While I don't think this necessarily has to be looked at thru a "sad" lense, what came to mind to me was the social isolation part of the equation.
It's kind of tragic that we (if I may speak on behalf of the USA) find ourselves living these [self-?]segregated lives. I love old people! There's so much to learn, so many stories. I love kids, too, because there's so much to [un/re?]learn about experiencing the world without decades of conditioning modulating perception and imagination. Yet the trail I circle every day intersects with none of theirs.
Many screeds about the decline of institutions like the Church or the Masons, Elks, intergenerational households — you name it - but I doubt we're going to do a 180 on that. So we have to imagine new possibilities.
I'm partial to at least two "culprits": highly car-centric culture (even in dense cities that are otherwise highly walkable), and the school system tradition of splitting student cohorts on an age basis.
There will be no silver bullet. We also can't (and shouldn't) lop off the tribal roots that influenced so much of our "wiring" as individuals of a highly cooperative species.
I would love to hear more ideas about what we could do to make everyone feel (be!) less isolated. Zoom/FaceTime doesn't cut it. There's no reason why an octogenarian ought to feel like their life is pointless because they're out of the workforce [per the article]. There's every chance for a meeting-of-minds between, say, a curious 8 year-old and a patient 88 year-old that would have an unknowably large impact on an unknowably far future.
It's kind of tragic that we (if I may speak on behalf of the USA) find ourselves living these [self-?]segregated lives. I love old people! There's so much to learn, so many stories. I love kids, too, because there's so much to [un/re?]learn about experiencing the world without decades of conditioning modulating perception and imagination. Yet the trail I circle every day intersects with none of theirs.
Many screeds about the decline of institutions like the Church or the Masons, Elks, intergenerational households — you name it - but I doubt we're going to do a 180 on that. So we have to imagine new possibilities.
I'm partial to at least two "culprits": highly car-centric culture (even in dense cities that are otherwise highly walkable), and the school system tradition of splitting student cohorts on an age basis.
There will be no silver bullet. We also can't (and shouldn't) lop off the tribal roots that influenced so much of our "wiring" as individuals of a highly cooperative species.
I would love to hear more ideas about what we could do to make everyone feel (be!) less isolated. Zoom/FaceTime doesn't cut it. There's no reason why an octogenarian ought to feel like their life is pointless because they're out of the workforce [per the article]. There's every chance for a meeting-of-minds between, say, a curious 8 year-old and a patient 88 year-old that would have an unknowably large impact on an unknowably far future.
Lots to think about.