|
  |
|
|
Does Life Begin at Forty?
Formerly, the forties were universally considered as a sort of "antechamber of death," the age of renunciation, of little pleasure and much suffering, of illness and decay. If we survey the conditions of life in past periods, we shall finds that, in the great majority of cases, that view was justified. The reasons are many, ranging from ignorance of hygiene to super-human strain of daily life and the low standard of living. At the beginning of World War I, the Recruiting Commissions in England reported that a large proportion of the workers, from the age of thirty-five upwards, showed signs of ageing. Most of the industrial workers in Lancashire were, at thirty-eight' "old men" as far as military service was concerned. Even today, men who perform strenuous physical work, such as miners, certain categories of industrial workers, longshoremen etc., grow prematurely old, because the "premature old age means premature death." This idea is the starting point of Professor Walter B. Pitkin's famous book, Life Begins at Forty, in which he says that "only stupid people die early." Although, at a first glance, this dictum sounds rather paradoxical, since it is easy to quote cases of really great men who died early, there is nevertheless a great deal of truth in it, and we will endeavor to trace the argument that led the author to this pronouncement. Max Rubner, the biologist, published a remarkable essay, in which he tried to establish a connection between the weight of animals and their span of life. He arrived at the conclusion that for each 2 1/5 lbs. of its weight the organism produces and consumes 191,600 calories of heat. Thus the organism may be considered as a mechanism capable of producing a given amount of energy, and once that is exhausted, death follows. Thus is sufficient to know the weight of an animal, and the rate at which it consumes energy, in the order to determine approximately its normal duration of life. Other scientists have tried to establish a similar connection between the weight of the brain and duration of life. H. Friedenthal, for instance, evolved the idea of cephalization, i.e.' the correlation between the volume of the brain and that of the body, without the bones, and he concluded that the larger the brain as compared with the body it governs, the greater is the expectation of life. The equation is as follows:
Cephalization
Weight of body
0.666.
Weight of brain
The coefficient of cephalization varies in the various species. In mice it is 0.045, in deer 0.35, in man 2.7. As the two animals referred to live, respectively, for two or three years and fifteen years, a simple calculation will show that man ought to live an average of 100 years. The volume of the brain, which relatively determines the degree of intelligence, also determines to a considerable extent the amount of energy expended for a given effort, and it is here that the two theories, Rubner's and Friedenthal's meet. A rat, for instance use six times more energy in its efforts to escape from a complicated trap than a money, which is infinitely more intelligent. A man, whose brain is far more highly developed, only requires a hundredth part of the energy used by the rat for the same task. And if we pursue this the most intelligent animal, and beign capable of husbanding his energies, should live longest. If we consider Professor Pitkin's dictum from this point of view, we shall find that it is not just a witty saying, though, of course, it cannot be accepted as absolute truth. At the same time, statistics prove that unskilled laborers, on an average, have a lower expectation of life that skilled workers, and these, again, do not live so long as the experts under whom they work; and statistics have also established that the average expectation of life of the intellectual elite is considerably higher that that of the average. Thus we are justifued in drawing the conclusion that "wise men live long." There are those who argue that it is not worth while to live long, as, once youth has passed, life is only a burden. But that view is wholly erroneous, for whereas youth has incontestable attractions, the age of maturity, which begins at forty, is nevertheless, the happiest period of life. "Youth is the loveliest flower on earth," writes Mme. Swetchine, "but maturity is the tastiest of fruits. "There is more sweetness in ripe fruit than in the unripe." How could youth enjoy life to the full? Up to a certain age, human beings lead an almost animal existence while engaged in the laborious task of adapting themselves to their environment. Up to the age of senteen or eighteen they are imperfectly developed, and are incapable of creating anything lasting, except for those child prodigies who prove the rule, and most of whom cease to be podigies once they are out of their teens. The period between the ages of seveteen and twenty-four is one of more or less helpless groping. Then follows a time struggle, during which the young man or woman must "cave a career," and they have little time to live their own lives. That is why Professor Pitkin is right in saying that until the age of forty a man may be compared to a student of music who is only capable of executing set exercises, and who as yet derives little pleasure from his art. It is not until the age of forty that the student of the art of living can become an artist and stand on his own feet. That is particulary true in the case of professions requiring extensive knowledge and experience, such as medicine, arthitecture, the law, etc. There is a widespread belief that after forty a process of decline is inevitable. We have already shown how mistaken that view is in the light of scientific experience. It is true that a runner, boxer or foot baller of forty cannot measure himelf with an equal chance of success against an opponent of from twenty to twenty-five, although it has frequently happened in all branches of sport that younger men were defeated by the older. The tennis player, Bill Tilden, when he was far on the wrong side of thirty, frequently defeated opponents younger that himself. The Finnish runner, Kohlenmaien, gave a marvelous performance in a Marathon race at the age of thirty-eight. The French fencer, Baudin, at forth, was still unbeatable. All this shows that even in sport, which really belongs to youth, "age" is not always inferior. As regards industry, skilled workers, contrary to the general belief, only attain their best in trades requiring intelligence and initiative at around forty. etc..
|
|
 |
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Does Life Begin at Forty?" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
|
This intel was contributed by bjk48
bjk48
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
