{"id":8071,"date":"2014-03-17T13:50:09","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/03\/17\/the-science-of-older-and-wiser\/"},"modified":"2014-03-17T13:50:09","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T13:50:09","slug":"the-science-of-older-and-wiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/03\/17\/the-science-of-older-and-wiser\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science of Older and Wiser"},"content":{"rendered":"

A worthwhile NYT piece<\/a> and a good counter to Susan Jacoby's Never Say Die<\/em> which I criticize in one of my better posts, appropriately entitled Never Say Die<\/a>.  An excerpt  from the former:<\/span><\/p>\n

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An impediment to wisdom is thinking, \u201cI can\u2019t stand who I am now because I\u2019m not who I used to be,\u201d said Isabella S. Bick, a psychotherapist who, at 81, still practices part time out of her home in Sharon, Conn. She has aging clients who are upset by a perceived worsening of their looks, their sexual performance, their physical abilities, their memory. For them, as for herself, an acceptance of aging is necessary for growth, but \u201cit\u2019s not a resigned acceptance; it\u2019s an embracing acceptance,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWise people are able to accept reality as it is, with equanimity,\u201d Professor Ardelt said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

True, acceptance of reality is an ingredient in wisdom.  But the distinction between resigned and embracing acceptance smacks of the bogus.  Let's say you are 80+. You are now deep in the backcountry of old age.  You must accept with equanimity the attendant deterioration.  Whining will only make things worse and no one wants to hear it.  You must set a good example.  But how does one embrace<\/em> the deterioration of one's physical and mental powers?  That is a bit like physically embracing the skeleton that one will soon become.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can think of only two ways to embrace one's deterioration, neither of them live options for the average reader of the Grey Lady.   There are those who have had enough of this life and embrace deterioration as a means to its cessation.  When Ludwig Wittgenstein<\/a> learned that he had cancer, he said, "Good."  And there are those who look beyond this life to a truer and better one.  They are the mystics, the religious, and the true philosophers.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you are a non-nihilistic naturalist, someone who believes that this life is satisfactory as it is and worth living and that there is no other, then how the hell can you embrace<\/em> the Buddha's triad of sickness, old age, and death?  Besides, there would seem to  be little point to the personal "growth" consequent upon "embracing"  aging if one is soon to be snuffed out altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is another excerpt:
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True personal wisdom involves five elements, said Professor Staudinger, now a life span psychologist and professor at Columbia University. They are self-insight; the ability to demonstrate personal growth; self-awareness in terms of your historical era and your family history; understanding that priorities and values, including your own, are not absolute; and an awareness of life\u2019s ambiguities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That's pretty good except for the bit about priorities and values not being absolute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose you are about to eat an excellent dinner when you notice that a neighbor is being viciously assaulted in her front yard.  Do you finish your dinner and then go to the assistance of your neighbor?  First things first!  I say that it is absolutely true, and absolutely evident, that your neighbor's health and well-being take priority over your delectation of an unnecessary meal.  
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\nRelated articles<\/legend>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>A Letter to Young Voters<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The Science of Older and Wiser<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A worthwhile NYT piece and a good counter to Susan Jacoby's Never Say Die which I criticize in one of my better posts, appropriately entitled Never Say Die.  An excerpt  from the former: An impediment to wisdom is thinking, \u201cI can\u2019t stand who I am now because I\u2019m not who I used to be,\u201d said … Continue reading “The Science of Older and Wiser”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236,184,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ageing","category-death-and-immortality","category-human-predicament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}