Amortality

Caroline Mayer coined the word “amortality” in her book Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly. At first glance we might see amorality instead of amortality. Look closely and you'll see the difference. And there is quite a difference between amoral (without morals) and amortal (without aging).

Her article in Time (April 26, 2011) deals with the perennial problem of aging. Her article took on the subtitle: Why acting your age is a thing of the past. Of course, this can be taken in several ways: those who are adults but act childish and those who are but a child who act like adults. And then there are those who try to extend their years, (those who do what is necessary and perhaps unnecessary) to refute their age.

As I exited a restaurant recently, there was a slight incline which I didn't notice. Right away my neuropathy kicked in as I lost my balance but quickly regained it, fortunately. That is why I didn't sign up this year for our golf team. Apparently there is not too much I can do for this peripheral neuropathy except to be beware of its existence. I am not as agile as I have been but I am alive and counting. Quite recently, the so-called oldest person on earth died at ripe old age of 122.

This is not a review of Caroline's book but a peek at her creativity, amortality. She is right: there are both pleasures and perils of living, not only agelessly but just staying alive. Early in her article, she decried the current attempts to ”help” youngsters reach adulthood prematurely by dressing like adults, using mind-bending drugs and indulging in fortified beverages known as bath salts. But then, adults try to look like teenagers as they “slouch around in their hoodies and sneakers.”

Longevity is on the increase in our country due to many factors including neutralizing or eliminating many threats to aging. We now live longer by the decade and much longer in the past century. A desire for agelessness can be costly, time consuming and for many, a wearisome self-discipline.

Mayer caught my eye when she said that “the rules of age-appropriate behavior used to be reliably drummed into us by parents and teachers, church and state, no longer hold sway. But we haven't lost faith, we've just transferred it, to science and celebrities.”

Senior citizens, previously a rarity are rapidly on the rise, numerically and otherwise. Since this is obvious in many ways, an inevitable upshot among other things will be a proliferation of “senior moments” for the strong and healthy, the poor and wealthy, and the amoral and the amortal alike. Are we ready?