Would You Rather Suffer Or Admit You’re Old?

There was an extremely interesting article published in the New Yorker some time back entitled Can We Live Longer and Stay Younger. In the post, the author of the article shared his experiences and discoveries after his visit to the AgeLab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge.

The article does a great job of sharing some of the new technologies that are currently being developed to help an aging population. But there was one statement referencing how the AgeLab was actually a paradox that made me really stop and think;

This, like so many other things about aging, is truly a paradox.

We all want to live a long and high quality of life but in order to do this are we guilty of not being willing to use products or services that we think makes us look old? Does our vanity, desire for independence and possibly even our own ageist views stop us from accepting the help and support we may actually need?

I think this is possibly the case for some things and not so much for others.

For example, it is projected that there will be a significant increase in the number of knee and hip replacements. The knee replacement market alone is estimated to be worth $12 billion in 2025 with a projection to $16.17 billion by 2030 due to the result of increasing longevity.

Similarly, the cosmetic surgery market is also experiencing a boom. "In 2024, the market size is projected to reach a valuation of USD 22,641.5 Million. By 2033, the valuation is anticipated to reach USD 36,347.2 Million.". Contributing to this growth is "the desire of the aging baby boomer generation to maintain a youthful appearance".

Also take a look at the “anti-aging” market. Anti wrinkle products dominate and has grown from $12.5B in 2023 and projected to have robust growth to $23B by the end of 2033.

What all of these three segments have in common is that these procedures are not necessarily anything that is outwardly visible and directly connected to our age. These activities are all done in a private setting and once completed, doesn’t expose someone’s age. In fact if anything, they offer the hopes of reversing the perception of someone’s age.

Whereas some of the new technologies being developed may be more visible to other people and shine a light on the fact that someone is older. As a simple example, chances are the majority of us wouldn’t hesitate to use a cane or crutch if we had some type of injury. But if we needed it to help us walk because of mobility challenges, would we be so quick to accept it? I’m sure most of us would find it much easier to explain an injury to someone rather than admit we needed help because of an issue related to aging.

I get it. In actual fact, I think I’m guilty of this myself in some ways. But I think we need to shift this thinking and be more open to accepting some of these new products and services designed to help us age. We need to face the reality that we are in fact aging and if something is designed that helps us do this better we should use it.

Let’s try looking at this from another perspective. If someone you loved was in need of help and there was something that could assist them, would you not insist that they accept the support?

Maybe we need to think this way for ourselves as well. We need to remove the stigma and judgement of aging and age related products and be willing to accept the support that it offers us. Even if we don’t want to do this, maybe we should accept the responsibility to be role models for the generations that will follow.

By possibly suffering less we could live more and also break this aging paradox.