2023-08-03 08:22:58
[한겨레21] science of old
What the “ageing inflection point of 34-60-78 years” suggests
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The oldest is six years old and the twins are around 12. The parents who took care of the child on weekdays went down to the main house for a while because of work, and her husband and her husband were a married couple on the weekend. Every day with the three preschoolers went by so fast that it can’t be described in words as hectic. In the meantime, the deadline for the manuscript that was being published continued to come back, and wet laundry, milk bottles to be washed, and clutter to be cleaned piled up. A washer and dryer, dishwasher and vacuum helped somewhat, but in the end it all had to get on my hands. ■ The ever-changing brain until the age of 24 After a few days like that, the night of problems came. Babies who normally slept well rolling around in their cribs did not want to fall from their arms that day. So I couldn’t even take care of the first one’s bed and lay down on the bed in the master bedroom with the stone players in both arms. It seems that I fell asleep without realizing it because I was tired of soothing the whining babies. I woke up to the sound of a small sob in my sleep. Under the dim light of the nightlight, the first one stood there, sobbing. No matter how much I waited in bed, my mother didn’t come to say good-bye, so she came to see me. However, what came into the child’s eyes was a mother who had fallen asleep with babies in her arms one by one. She seems to have suddenly become saddened by the child. No matter how she looked at her, she couldn’t see her mother’s side. She can’t even push her younger siblings, who are babies, but she goes back to her room alone and is lonely for a long time, and her mother looks so tired… . So her child couldn’t even wake her mother, and she just whimpered. It’s already been well over 10 years, but when I still think of that moment, one side of her heart feels heavy. It was the moment when I thought that although I had passed the age of legal adulthood a long time ago, there were still homework left to solve in order to become a complete adult. ■ When does a child become an adult All creatures in the world are born and grow, and she goes from being a child to an adult. In some creatures, the line between child and adult is rather sharp. Like the chubby green caterpillar that gnaws on cabbage leaves and the cabbage white butterfly that flies around flapping its white wings. In animals that undergo distinct metamorphosis, such as many insects and crustaceans, the boundary between larvae and adults is relatively clear. So, the moment when they come out of the cocoon after the last molting is the moment they become adults. However, since the moments from birth to death are continuous, the boundary between when a child is a child and when an adult is inevitably blurred. Children and adults are obviously different. The biggest difference among them is that children do not have the ability to reproduce.
In traditional societies, once sexual reproduction was possible, it was often treated as an adult. Lee Mong-ryong and Seong Chun-hyang met at sixteen, and Juliet fell in love with her just before her 14th birthday. Hankyoreh data
Therefore, in traditional societies, children were often treated as adults when their secondary sexual characteristics were revealed and sexual reproduction was possible. Lee Mong-ryong and Seong Chun-hyang met their eyes when they were 16 years old and built the Great Wall of China, and Romeo and Juliet’s fiery love happened a few days before Juliet’s 14th birthday. Hwarang Gwanchang was only 15 years old when he risked his life in Hwangsanbeol, and Alexander the Great, 16 years old, took over as regent for his father who went to the battlefield and succeeded in putting down the rebellion. Even if there is still a corner of youth, I thought that at this age, I was at an age where I could love enough, start a family, protect my family, and spread my will to the world. Since modern times, the age of being recognized as an adult is slightly higher than this. In addition to whether or not to reproduce, legal standards were presented. Legally, I believe that adulthood is the age at which you are free to exercise marriage, drinking, smoking, various contracts, driving licenses, elections, etc. without the consent of your parent or guardian. So, the standard was the age that was considered to be physically and mentally mature enough to do these things. Currently, the adult standard recognized in most countries is around the age of 18 (in Korea, 19 years of age or older are considered legal adults).
Standard age of adults in countries around the world. Source: Wikipedia
There are some who think it would be better to delay this legal standard recently. This is because, if the characteristics of a child are growth, it is more appropriate to view them as adults after the point when all growth is complete. ■ When does an adult become an old man? Of course, all parts of the human body do not necessarily complete at the same time. Although there are individual differences, after the age of 16 to 18, the growth plates of bones close and stop growing taller. Even after you stop growing in height, other parts of your body need time to grow and mature. What they focus on is the brain. Humans are thinking beings, and the brains of teenagers are obviously reckless, reckless, self-centered, and prone to emotional ups and downs. Neuroscientists who have studied teenage brain development believe that the human brain continues to be reorganized until the mid-twenties, so the human adolescence should be extended beyond the teenager (13 to 19 years old) to the age of 24. Then the adult age would be 25 years old. In addition, they say that the reason why schizophrenia first manifests is mainly in the late teens and early 20s is because brain development has not yet stabilized until this time, so it reacts sensitively to small shocks and changes. Just as it is difficult to pinpoint the exact point at which a person becomes an adult in a continuous human life, it is also difficult to define with certainty when he becomes an old man. But the child grows up and the adult stays stable. Children are supported and adults are in charge of production. So what about the elderly? The way society treats the elderly is the way it treats those who have retired from the productive world. As if acknowledging their hard work, the rights of adults remain the same, but a significant part of the duties imposed on adults are exempted. Even in the Joseon Dynasty, strong adult men were obliged to serve in the military from the age of 16 to 60, so they had to serve in the army for two months a year or pay the corresponding be, or gunpo. However, if you are over 60, you are exempted from military service. The standards are different, but the standards for defining the elderly are similar even in modern times. You have the rights of an adult, but you are exempt from responsibilities and obligations. According to Article 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, all citizens have the right to vote in accordance with the ‘law’. There is no age as a reason for disqualification, although there are some exceptions, such as those serving sentences of more than one year. So, as long as you don’t commit any other crimes, the right to vote is maintained until you die after the age of 18. Also, among the things that adults should do, economic activities and health maintenance are representative. All adults should be able to earn their own bread and take care of their own body. However, when you become a legal senior, none of this becomes an obligation. In the modern welfare state, when you reach the age of recognition as an elderly person, you start paying pensions assuming that you have retired from economic activities, and provide benefits such as reductions or free benefits from various taxes and fees. We also provide long-term care insurance and national medical support. Currently, the legal seniority standard in Korea is 65 years old. This is the retirement age for civil servants, the age at which one no longer has to work, and is the age at which basic pension, long-term care insurance, and free rides on the urban railway are provided as specified in the Elderly Welfare Act. ■ Adults and adults, the difference between the elderly and the elderly Opinions are divided as to why the legal standard age for the elderly is 65 years old. Some say it is because the pension system of European countries from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century set 65 years old as the standard, and some say it is because the standard for health insurance for the elderly in the United States in the mid-20th century was 65 years old. There doesn’t seem to be any particular biological reason. According to the results of plasma protein analysis by researchers at Stanford University in the United States, humans experience sudden aging at three times: 34 years old, 60 years old, and 78 years old. Just as there are diverging points in a continuous life, there are three major inflection points in aging. 65 years old doesn’t belong to either of these, so I still tilt my head. Under the current law, the standard for adults and seniors is determined by the number of days they have lived, so if you live as time passes, you become an adult and naturally move into old age. However, ‘adult’ and ‘grown-up’, ‘elderly’ and ‘elderly’ are different, even if they mean the same age group. If the former determines only physical numbers, the latter adds complex meanings to the numbers, such as the social roles and responsibilities given to people of that time, the harmony of rights and duties, and the attitude towards the next generation. However, it is not uncommon for people who have become adults but not to become adults, and who are elderly but have not transformed into elders. The moment I faced the crying child, I was deeply resentful of the fact that I only had two arms. But there’s no way my arms will grow, so I have to think about a way. Gonhija placed his youngest son on his chest, and gave his one arm, which barely had a gap, to the older one. The crying child cuddled up next to him and soon fell asleep. Even with two arms, he was able to care for all three children. I could not sleep for a long time, feeling the breathing of the three children on his arms and chest. The time when I was walking while holding my parents’ hands has passed, and the time when I only had to take care of my own body has passed. The weight of the three lives was very heavy, but it firmly held the shaking heart with a much larger mass than that. ■ ‘Becoming an Elder’, Homework for the Second Half of Life Now, children have gone beyond my eye level, and they no longer cut my arms and dig into my arms. Now, it seems that the time when children will be able to take care of themselves is not too far away. By then I will be old enough to be called an old man. Even after becoming an adult, there is an experience of becoming an adult after a long time, so after becoming an elderly person, you will have to go through more things until you become a real elder. That seems to be the homework for the second half of my life I think now. Eunhee Lee Science Communicator
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*The Science of Aging: As you get older, are you aging or senile? Science communicator Lee Eun-hee’s science story of aging. Published every 3 weeks.
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