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the culture of age
Sunday, October 27th, 2013 01:33 pmIt has occurred to me that my impression of what it is like to be "old" is based on the older people I've known during my "youth" (which includes my life up until now). But these people are/were of a different generation than me. So, some of the qualities I associate with being old are actually based on generational differences, rather than on age itself. For example, how old people dress, the music they like to listen to, and the activities they engage in.
Long ago, I used to have a vague anxiety / incomprehension about getting old, as I couldn't picture myself as one of the old people I knew. I couldn't picture myself wearing the clothes they wore, for one thing. Once I consciously realized that getting older didn't mean that I'd start wearing completely different clothing and shoes, some of the incomprehension faded.
Today, a few more realizations clicked into place. When I get old, my musical preferences won't suddenly shift. When I'm old, there will be other people my age who enjoy listening to death metal, and rap music, and techno. Probably via headphones and ear-buds. There will likely be old people chatting away on their cell-phones just like younger people do today. Old people will surf the internet and send emails, and will still seem incomprehensibly old-fashioned to the youth of the future.
In the same way as I feel pretty much the same now as when I was younger, I'll feel pretty much the same as I do now when I'm older. Except for the physical changes.
Long ago, I used to have a vague anxiety / incomprehension about getting old, as I couldn't picture myself as one of the old people I knew. I couldn't picture myself wearing the clothes they wore, for one thing. Once I consciously realized that getting older didn't mean that I'd start wearing completely different clothing and shoes, some of the incomprehension faded.
Today, a few more realizations clicked into place. When I get old, my musical preferences won't suddenly shift. When I'm old, there will be other people my age who enjoy listening to death metal, and rap music, and techno. Probably via headphones and ear-buds. There will likely be old people chatting away on their cell-phones just like younger people do today. Old people will surf the internet and send emails, and will still seem incomprehensibly old-fashioned to the youth of the future.
In the same way as I feel pretty much the same now as when I was younger, I'll feel pretty much the same as I do now when I'm older. Except for the physical changes.