BY: OYEBODE ABDULMALIK F.
REG. NO: U14MM1005
Old age, also called senescence, in human beings, the final stage of the normal life span. Definitions of old age are not consistent from the standpoints of biology, demography (conditions of mortality and morbidity), employment and retirement, and sociology. For statistical and public administrative purposes, however, old age is frequently defined as 60 or 65 years of age or older.
Old age has a dual definition. It is the last stage in the life processes of an individual, and it is an age group or generation comprising a segment of the oldest members of a population. The social aspects of old age are influenced by the relationship of the physiological effects of aging and the collective experiences and shared values of that generation to the particular organization of the society in which it exists.
There is no universally accepted age that is considered old among or within societies. Often discrepancies exist as to what age a society may consider old and what members in that society of that age and older may consider old. Moreover, biologists are not in agreement about the existence of an inherent biological cause for aging. However, in most contemporary Western countries, 60 or 65 is the age of eligibility for retirement and old-age social programs, although many countries and societies regard old age as occurring anywhere from the mid-40s to the 70s.
Human behavior is driven by three fundamental needs: control, connection and consistency.Those of our ancestors who answered those needs survived long enough to reproduce and pass on their genes to their children.
Thanks to evolution, the needs are still with us today. Individually or combined, they drive everything we think and do. They express themselves in infinite ways in a world that has become generally less threatening to survival and reproduction, but more complex.
Understanding and satisfying those three needs, both in yourself and in others, is key to navigating today’s world, to communicating effectively (or influencing if you prefer) and achieving what you want. The three needs are:
* Need to feel in CONTROL of one’s life. This explains people’s taste for things like knowledge, freedom, choice, power, insurance, property, contracts, astrology, novelty, numbers and money. Losing one’s control over one’s life or loss of any kind, whether real or potential, is something we avoid and act on.
* Need for CONNECTION. There is very little, including reproduction that we can achieve alone. Evolution has hardwired us to assume we can achieve much more by collaborating with others and being sociable (watch how babies instinctively attract attention, for instance). We also need to feel emotionally connected to the world around us, to what we do in it, to what things mean, to who we are and to who we might become. Important: numbers rarely help people connect with anything. Feelings and stories do. Isolation or exclusion, whether real or potential, are situations we instinctively fear and may go to extremes to avoid.
When someone who is mature, he or she takes full responsibility for their own life and doesn’t play the victim expecting other’s to clean up their mess. They make decisions with wisdom and discernment. Patient. Follow and think things through.
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