the language used to describe different age groups.

When Are We Old?

And what is this thing called old age?

Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years. Ausonius

But! But! But! [I hear people tell me]

“We must have a specific number for what specific age is labeled old age!”

I guess we need to know people’s ages like we know the ages of Old Ironsides, the Acropolis, Old Masters, etc.

For me — instead of asking how old a person is — the better question is:

Why are we so obsessed with people’s ages?

Myths, Biases, and Stereotypes

Over my professional career, I have written and taught about myths, biases, and stereotypes in our understanding of human development. But until the last few years, I’d never given much thought to my own biases or ideas of when and what is “old age.”

We can’t escape biases as they are part and parcel of our culture[s] — but we can be aware of them and not act on them as if they were “truth” for all peoples. I’m not going into this here as it’s a “whole other topic” [as I am prone to say.]

I’ve also lamented over my teaching/research career, that we need better ways to categorize age groups. Groupings are a necessity as we conduct research, write, and teach about the human lifespan because we want to talk of clusters or groups of persons, not individuals.

Breaking the lifespan into researchable units is a good idea — but labeling each of them with what I see as an “indelible marker” or “permanent ink” leads to more stereotyping and biases that seem never ever to go away.

Biases like “old age”

Lately, it seems that people are more obsessed with knowing everyone’s and anyone’s age. On some sites, I see questions such as: How old are you? How old is X person? When did you first see yourself as old? Is 21 old? Does old age start at 40? Is 45 too old to start a new profession? EEKS!

Gerd Altmann from Pixabay [image reversed by Lynn Dorman]

Then, being my own research population of one — I began to think about my own ideas or stereotypes of “old” and “old age” and quickly came to the combination of aging and physical activity.

Physical activity in any animal, including humans, has always been of interest to me. I love watching and doing many sports. When skiing, I think “I’ll still be doing this when I am old.” Or watching Tom Brady play football I see that, for me, “old” means when your physical abilities decline. [Brady is therefore not “old” in my schema.]

I’m not sure how much mine or anyone’s physical abilities have to decline to be considered “old” but it became clear to me that my measurement of old is almost purely physical. And as I can still do a lot of physical activities: ski, kayak, bike, hike, etc, I personally am NOT old!

But this is not the scenario/measurement for everyone…..and yes, there are a lot of people who tell me I AM old!

I will continue to ponder a few questions:

When are we old?

What is this thing called old age?

How can we better describe different age groups?

And when I have answers or more suggestions, I will write more.

What are your thoughts about “when are we old?”

A variant of this article was published on my site: grow older better and this article was slightly edited June 2020.