Today’s blog is Part 2 in my discussion of a New Yorker article by Arthur Krystal that seeks to present a realistic view of aging. Yesterday I reviewed some of the factors in the article that pointed towards the idea that we improve as we age. Today I will review the points raised in support of what the author considers to be the “truth” about aging.
I think the following sentence really sums up an important (but somewhat bleak) point that the author is making: “There is, of course, a chance that you may be happier at eighty than you were at twenty or forty, but you’re going to feel much worse.”
The article considers the physical effects of aging, as well as mental ones, namely dementia. Although we continue to explore ways of detecting, predicting, and treating dementia, we do not yet have a cure for the disease.
The New Yorker article also summarizes a (possibly even more bleak) argument made in an essay published in The Atlantic in 2014, with the title “Why I Hope to Die at 75”. The author of that article, Ezekial J. Emanuel, argues that by age 75, most people will have a difficult time generating creative and original thoughts, or being productive. Emanual doesn’t plan on killing himself at 75, but states that he won’t take steps towards actively prolonging his life, such as cancer-screening tests.
Last year I blogged about another article that discussed aging, and the concept of how we can live better, now that we are living longer. That article considered the work being done related to anti-aging and the creation of products to make older people’s lives easier. I think this is a salient point given our aging population, and is also relevant to the points made in Krystal’s New Yorker piece. Although we can admit that there are physical challenges that arise with aging, there are also ways those challenges can be ameliorated, and work continues to be done in this area.
I admit that, at the present time, I have very little authority or personal experience with aging, as it is discussed in the article. While I certainly see the author’s point about the downsides of aging, I think I will choose to favour the more optimistic view as outlined in yesterday’s blog.
Thanks for reading,
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