Anu-ji, Thanks a lot. Now that we understand what age is, you may want to tell us your opinion about the other questions.:)
Lil On Mar 12, 1:56 am, anurag barthwal <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi friends, > > Sorry for being late to reply. Before discussing other things, lets first > understand what is age. > Should age be counted only in terms of the number of years one has lived? > Have you not met 50 year olds who are uncouth as teenagers and 20 years old > who are wise as sages? > > Do all humans mature and gain wisdom uniformly, with the passing of years? > Are all persons of the same age equally wise and mature? > > Is is appropriate for a society, nation or a government to decide whether we > are mature enough for anything or not? > > *Ageing* or *aging* (American English) is the accumulation of changes in an > organism or object over time. Aging in humans refers to a multidimensional > process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of > aging grow and expand over time, while others decline. Reaction time, for > example, may slow with age, while knowledge of world events and wisdom may > expand. Research shows that even late in life potential exists for physical, > mental, and social growth and development. Aging is an important part of all > human societies reflecting the biological changes that occur, but also > reflecting cultural and societal conventions. > > The term "ageing" is somewhat ambiguous. Distinctions may be made between > "universal ageing" (age changes that all people share) and "probabilistic > ageing" (age changes that may happen to some, but not all people as they > grow older. > > Chronological ageing, referring to how old a person is, is arguably the most > straightforward definition of ageing and may be distinguished from "social > ageing" (society's expectations of how people should act as they grow older) > and "biological ageing" (an organism's physical state as it ages). There is > also a distinction between "proximal ageing" (age-based effects that come > about because of factors in the recent past) and "distal ageing" (age-based > differences that can be traced back to a cause early in person's life, such > as childhood. > > Differences are sometimes made between populations of children. Divisions > are sometimes made between the young old (65-74), the middle old (75-84) and > the oldest old (those aged 85 and above). However, problematic in this is > that chronological age does not correlate perfectly with functional age, > i.e. two people may be of the same age, but differ in their mental and > physical capacities. Each nation, government and non-government organization > has different ways of classifying age. > > Legal > > There are variations in many countries as to what age a person legally > becomes an adult. > > Most legal systems define a specific age for when an individual is allowed > or obliged to do something. These ages include voting age, drinking age, age > of consent, age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, marriageable > age, age where one can hold public office, and mandatory retirement age. > Admission to a movie for instance, may depend on age according to a motion > picture rating system. A bus fare might be discounted for the young or old. > > Similarly in many countries in jurisprudence, the defense of infancy is a > form of defense by which a defendant argues that, at the time a law was > broken, they were not liable for their actions, and thus should not be held > liable for a crime. Many courts recognize that defendants who are considered > to be juveniles may avoid criminal prosecution on account of their age, and > in borderline cases the age of the offender is often held to be a mitigating > circumstance. > > * * * --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "English Learner's Cafe" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/english_learners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
