Aging - Short bites. Episode #5. Linda Rossetti

Name: Aging - Short bites. Episode #5. Linda Rossetti
Uploaded: 2020-01-12T22:46:22+00:00
Duration: 1 min 50 s
Channel: Virginie Glaenzer
Description: In this short‑form dialogue, two speakers (A and B) explore the relationship between aging and the rapid structural changes reshaping society. They note…

12 Jan 2020 · 2 min

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1:50

In this short‑form dialogue, two speakers (A and B) explore the relationship between aging and the rapid structural changes reshaping society. They note that technology now enables point‑to‑point communication across the United States, a capability that didn’t exist fifteen years ago, and that social norms have shifted dramatically, exemplified by the legalization of gay marriage and the extension of Social Security benefits to same‑sex partners. The conversation pivots to the idea that what is often labeled “ageism” may actually reflect a person’s ability—or lack thereof—to adapt to these sweeping changes, regardless of chronological age. They discuss the dramatic rise in life expectancy over the past 25 years and question what is required to equip people of all ages with the capacity to navigate such transformations. The speakers acknowledge that opinions will vary on how to foster this adaptability, leaving the issue open for further inquiry.

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I love the way this conversation has started because I came in with this assumption of, oh, we're going to talk about age, but right away what we've talked about kind of makes me wonder, right?
Because there's this confluence of structural changes going on that have nothing to do with age, right? Technology is a major structural change, right?
Now look at, we have a a point-to-point conversation all over the United States right now.
You know, we didn't have that 15 years ago. And it isn't just technology, right? Our social norms are changing, right?
You know, we've legalized things like gay marriage. You know, all of a sudden we have Social Security benefits that can go to, you know, same-sex partners. You know, all sorts of structural changes.
And so it's almost— Roxanne, this notion in my mind of there are some people who have a capability to process major changes and be okay with that regardless of their age. And there are others who don't have that capacity, right?
They really, they don't have the ability to step out of their set of assumptions.
And my suspicion is that what many refer to as ageism is more an ability to be successful in whatever that definition is within this confluence of major changes that are happening.
We have life expectancy expanding in the last 25 years by orders of magnitude. We have technology changing the way we communicate. We have blah, blah, blah. We can go on and on. So, I think that this conversation is interesting because I came to it assuming that we were going to talk about age and I was convinced that there there are real issues with age.
But in the absence of somebody's ability to navigate major change, yeah, age is as good as any as an issue that's in the way. But this notion of what is required in order to make sure people have the capacity to navigate that kind of change, I think that's really an open question.
My suspicion is everyone would have an opinion on that.