( I am indebted to the book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing, by Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi, for some of the ideas in this paper.)
We can think of societal attitudes toward aging as having gone through three phases historically. From pre-history to the Industrial Revolution, elders constituted a very small proportion of society and had honored roles as spiritual leaders, political advisors, and teachers of the young. With the new emphasis on production and consumption that accompanied the Industrial Revolution, elders lost their esteemed place in society. They became victims of gerontophobia-- an irrational fear of advanced age based on disempowering cultural stereotypes. Now, people are beginning to search for new models to ennoble the experience of old age.
During the first phase, elders were woven into the fabric of social life as political leaders, judges, sages, seers, guardians of tradition, transmitters of tradition and skills to the young. They served as bridge-builders from the past to the future. The Bible is lavish in praise of elders.
Among the ancient Greeks we find the sad beginnings of the gerontophobia that pervades the modern world. Their valuing of youthful heroism, physical perfection and beauty made them see aging as a catastrophy--a form of divine punishment.
The ancient Romans recognized the wise counsel of elders, who carried great legal authority in the Senate. This word comes from the Latin "senex"= old man.
During the Middle Ages Christian writers gave a new twist to the predicament of old age. They viewed decrepitude as divine punishment visited on humankind because of Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. People thought of physical life as a sacred pilgrimage with the destination of eternity and the promise of salvation in the world to come.
Beginning with the Renaissance, this conviction was eventually overcome. Modern Europeans began to think of themselves as individuals with their own unique destinies. They viewed life less as an earthly pilgrimage to God and more as a career in the shape of a rising and falling staircase.This metaphor has dominated our thinking for the past several centuries.
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