So, Do You Have a Strategy for Handling the New Longevity?
At 79, Dr. James Birren likes to think of middle age and beyond as “the second 50.”
“This century has given us the gift of long life,” he says, but, “we’re still not used to the idea that mature people are the most populous group in our society.” One result: “Lag effects in our institutions--businesses, schools, churches.”
Birren, associate director of the UCLA Center on Aging, will be a keynoter at a conference, “Lifespan: Exploring and Celebrating the New Longevity,” Nov. 11-16 at Skirball Cultural Center.
Among speakers will be academics in the field of geriatrics; feminist Betty Friedan, author of “The Fountain of Age”; former television personality Art Linkletter; and Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They will explore the social, psychological, biological and cultural dimensions of aging and explore the myths and realities of the golden years.
The program will include workshops on elder law, fiscal fitness, second careers, art and creativity, grief and loss, exercise and nutrition, sexuality and cultural models of aging. There will be readings of age-themed plays and photographic exhibits in the Skirball’s Ruby Gallery. A daylong intergenerational festival, with music, dance and interactive exhibits, is set for Nov. 16.
In an interview, Birren pointed out that by 2020, the over-65 group will be the largest segment of the U.S. population, whereas in 1900 the largest group was 9 and under. “We’ve turned the population pyramid on its head,” he says.
“We cannot use our grandparents’ and our parents’ lives as models for how long we are going to live. . . . People can retire now and have almost as many years of retirement as they had years of working life.”
Contrast that, Birren says, with 1900--before widespread elimination of infectious diseases and before a vast improvement in the standard of living. “The average family disintegrated before the last child left home by virtue of death of one of the spouses. Orphan homes were a big social issue.”
In a new book, “Where to Go From Here: Discovering Your Own Life’s Wisdom in the Second Half of Life,” written with Linda Feldman (Simon & Schuster), Birren uses “life portfolio” as a metaphor for choosing “how to invest your time, your energy and your concerns,” including family, friends, career, recreation and education, in “the second 50.”
Birren, who says he hasn’t retired because he’s a poor speller who “can’t spell ‘off’ or ‘no,’ ” includes universities among those institutions beset by “lag effect.” They’ve clung, he says, to “the inoculation theory of education. . . . You got one big dose by the age of 22. Now we need booster shots at least three times during our lives.”
While recognizing that for the poor, the ill and the less-educated, aging can be a negative, he emphasizes: “The two faces of age, the positive and the negative, coexist. We tend to emphasize the negative. Our culture has to expand and embrace both of these.” Our local industry, entertainment, he notes, is “the most ageist of industries.”
For most people--even those who approach it apprehensively--old age is a happy experience, Birren says. “You’ve met your responsibilities” and are now free to grow and explore.
For ticket and program information, call (310) 440-4500.