EXPLAINED: Nostalgic feeling old posts memes | Rare Historical Photos

The thing about getting old is that we’re going through it, we’re getting older each day, but we don’t feel it. So if someone asks us what’s old when we’re in our 20s, we say, well, 60s. When we’re in our 40s, we think 60 still sounds pretty good, so maybe old is closer to 70. When we’re in our 60s, we move the goalpost once more to somewhere in our mid 70s. 

This is the natural progression that scientists have found out about when surveying people about old age. And while the overall average for what’s considered the beginning of being old was 68, because of how wide the estimation gap was, this number is pretty much meaningless.

The insignificance of this contrived start point is especially evident when talking to 60-year-olds themselves. Out of all the respondents aged 65–74, only 21% said that they feel old. And even those who are over 75 weren’t so convinced—only 35% agreed that they are old.

This reiterates another point that researchers have explored. They discovered that the gap between our real age and “felt” age widens as we grow older. Apparently, about half of 18 to 29-year-olds feel the age that they are while a quarter feel younger. Compare that to 50-year-olds, half of which feel younger than their actual age, and people over 65, 60% of which feel like the number in their passport doesn’t do them justice.

So, if there’s no real number to go off of, are there any other indicators out there? Well, the ones that everyone agrees on are a few. They are:

• Failing health
• Inability to live independently  
• Inability to drive
• Difficulty with stairs

However, some other indicators aren’t so clear-cut. For example, two in three 20-year-olds believe that forgetfulness of familiar names is a sign of getting old. By the time they are thirty, though, only less than a half of the respondents identify it as something only old people do. The same murkiness is apparent when talking about retirement, having gray hair, having grandkids, becoming less active sexually, and having bladder problems.

Maybe all this vagueness is related to the fact that we’re all quite scared of getting old. The survey shows that many younger adults expect old age to be worse than it actually is. A lot of people believe that getting old involves memory loss, illness, loneliness, depression, and financial difficulties. However, older adults do experience some of it, but it is at way lower levels that young people believe it will be.

On the other hand, old age is also not as fun as we might imagine. Older people report not spending as much time with family or traveling as younger people hope they will. There isn’t as much time to find new hobbies or start a second career either. Older folks still do that, just maybe not as commonly as expected.

Still, older people are happy. In fact, they’re as happy as any other generation, proving that your contentment with life does not depend on your age. The common denominators of a happy life are as usual: good health, good financial situation, and good friends.

So, if this list made you feel old, don’t feel bad about that. There’s nothing wrong with it. All that it really says to you is that you have more experience than others. And isn’t that valuable?