Why Can’t We Imagine Ourselves Getting Old?

According to various kinds of cosmetics these days, we can’t deny that senescence is an enemy for female around the world, include metrosexual and homosexual as well. Senescence or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to that of the whole organism.(2011) Furthermore, ageing (British English) or aging (American English) is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change.(2011) Why can’t we imagine ourselves getting old? This question doesn’t be written for asking, but for reminding why don’t you picture of how you will be looked like when you reach over 70 years old.

The authors begin with one man whose name “Methuselah” from Bible. He died in the age of 969 years old. They also show the number of UK girls, which have a one-in-three chance of reaching 100 years old, however, UK boys has a one-in-four chance. Moreover, more information is added about world population that by 2066 there will be half a million centenarians. A study in the Lancet last year suggested that half of babies born after 2000 will reach 100 years old. (¶ 6)Anyways, the practical issue is pensions. “We simply can’t look to our grandparents’ experience of retirement as a model for our own.” Says pension minister Steve Webb. “We will live longer and we have to save more.” Our ageing populations require a revolution in the way that social and economic policy operates, according to Joseph Coughlin, an age researcher at MIT. “We need a vision that says ageing is not just about frail.” He told the Financial Times last month. “Ageing is about all of us, and how we keep people productive for as long as possible.” (¶ 8) Also, the authors interview old and young people. The old woman who is 100 this year named Evelyn Blackshaw. She never considered herself become old; for example, she keeps her mind and body active through puzzles, reading and dancing. As Leon Trotsky put it: “ Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that happen to a man.” Behavioral thinkers believe that most people are incapable of imagining themselves getting old, one reason why people fail to invest sufficiently in a pension. In contrast, the young ladies who were interviewed have their point of views that they don’t want to exceed 50. Because they afraid of the way their face will look like and get worried about their ability to take care of themselves.

For my points of view, there are several reasons why people can’t imagine themselves getting old. First of all, everyone has their own duties everyday such as working and studying. So, people don’t have time to think about long term planning and how they look like when they reach more than 60 years old. Besides their main duty when they have free time or holiday, people tend to spend time with family or lovers. They go travelling and playing sports.

Second, some people realize that nowadays there is a large amount of illness cover all over the world which we can’t find the way to cure. Also, Hi-technology creates too much transportation which may lead to accidents, as we heard from media, every day many people dies because of the accidents. In addition, the world has many impacts of pollution from human being. The catastrophe normally occur some parts on earth such as global warming, flooding, tsunami, and earthquake. Therefore, people don’t realize that they will survive until they reach centenarians.

Third, by negligence; that’s too far. Most people have a plan only this moment, today, tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year or more than one years but not more than 20 years. As we can notice from the world investigation, people have economical plan for deposit for short term more than long term. In case of long term, they invest not over than 50 years, such as banking and gold investigation. Most people want to spend their money this life before they die, so they just keep money for short time not too long. Usually people can imagine having reproductive life plan. That’s to say since being born, people grow up, get old, get married, have children, have grand children and die. But no one plan to die after 100 years old. Everyone just think of a process of life not life after done process.

From Buddhism, we have rule of Trailak; the three characteristics of existence which are impermanence, incompleteness or suffering and non-self. (2011) First, Impermanence (Pāli: annicca) expresses the Buddhist notion that all compounded or conditioned phenomena (all things and experiences) are inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. Everything we can experience through our senses is made up of parts, and its existence is dependent on external conditions. Next, Incompleteness or Suffering (Pāli: दुक्ख dukkha ; Sanskrit दुःख duḥkha) is also a central concept in Buddhism. The word roughly corresponds to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. Not-self (Pāli: anatta; Sanskrit: anātman) is the third mark of existence. Upon careful examination, one finds that no phenomenon is really "I" or "mine"; these concepts are in fact constructed by the mind. (2011) When people are enlightened by these three characteristics of Trailak , they will have conscious to live their lives carefully, they will imagine what will their lives look like in the future and accept we will getting older and die one day without worry about their image.

References

De Castella, T. and Brown, V. (2011, August 5).Why Can’t We Imagine Ourselves Getting Old? BBC News Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14412025

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageing Retrieved August 10, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism#Three_Marks_of_Existence Retrieved August 10, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_ageing

Retrieved August 10, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrosexual Retrieved August 10, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence Retrieved August 10, 2011