Thirty years ago I wrote a book Simple Living Investments for Old Age. The book is available as an e-book.
I emphasize in the book the importance of having young friends and the many ways an older person could be appealing to young people.
I stick by that prescription. But there are several elements of old age that I did not reasonably anticipate.
First, technology changes more rapidly than I conceived and the changes are fundamental to a comfortable participatory life. I now have many friends who are severely restricted in their ability to participate in life because they cannot use e-mail, smart phones and complex household equipment.
Second, I did not see how extensively all our social and commercial networks would decay. As other people retire and as they find their own social networks atrophying, it becomes increasingly difficult to call a friend and get something done in the way we did it decades earlier. A politician in DC, in old age can't phone his buddy in Memphis to see how the political winds are blowing. The friend no longer has her useful contacts.
Third, business and related functions change so rapidly it is hard to fit in. The workplace today is radically different from the workplace decades ago. It is very informal. To understand our interaction with businesses, bureaucrats and colleagues requires significant learning about the new environment.
Lastly, what becomes so important to us, our identity, is invested in grandchildren and stories about our lives. Young people are decidedly uninterested in our experiences unless we are extraordinary storytellers. They are focused on the future, on their own future and it is hard for them to see how our antiquated experience relates to their new world.
I would have to modify my book significantly to incorporate these new reservations.
I emphasize in the book the importance of having young friends and the many ways an older person could be appealing to young people.
First, technology changes more rapidly than I conceived and the changes are fundamental to a comfortable participatory life. I now have many friends who are severely restricted in their ability to participate in life because they cannot use e-mail, smart phones and complex household equipment.
Second, I did not see how extensively all our social and commercial networks would decay. As other people retire and as they find their own social networks atrophying, it becomes increasingly difficult to call a friend and get something done in the way we did it decades earlier. A politician in DC, in old age can't phone his buddy in Memphis to see how the political winds are blowing. The friend no longer has her useful contacts.
Third, business and related functions change so rapidly it is hard to fit in. The workplace today is radically different from the workplace decades ago. It is very informal. To understand our interaction with businesses, bureaucrats and colleagues requires significant learning about the new environment.
Lastly, what becomes so important to us, our identity, is invested in grandchildren and stories about our lives. Young people are decidedly uninterested in our experiences unless we are extraordinary storytellers. They are focused on the future, on their own future and it is hard for them to see how our antiquated experience relates to their new world.
I would have to modify my book significantly to incorporate these new reservations.