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I should be neither unkind nor unfair but I was not that impressed with an article in the Independent today written by a lady called Yvonne Roberts and entitled; “The age of the aged has at Long Last Arrived.” The link as follows: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yvonne-roberts-the-age-of-the-aged-has-at-long-last-arrived-1855413.html

I thought the article rather lightweight simply because in a style typical of people like her, there is far too much “either/or” rather than  “and”, life is not simple, it is complex and “individual people” based but, read and judge for yourself. To say that the old are wise and the young foolish maybe correct in some cases, the point is, it is not true in all cases and likely, not in most either.

The Improbability of Cults

I think that it is as unwise to extol a “Cult of Grey” as it is the “Cult of Youth”, the reality is that people are people and each of us is the product of of our basic character and the environment we grew up in. Whilst true that there are some things that come with age because they are a natural consequence of getting older, wisdom is not necessarily one of them and neither is happiness.

If today at the age of 64 I won some fantastic sum of money on the Lottery, I would be considered a fool if my priority was for “Fast Cars and even Faster Women” but were I 30 years or more younger, it would be considered quite natural.

Personal Experiences

I moved down to a Somerset seaside town almost 6 years ago to look after my aged Parents, then in their early 80′s, because it is on the Somerset Levels perhaps, property prices are relatively modest. Being just off the M5 it is a popular area for people from the Midlands particularly, to sell up and retire to the seaside, I suspect we therefore have a higher level of “Grey” than say a City would have.

Old people do not naturally transform into wise Grandfather figures and knowing Grandmothers, if they were mean spirited “A-Holes” in their youth, they remain the same in old age. If thoughtful, caring and considerate when younger, they remain so in old age as does anyone who was intellectual, physically very active and so on.

If there was one quality that I would point to that is present in people of any age, it is the ability to adapt to change and be prepared to learn new things, to mourn their loss, of course but still move on going forward. We see this in the attitude of many of our young service men who at a young age, in the prime of their youth, have lost limbs but still fight on to make the best of their situation. we also see this in the widow who having moved to a seaside retirement, has lost her husband but reaches out to build a new life on the solid foundations of her past.

A Conclusion

The “Wisdom of Age” does not come about just because people are old, it comes about as a natural consequence of a life lived well, consciously and thoughtfully at every stage from 9 to 90. “Grey” is a marketing term for a generation that had the advantage of the 60s-70s property inflation, a final salary pension and you can sell things to. In terms of human nature, old people are no more likely to be “Wise” than any other person who gets beyond 30 years of age or, even younger.