According to a recent report on the demographics of aging, in the year 1900 3 million people were over the age of 65, 4.1 percent of the population. By midcentury, 12.3 million people, or 8 percent of the population, were over 65. Now 34 million people in the United States are older than 65; soon that number will climb to 15 percent of the population, The number will double by 2030. [emphasis added]Because of potential brain enhancements that Gazzaniga discusses, 65 year olds in 2030 will likely have mental faculties superior to those of contemporary 65 year olds. Nonetheless, we ought to contemplate what it will be like to live in a society where 30 percent of the population is 65 or older. I, for one, am ready. Swimming and lunching at the 92nd Street Y allows me to effectively visit the future each morning (albeit in slightly exaggerated fashion, since about 90 percent of these people are over 65). Let me say this: it can be eye-opening. First, I've learned that vanity never dies. These silverbacks seem to lift weights for hours on end! It would be nice if more of them did so in full clothing - as opposed to jockey shorts and headphones, the preferred workout gear of this set - but I guess it's reassuring to know that basic human traits never diminish.
I've also noticed that older people do not seem any more sensitive to the passing of time. For example, today I witnessed a perfectly sentient older gentleman spend about half an hour trying to convince some toddler -presumably his grand son - that scraping peanut butter off of a bagel with a knife was less efficient than simply biting the bagel. The man's effort was futile, but not for want of trying. This also reassures me - never too old to waste time.
Surely the Y will teach me much more about our seniors, and I will not hesitate to pass this knowledge along.
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