posted on Apr, 5 2020 @ 11:58 AM
The whole idea that age = decrepitude is a western-European trope.
Because of the youth movement of the 1960, western pop culture worships youth and views old people as hogging all the resources that youth should
inherit.
Alzheimers is a western phenomenon. There was a book about 10 years ago that documented this, called "the Blue zones," about how diet goes with life
expectancy AND functioning in old age.
In Middle Eastern an asian culture, teachers and local civic leaders are expected to be in their 80s. In Isreal, study of Kabalah, the mystical side
of the Torah, is not permitted to begin until one reaches the age of 60. There is a a lot of mathematics tied up in the symbolism of Kabalah, which
you'd think would be impossible for doddering old men to grasp.
The Ulammah of islamic cultures is similarly staffed by men 70+. The ruling council of Iran is an example. Westerners (especially Americans) are
taught to see Iran's leadership as a bunch of insane zealots; but they are seen throughout Africa and Asia as an example of a high-functioning
regional power that was built from the rubble of the 1979 revolution. And Iran is seen as unique for retaining both fundamentalist islam AND high
technology. Which if the western stereotype was accurate, wouldn't be possible for a bunch of old men in their 80s.