(Un)orthodox

I have always wondered how it would feel being old. Studies show that the human spine bends by a noticeable extent, making one seem fatter and broader than he actually is, but my musings aren’t all oriented towards the physical depreciations. It is a given that mental agility worsens to a degree, and at a rate, which might shock an alien life form not used to human ‘intelligence’. But my musings aren’t all on this aspect as well.

Let’s take for instance something unrelated to our era. Rational thinking often has got confused to not thinking out of the box, for centuries. Of course, thankfully, there were exceptions. But when is the line drawn between wanting to think out of the box, but not being able to? Or not even realizing what the box is? I assume those questions didn’t make sense, so let me try again. Humans are remarkably able to adapt to a new environment, and at will. But out greatest weakness is contrary to this strength, which is that we have a tendency to stagnate if the stimuli lessen in time-rate. This holds true in numerous facets of our behavior, like the ability to understand our own children, or the willingness of professors to try out their students’ ideas.

But, irritatingly, my musings aren’t all on these aspects as well! I have noticed many people blaming aged people for their deteriorating skill for judgement, and to understand things on the go. They may be slower than their prime, yes, but there’s a larger fact looming in that the world has plain changed to their experience! They simply haven’t had inputs to many of the things for which they may need to make their decisions! The generation gap is just plain too much! The fields of general interest have more than become greener pastures!