Last month, I asked the question here, “How do we design lives worth living longer?” One impetus for this question is the fact that we are in a new stage – we’ve added more longevity to our species in the last 125 years than all previous humanity. If we’re going to consciously design new lives, we need an accurate reading of reality.
“Facts” that may appear self-evident to us humans often turn out to be no more than prejudices. Appearances are not always what they seem.
Humans used to believe that the Earth was flat. Then, as scientific evidence of a round Earth accumulated to change minds, we still believed the sun rotated around our planet. Time is a key aspect of both longevity and of our fears about aging.
Many of us believe the duality that old is bad and young is good. This “self-evident fact” is nothing more than prejudice. Life is change. All existence is change. In order for us to consciously design lives worth living longer, we must view life as change not permanence, as becoming not being, as events not things.
Last weekend, I met up with a group of childhood friends I hadn’t seen for 25 years. Re-connecting was great! My friend Joe and I grew up together. He told me about his father Peter who, in his mid-60s, after his second business went bankrupt, decided to become a portrait painter, his passion. He has supported himself and built a reputation for over 35 years. Peter turns 100 next month.
At the age of 69, my friend Fiona was “DOGED” – forced to retire by Elon Musk after 25+ years as a federal employee. She recently got her real estate license and has started a successful business.
Yes, life is change. Designing lives worth living longer demands not just recognizing the ubiquity of impermanence, it also demands Wabi Sabi – the Japanese aesthetic that recognizes the beauty of impermanence.
Western science is based on disciplined rebellion – the refusal to accept the present order of things. Advancements in our understanding of aging begin by questioning assumptions once thought to be self-evident. Scientific progress depends on the honesty and courage to challenge inherited beliefs – including our beliefs about growing older.
We understand the world by studying change, not by studying things. If we design longer lives as a thing (“old age”), we will categorize and stereotype. If we design it as a process, we notice continual development, difficulties, adaptation, learning, loss, creativity, and meaning-making.
Aging becomes less about reaching a static state and more about participating in an ongoing evolution.
Marc Blesoff