The not getting of wisdom
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Following a recent trip away with an old friend to the tourist trap town of Bath, I have been reading a short book about Roman Britain. The average life expectancy during this time it tells me, was 37.
Apart from the mild shock of realising that if I was living around 150AD I’d be at pensionable age, it got me wondering what society would actually be like if it was run by people in their 20s and 30s – which effectively it would have been back then.
There would be a positive side of course – lots of fresh, new ideas with people more open to risk taking and change - but really, the idea fills me with horror. I’d like to think that with age comes wisdom (I’m patiently waiting for it to hit me at some point), experience and a more thoughtful, less black & white approach to life. Theoretically, older people should have a longer-term and just more sensible view of things.
Or perhaps not. These fledgling thoughts were easily dashed this morning by a quick listen to Radio 4 and a flick through the papers. North Korea, a country ostensibly run by a dead person (Kim Il-Sung) and a 70 year old (Kim Jong Il) is threatening South Korea and therefore my holiday to the region next week. Old age = wisdom? Pah!
