All wise people are old, but not all old people are wise!

All wise people are old, but not all old people are wise

In the developed world we are at a stage where it will be possible, for the first time in history, to have a greater balance of wisdom. Partly this is due to the rapidly ageing population and partly to the accessibility of information, experience and ideas from the World Wide Web. The possibilities are incredible but if we are not prepared to take personal responsibility the future could be grim. This is the choice we all face. Personally, I want to campaign for a wiser world and that means encouraging more people to become wise with age.

Wisdom is that character trait which enables us to integrate years of knowledge and experience with sound judgment in context. Wisdom has always been associated with age. Elkhonan Goldberg claims that this is because our brains mature into an interconnected whole around a series of ‘attractors’ (points of common reference) around the age of 45 (see my review of his book in this blog). If the mid 40’s is the age at which the brain can develop wisdom, it is no surprise that historical events and lifestyles appeared to be brutal rather than wise. In times when people died very young (Joan of Arc at 19 and General Woolf at the age of 32) society was dominated by people who could not have reached wisdom. Our sad reflection on the barbarity of human nature could simply have been a lack of balance between young and old. Now that balance is shifting we have more chance of becoming a wise species.

Does this mean that an older population will automatically be wise? Not necessarily. My last post shows that an increasing percentage of those over 65 may develop dementia of some sort (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc) so there are two imperatives here:

Firstly, we need to encourage as many people as possible to maintain their brains for the future so that dementia is at best reduced and at worst, compensated for (there is evidence that this is achievable through physical, emotional and mental exercise). There are also hopeful research projects underway for new treatments. This may not help existing cases, but would prevent new development.

Secondly, we must raise awareness and change perceptions of what it is to be ‘old’. Wisdom is a hard-earned state of mind that requires practice over time. For those without dementia, the intent to build a brighter brain will lead to a stronger and wiser mind. If the brain is neglected, it will deteriorate. If it is used properly it will build capability. It is the only organ we have that can become stronger by losing connections. It continues prune itself throughout life and if we direct that process it will lead to wisdom. If we leave pruning to chance, anything that we neglect will be pruned and those things that we regularly say, think or do will become our new mind. In many older people this becomes what someone once referred to as ‘hardening of the categories’. We all know older people who have fixed ideas, or have become more negative as they age.

However, others have become great minds in old age such as Nelson Mandela (president of SA at the age of 76), Gaudi (his greatest work – the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona – underway when he died in a car accident at 74), Golda Meir (assumed leadership of Israel at the age of 71), or Goethe the great German writer (published the first part of Faust at 59 and the second at 83).

So, for the majority of us, we have a choice as we age. Take control of our destiny and become wiser or leave it to chance and deteriorate. Everyone needs to know that deterioration is not inevitable and that the brain is constantly being created – until the time we die. The only question is ‘what or who is creating the way we are’?

We can’t control the world, but we can influence our own future. Here are some of the actions to make a wise society more likely:

1. Baby boomers take personal responsibility for their future

2. Rethink the Workplace and work itself – use the advantages of wisdom as well as the energy of youth

3. Offer opportunities for people to learn about developing wisdom and maintaining their brain

4. Become part of the solution not the problem- spread the word

We are on the cusp of a better world – but it cannot develop using the rules and thinking of the past. We simply cannot  afford to watch the population ageing without increasing the number of older people who have wisdom.

Join the campaign for a wiser society