Are The Middle Aged The Most Evolved Of Humans?

A professor at Cambridge College named David Bainbridge has a unique twist on human aging. According to his research, humans who reach middle age are the most evolved creatures on the planet. Wow! I am a superior human. Oh wait, I just looked in the mirror and the image I see refutes that. But if scams like "Global Warming is going to kill us all" can be propagated why not this one too. Bainbridge says that older men and women have become perfectly adapted to help their families and society without the burden of raising children. And while some aspects of the human body decline with age, important attributes such as brain power are at least as keen in a person's 40s and 50s as they were decades earlier.

“People below 40 worry about reaching middle age, which I think is very sad,” Bainbridge wrote in his book 'Middle Ages; A Natural History" he claims that mature women and men have such complex and intertwined roles in society that they are “the most impressive living things yet produced by natural selection.” Humans are the only species to stop breeding long before they die, usually remaining healthy for at least another 20 years. Hmmmmm I am not sure varicose veins, chronic forgetfulness, creaking joints and sagging waistlines are a sign of a higher status. Too, I think they stop breeding "for at least another 20 years" because they can't do it anymore. Who gives birth at age 60?

Bainbridge concludes that this provides an evolutionary boost in which middle-aged people can teach children and young adults important skills and perspectives to advance the species ... if they listen..which no normal teen does. Anyway in another of his books, Teenagers: A Natural History he argued that teenagers are the pinnacle of human existence. Maybe this guy is just kidding. I know older folks aren't the higher order, but teens? No way those masses of raging hormones and unpredictability can be pinnacles of anything except skin blemishes like acne.

Bainbridge says that middle age is a time of stability, purpose and cognitive power, not the time when we forget to buy the one item we went to the grocery store for and instead come back with 50 unrelated choices.. Hmmmm I don't quite believe the idea that expectations determine our middle aged life styles. There are physical aging processes that have a far bigger control over humans than does human expectation. But then the old line about being older is true also, “Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.” So what is the point in analyzing which age is best? I try to never grow up anyway.

Although as people move towards old age they lose things they treasure, like their vitality, mental sharpness and better look, they also gain what people spend their lives pursuing. That would be contentment , resolution and sometimes what y those younger whippersnappers rarely find- happiness. But then, unhappy people tend to die earlier leaving more happy oldies to testify that they are better off than at any time in life.

Older people have fewer disputes and come up with better solutions to conflict. They are better at controlling their emotions, better at accepting misfortune and less prone to anger. And if you don't believe me...I'll throw my rocking chair at you!