Why does it seem this way?

[Misty Avich]

60-year-olds when I was a child:

60-year-olds now:-

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it because age perception is different when you're a child? Like I used to think 60 was elderly, but really 60 is still middle-aged. Or did people age quicker back in the 1990s?

 

[Levitat0r]

60-year-olds when I was a child:
View attachment 124955

60-year-olds now:-
View attachment 124956
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it because age perception is different when you're a child? Like I used to think 60 was elderly, but really 60 is still middle-aged. Or did people age quicker back in the 1990s?

One of life's biggest lessons is how fickle perspective is, and how different things look from a different vantage point in space, time, and especially experience. At 44 I sometimes wish I had a cane or something to deal with the gout attacks, and I also had terrible things happen that probably did age my health prematurely. But I take pride in continuing to play computer games, and to engage in mental puzzles and similar hobbies. They bring me joy, and I don't need to be welcome at the formal socialites' ball.

 

[Tired]

This video explains some of this "phenomena", I found it interesting.

 

[Levitat0r]

This video explains some of this "phenomena", I found it interesting.

I hope some of us are destined to be young forever somewhere close to God. Nice face, by the way.

 

[Judge]

It explains why I feel so strange thinking about my grandparents these days when my perception of them so long ago made them seem so old at the time. Now I'm as old as they once were. I can't say I feel young, but I like to believe that I still think young. Is there a name for this?

Sing it, Rod!

 

[Levitat0r]

For the race of Aragorn was corrupt with avarice and powerlust, they sought out one with mental hobbitism who could withstand the ring's wiles and deliver it to Mt. Doom...

Emotional and socially stunted, or blessed? Another matter of perspective, maybe.

 

[Au Naturel]

60-year-olds when I was a child:
View attachment 124955

60-year-olds now:-
View attachment 124956
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it because age perception is different when you're a child? Like I used to think 60 was elderly, but really 60 is still middle-aged. Or did people age quicker back in the 1990s?

Sixty is still borderline elderly. Tag end of middle age. Significant acceleration of the death rate. You could easily be a great-grandfather by then. People do not like to think of themselves as aging and compare themselves with their peers, not their juniors. It makes them feel younger.

When you are young, you do the opposite. Because you are young, you consider the health and vigor of youth as normal and not a transitory phase. It makes older people seem even older. When I was a young boy, I expected my father to keel over from a heart attack every time he did strenuous work.

There is a slight trend for the aging process to take longer today. Better health care and healthier living. Sixty is not the new forty but might be the new 58. The main reason people live longer is that we can treat age-related maladies that used to be fatal or disabling. You still get old because the aging process is programmed into your genes.

Another factor is selection bias. You don't see the sixty-year-old who is 80 lbs. overweight and out of breath just walking to the toilet as often. You really notice the old person out there playing tennis. The media only makes this worse. All those old people with perfect smiles, fit bodies, and active lifestyles (and probably have great sex lives) make for good advertising props.

 

[Crossbreed]

Is there a name for this?

It is quite common for autistics & gifteds to age slower in face, neurology and how we carry ourselves.

~~~~~​

Do you want to look younger & thinner...?

Spoiler: Yes...

Just hang out with old, fat people...!

 

[Levitat0r]

It is quite common for autistics & gifteds to age slower in face, neurology and how we carry ourselves.

~~~~~​

Do you want to look younger & thinner...?

Spoiler: Yes...

Just hang out with old, fat people...!

"Been dancin' with the devil way too long, and it's makin' me grow old..." -- Creed

 

[Crossbreed]

FYI, Tom Cruise is 61 (like me).

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1 (2023)

 

[Levitat0r]

FYI, Tom Cruise is 61 (like me).

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1 (2023)

He's wealthy enough to replace his entire body every weekend.

 

[UFO]

It is quite common for autistics & gifteds to age slower in face, neurology and how we carry ourselves.

I remember that I have read that some certain flexible skin condition is common among ASD and ADHD (edit: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - probably not an over-all explanation). Someone also commented in some forum, that autistics show less facial expressions so wrinkles don't ruin their faces so soon.

Again I don't know... But I do know that bouncers began to let me in to pubs when I was 20. They stopped asking for my IDs when I was 30. And they stopped asking me to remove my sunglasses when I was 40. Wonder what happens when I am 50?