'Perpetual adolescence' and the language of the new era
Words matter, and they can have an outsized impact on the way someone or something is perceived. This is likely why so many people who are working in the fields of the new longevity and the Super Age are are fixated on developing a vernacular that fits this era, where people over the age of 65 will outnumber those under 18 for the first time in at least 35 countries.
For over two decades, I've witnessed and worked-in organizations big and small that have struggled to define the modern older person. Even the venerable AARP, where I served for over a decade, went so far as to remove the term retired from their name in the early oughts, because it no longer described the reality that a growing cohort of people in later life were no longer stopping. Individuals in retirement are now largely perceived to be in a period of obsolescence - the process of becoming obsolete or outdated and no longer used.
The people who are redefining later life are generally employed in full, part-time, or volunteer work. They are curious and connected consumers, digitally savvy, and engaged in their communities. They are focused on well-being, lifelong learning, and preparing for future. And, they are physically, mentally, and cognitively healthier than previous generations. They are anything, but obsolete.
Today, terms like middlescence, modern elder, re-imagineers, new mid, unretired, and yes, even super-agers, , are being used to describe this emerging group of individuals in mid- to later life who are not bound by chronological years and don't fit nicely into the definition of retired. Regardless, it could take years, if not decades, for these terms to reach mass adoption, if any of them reach this point at all. We may be better served by adopting, coopting, or evolving language that already exists.
“Recent research has even gone so far as to suggest that most people don’t become their truest selves until around age of 50, and there’s no upper age-limit to this realization. ”
Adolescence, for example, is term from antiquity that was popularized in the early 1900s to describe the transition from childhood to adulthood, and it may be the best way to describe the way in which we mature over time. The word comes from the Latin word 'adolescere,' which means "to ripen" or "to grow up," so it makes sense that we'd apply it to individuals in later life as much as those entering adulthood.
Recent research has even gone so far as to suggest that most people don't become their truest selves until around age of 50, and there's no upper age-limit to this realization. Whether we are aware or not, many of us may be applying kaizen, a Japanese approach towards continuous improvement, to our daily lives. We may very well be in a state of perpetual adolescence that begins when we enter the teenage years and doesn't end until we enter the last days of our lives.
As we continue to contemplate what the new longevity and the Super Age holds for us, as well as the language we use, we'd be wise to take a look to history for inspiration. The past may not always be prologue, but it can offer pathways for living in and describing this new era; we don't always need to reinvent the wheel.
To learn more about the new longevity and the Super Age, pick up a copy of The Super Age: Decoding our Demographic Destiny today.
