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If I remember right, it's the change in age/perspective that was the catalyst for a major plot advancement in Contact (the book). At one point, one of the characters, who has been up in space for a few years as a way of prolonging his already long life, has an epiphany due to his age. He realizes that creatures who live a long time, or who have to think in terms of large time segments, would be far more interested in details than a short-lived species. If I remember right, the reason had to do with an increased respect for efficiency. I've forgotten the entire monologue, but it was a fascinating view and far more spiritual than I expected.
Posts: 836 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I also thought that character was, at best, a demented monkey.
As a human, the most recent major biological transition you will have experienced at 164 which will be difficult to explain to those who have not had the same experience will be death.
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I think *all* thresholds happen after events, like getting married, having kids, having those kids grow up, etc.
18 is not a threshold, it simply coincides with the only sort of coming of age we have in this country...graduation of high school and assumption of legal responsibilities. It typically takes several years after that, after the teenagers move away, go to college, etc., for any real change to occur. For me, I reached a threshold shortly after going to college, another after getting my first job, and yet another after getting married. I imagine I'll be due for another threshold in a few months when my first baby arrives.
quote:Book Description At last, this is your story. You'll recognize yourself, your friends, and your loves. You'll see how to use each life crisis as an opportunity for creative change -- to grow to your full potential. Gail Sheehy's brilliant road map of adult life shows the inevitable personality and sexual changes we go through in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. The Trying 20s -- The safety of home left behind, we begin trying on life's uniforms and possible partners in search of the perfect fit. The Catch 30s -- illusions shaken, it's time to make, break, or deepen life commitments. The Forlorn 40s -- Dangerous years when the dreams of youth demand reassessment, men and women switch characteristics, sexual panic is common, but the greatest opportunity for self-discovery awaits. The Refreshed (or Resigned) 50s -- Best of life for those who let go old roles and find a renewal of purpose.
In essence the "terrible twos" and "trying teens" are only the beginning phases of age-related transitions we human beings go through. We have equally defined periods within our adult lives as well.
It is an interesting concept to think what the "transition period" would be for someone 120 years old, versus 150 years old? What would "age appropriate behavior" look like THEN???
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Contact definitely had its flaws (too numerous to mention here), but, for me, it was a story that came at the right time. That could be why I'm so forgiving.
I agree with Christine about events and why 18 is such a big deal. I wonder what would happen if we had a culture where the legal responsibilities were lowered, even by a few years. Would we be complaining about the lack of experience among teens? Would we become resentful that we had to work that much harder when the children were young to prepare them for the world? Or would we end up more screwed up as a society than we are now?
Back to the original question, I think (in my realtively youthful mind) that someone that old would have a hard time communicating at all.
quote:I wonder what would happen if we had a culture where the legal responsibilities were lowered, even by a few years.
Read the Mabinogion and see. Think teen gangs. Think Cuchullain's Cattle Raid.
quote:Back to the original question, I think (in my realtively youthful mind) that someone that old would have a hard time communicating at all.
I agree. At work I often just hold my tongue when the 20ish and 30ish kids are talking. The 40ish are ok; they've learned a bit by then.
Posts: 2710 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Also consider how does the social enviorment work? If everyone lives to be over 150, when is the retirment age? Also, do they still physically age? Silvered hair and palsy occur at certain points in the human growth because we are reaching our physical end. How does that different in your world? What does a person at 164 do different than a person under 100? There is an obvious difference between 21+ and under 18 as far as places to be social, and 40yr olds don't usually hang out in the same style bars that cater to the people in thier 20s. Posts: 233 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Seems that after 100 (or even 80, or 70), there isn't much left in the way of life changes. You've grown up, done the drivers-license thing, the marriage thing, the children thing, maybe the menopause thing. What's left? The lose-a-spouse and death things, but if the spouse lives as long as you, then those two still occur in close to the same stage of life (optimally, of course).
What about disease? Certain diseases tend to occur mostly later in life. Maybe there's some disease that a 150-year old will tend to get that a 100-year won't.
"Hey, I just got over the rotting fungoids!" "Whatever, gramps!" "Just you wait. You hundred year olds are so cheeky!"
Anyway, my point is that there probably won't be much difference.
Lisa
[This message has been edited by Dandelion (edited August 18, 2005).]
quote:When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch's statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.
quote:I agree. At work I often just hold my tongue when the 20ish and 30ish kids are talking. The 40ish are ok; they've learned a bit by then.
I enjoy listening to people with more experience than I. So I end up going through the exact opposite: I keep my mouth shut hoping the people in their thirties and above will start talking.
Oh, and I like that quote, RH.
[This message has been edited by Keeley (edited August 18, 2005).]
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It always amazes me how inane someone who is 40ish or 50ish can be. You still see peopel this age getting involved in back-biting, petty squabbles etc, and for what? If anything changes the mental outlook of a person it is not age, it is experience and interaction. There is probably something in there about responsibility. If you allow someone to decline resaponsiblity for anything they do they will never grow up.
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The way I look at the maturity threshold, and I have said this on a few occasions when someone under 18 has asked about coming here and participating, is that the real question is whether or not an individual has survived puberty.
I submit as a literary example the way Rowling portrayed Harry Potter in the fifth book (when he was 15) compared to the way she portrayed him in the sixth book. What I see there is first someone who is suffering from puberty and then someone who has more or less survived it.
Of course, Harry still has a lot to learn, but he is definitely more mature in the sixth book than he was in the fifth. If he experienced any kind of epiphany, I don't recall it. He experienced loss, and he learned some things he may not have been ready to learn earlier, and he gained in his appreciation for other things.
I think that process goes on throughout our lives, and someone who lives to be 164 in health and sanity would have lost some things, learned other things, and come to appreciate even more the things that are still there.
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I remember Heinlein's contention about long-life vs. short-life, yes, from "Time Enough For Love." Everybody lives the same length of life, irregardless of respective dates of birth or death.
Another applicable quote: "A man ought to live forever or die trying."
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Several, several years ago, I remember watching the news out of Spokane and they were profiling two women who had both turned 100 years old that day.
One had snow white hair, was confined to a wheelchair, lived in a nursing home and looked old. I think they mentioned that she had never smoked and seldom drank...
The other barely looked a day over 80, was out bowling in a seniors league and was enjoying a cigarette while being interviewed. I remember she had a fiesty attitude. It looked like she still had a few years left in her...
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I'm past caring. It's not like I want to live a long, crappy life, but what the heck am I going to do about it?
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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I feel your pain Survivor. Both sides of my family live forever. I joke with my parents about inheriting the family riches (there are none) and my father is about to retire and his parents are more likely to die in a car crash than from old age. What good is an inheritance if you don't get it until your pushing 70?
I think living to 164 could be a curse - if you were the exception. Imagine all the people you 've watched grow up and die. If you had perfect memory, you could spend a week reminiscing about your 80's. You'd spend so much time in the past you'd miss out on the present. There's a professor at Oxford or Cambridge convinced 150 is easy to achieve but is worried if it became available to everyone then risky jobs like fireman or policeman might go unfilled. Who would risk death or injury at 30 knowing you might forfeit 120 years of life?
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Brian Stableford wrote a story in which people lived for a long, long time due to medical advances. If I remember correctly, people lived through a period of high creativity from the point where the sex drive had vanished. They then became sex-crazed maniacs by the time they were 300 or so. They also took slightly more time doing everything in life (getting married, getting children, getting a job). Seems a bit unlikely, though.
Posts: 1075 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Long life isn't enough. You need good health, to enjoy the quality of your life, and you need those around you to enjoy long life as well.
My mom will be 84 this year. My dad died 11 years ago, her best friends from high school died within weeks of each other, her friends have all been dropping like flies. She has very few friends left to share that deep sense of connection that comes from having known someone a long time. She gets lonely. While she still tries to take care of herself, I think when her time comes she'll be glad to go. She would scoff at living to be 164. Without health and friends, you might be alive--but would you really be living?
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