Reverence for Childhood and Old Age

Abstract

Chapter 4 draws from one of the authors' dissertations to highlight an injustice some call ageism. The epoch known as childhood is going extinct as the need for more and more education reaches into infancy for the earlier brain growth needed to compete with the velocity of science. The epoch known as old age is undergoing a metamorphosis from something to look forward to, to something to fear. Only the productive middle of an otherwise unproductive lifespan seems to be of value to society. This chapter compares the withholding of regard from children until it's earned, to the withholding of reverence for nature until it perishes. The authors issue a call to honor the very young and the very old, because those are the precious sunrises and sunsets of the human lifespan.