Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

20130413 Celebrating a Milestone - Middle Age - Officially

PotomacBob 🚫
Updated:

The synopsis of this story says "my husband was turning 30 which officially moves him into the "middle age" bracket.

I question the use of the word "officially." What officiating authority makes such proclamations? Second, I question whether turning 30 is actually middle age. Years ago, the Jaycees took a stance and declared that at age 35 men were no longer eligible for their young man's organization. (I have no idea whether that's still true, or even whether the Jaycees still exist.) But I've seen people say middle age starts at 40, others as late as 50.

Ronald Reagan, as I recall, defined middle age as that time of life when you accepted invitations based on which one would get you home by 9 o'clock.

So, when does middle age begin? And who has the authority to declare it "official"?

Replies: Dominions Son sunseeker REP Keet richardshagrin Dicrostonyx Finbar_Saunders JimWar

Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

Smart ass answer #1.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db427.htm

Life expectancy for the U.S. population in 2020 was 77.0 years, a decrease of 1.8 years from 2019.

Middle age = LE / 2 = 77/2 = 385

Smart Ass answer #2

https://knoema.com/atlas/United-States-of-America/topics/Demographics/Age/Median-age-of-population

Median age (half the population is older and half is younger) = 38.31

Therefore middle age = 38.31.

Note: These two answers are fairly close to each other.
Note 2: Both these answers allow the definition of "middle age" to float over time as US demographics change.
Note 3: Both answers can be applied to any nation with appropriate demographic information on that nations population.

Replies: maracorby

maracorby 🚫

@Dominions Son

Therefore middle age = 38.31.

I don't think defining it as a single point in age is useful though. Presumably, it you want to reduce it to something as simple as age, you need to be thinking in terms of ranges. You could probably find the exact distribution of ages in a society and partition that into thirds, (or fifths, or whatever). The use of the word "bracket" suggests this sort of interpretation.

I think it's reasonable to guess that the author was going by something like:
* 0-29 = young
* 30-59 = middle-age
* 60+ = old

I think a more natural clasification would be defined by what's going on in a person's life - home ownership, children, career, stability, etc. I think I heard someone say you're "old" when you find you're going to more funerals than weddings. But the quoted synopsis seems to be looking for a simple numeric metric.

Replies: Dominions Son

Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@maracorby

I don't think defining it as a single point in age is useful though.

I said they were smart ass answers. They both depend on an extremely literal reading of "middle".

sunseeker 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

In Canada Adult Life Expectancy in 2019 was 82.05 so middle age would be 41.025

World Adult Life Expectancy in 2019 was 72.6 so mid age = 36.3

Guess middle age depends where ya live...

REP 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

I have to ask:

First, do you view middle age as a specific age or is it an age range?

Second, what is the starting point in a person's life that should be used to calculate middle age: Birth or Age of Consent?

Finally, when do you consider your life over: when you are no longer mentally and/or physically active or at death?

Personally, I think of middle age as an age range. Good arguments could be made for when your life begins, Birth or Age of Consent; I would use Age of Consent since a person has minimal control over their life prior to that time. Then there is, what age should be used for the end of your life? I would use the point where a person is no longer mentally active. Many people spend their final years in care facilities where they are effectively vegetables due to Altzheimers or another cause.

Once I have the start and end times of a typical person's life, I would define middle age as the middle third of the time between Age of Consent and the time you are no longer mentally active.

Keet 🚫

@PotomacBob

From Wikipedia:

Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age.[1] The exact range is disputed; some sources place middle adulthood between the ages of 45 and 65.[2][3][4] This phase of life is marked by gradual physical, cognitive, and social changes in the individual as they age.

Which I think is a pretty good description, the key point being: This phase of life is marked by gradual physical, cognitive, and social changes in the individual as they age.

richardshagrin 🚫

@PotomacBob

When you are off ice you are official. Maybe you need to be named Al so you are off ice Al.

Replies: Dominions Son

Dominions Son 🚫

@richardshagrin

I know an Allen who goes by "Al" who works in an office.

Al has two siblings one older and one younger.

So Office Al is middle age.

Dicrostonyx 🚫

@PotomacBob

I haven't given this a tonne of thought, but off-hand I'd suggest that middle age starts after a person has a mid-life crisis.

The mid-life crisis, in this context, refers to the point in time where a person realizes that their choices to this point have put them along a path and then asks themselves if that path represents what they want to be remembered for after their death.

The person who likes where their life is headed does not have a mid-life crisis per se, they just continue along their path happy with the expected outcome. They may also rededicate themselves to certain aspects of that path, such as working less to spend more time with family or taking a promotion they had previously resisted.

The person who doesn't like where they are may either act out in the traditional mid-life crisis style: a lot of fast lifestyle choices like a new partner, new clothing, new hobbies, etc.; or they may try to make a lasting change like switching careers or industries, getting new education, or trying to reconnect with old relationships.

Either way, middle age is the period of life when the person is still working towards getting what they want in life, but is doing so after having admitted their own mortality and considered the long term implications of that.

Or to quote Confucius: "We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one."

Finbar_Saunders 🚫

@PotomacBob

Middle age is confirmed when you have to sit down to put your socks on.

Old age is when you do the same for your undies

Replies: Keet

Keet 🚫

@Finbar_Saunders

Middle age is confirmed when you have to sit down to put your socks on.

I think most people sit down to put their socks on, probably from the moment they started dressing themselves as a child.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Keet

I think most people sit down to put their socks on

Ooooo! I'm special ;-)

AJ

Replies: madnige

madnige 🚫

@awnlee jawking

@Keet

I think most people sit down to put their socks on

Ooooo! I'm special ;-)

AJ

I'll call the short bus for you ;~)

Replies: Keet

Keet 🚫

@madnige

I'll call the short bus for you ;~)

Hey, I know to put the left sock on the left foot and the right sock on the right foot :)

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Keet

Hey, I know to put the left sock on the left foot and the right sock on the right foot :)

But do you sit down when you put your socks on? ;-)

AJ

JimWar 🚫

@PotomacBob

When I was a teen in the 60's one of the mantras I heard a lot was "never trust anyone over 30." At that time that seemed to be the separation between the more rebellious generation during the Vietnam war and the more conservative older generation. My feeling is that middle age is more a time when values change than a mathematical midpoint.

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20130413 Celebrating a Milestone - Middle Age - Officially

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