In another thread, this claim was made:
The notion that years automatically trigger weakness is a fallacy. Some succumb to it; others don't.
I think that this statement is utter malarkey. It's contrary to the experience of billions of people throughout history, and it is also contrary to science. If nothing else kills them first, everyone eventually dies of sheer age. The mechanism simply wears down and comes to a halt.
That's not to say that a very active and fit sixty year old may not be stronger or faster or have more stamina than a given couch potato twenty year old, but that sixty year old wouldn't be able to compete physically (and chances are, mentally), against his twenty year old self, absent some unusual factor (i.e., the twenty year old couch potato decides somewhere along the line to start training for triathlons, and keeps up that discipline into his sixties and beyond).
And no, it's not "ageism" to acknowledge the reality that each of our bodies and minds change with the years.
The notion that years automatically trigger weakness is a fallacy. Some succumb to it; others don't.
I think that this statement is utter malarkey. It's contrary to the experience of billions of people throughout history, and it is also contrary to science. If nothing else kills them first, everyone eventually dies of sheer age. The mechanism simply wears down and comes to a halt.
That's not to say that a very active and fit sixty year old may not be stronger or faster or have more stamina than a given couch potato twenty year old, but that sixty year old wouldn't be able to compete physically (and chances are, mentally), against his twenty year old self, absent some unusual factor (i.e., the twenty year old couch potato decides somewhere along the line to start training for triathlons, and keeps up that discipline into his sixties and beyond).
And no, it's not "ageism" to acknowledge the reality that each of our bodies and minds change with the years.
