# Age and Wisdom By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-03-18 A societal heuristic is to associate being old with being wise. There are many ways to be wise. At one point in time being old meant you probably made better choices than the rest or you would have been eaten by a lion. Another way to be wise is to collect many experiences, learn from them, and share them with others. By definition, this element of wisdom requires being older as you'll have more experiences to grow from. In all likelihood, these observations are why society associates age with wisdom. You survived a long time, so you must have done something right, and along the way, you probably experienced a lot. However, being older only guarantees one thing today: that you are older. Most adults have the same developmental mindsets as when they were 14 years old. Surviving to be 70 is the norm in the United States. Our societal and biological programming concerning wisdom needs an upgrade. This is not an attack on older people or treating elders with respect. The decisions we make about respect and wisdom today require deeper assessments than surface-level observations. #### Related Items [[Wisdom]] [[Age]] [[Respect]] [[Solidarity]] [[Development]]