Fountain of Youth Ernie : An observation in the Theil interview has been under my skin for the last couple of hours. Wanted to discuss the issue before but had some errands to run and knew this could not be disposed of with a short comment. Why is it that in some fields, like physics, if you have not made a mark by the time you reach 30 the chances drop off a cliff that it is ever going to happen ? OTOH, in other fields, as the interview said, such as philosophy, the chances that you can make a meaningful difference much before 35 or 40 are almost zero. As well, it is not much of a problem to think of philosophers who made their greatest contributions after age 50, in Kant's case, after age 70. For sure, there are neurology issues. About 1/3rd of all seniors over 80 are demented to some or large degree. Delusional may be a better word in some cases, even when a senior's mental capacities remain intact. Which is to say that I have met such people, and known a few, and the situation is sickening. Basically they are crazy, some seriously, and in the process may screw up other people's lives Yet for the remaining 2/3rds, 3/4ths or more among "young seniors," the golden years may be the most productive of all. Drucker was still writing top quality material into his 90s. Ben Franklin, in his 70s, was active as a revolutionary in the American war for independence. Peter Mark Roget created his Thesaurus in his 70s and served as its editor for all revisions to the text until age 90. Grandma Moses became a world famous artist after first becoming a painter at age 76. Teleman, the composer, also was a creative musician of stature into his 80s. If I'm not mistaken he also edited the world's first music journal in his 60s and 70s. But other fields, not only physics, and if you are older, not much chance for success. Chess is an example, and as the interview noted, so is finance. Yet given the mess that young finance people have made of the economy, not counting occasional billion dollar frauds perpetrated by 20-something finance "experts," maybe what would cure the system is not even allowing anyone to enter the world of finance until they reach 30 or 35. How, then, do we avoid the very real problem Theil pointed out, in which most people --and this seems all-too-true-- are set in their thinking, or de facto ideology, no later than age 40, maybe more like 30, and never budge an inch thereafter ? As a modest suggestion, maybe we could market RC as a "youth serum." Or as a political fountain of youth. Maybe you have seen TV spots about how to keep one's mind active in senior years. There are a number of recommendations, as if the seniors in question had never done much serious thinking beyond the mundane until hitting 60 or 65. To be candid about it, I just don't see much use in dealing with people who fit that description, and I have also known quite a few in that category. But for others, maybe Radical Centrism is --or can be-- just what the doctor ordered. Look at it this way : RC is predicated on the premise that politics itself, from top to bottom, needs to be thoroughly reconceptualized. RC is an intellectual challenge, it has intrinsic meaning and objective value. And, as such, is far superior to any and all so-called "brain exercises" that some people advocate, such as solving abstract reasoning puzzles and the like, all of which are essentially pointless. That is, when you have solved the problem you have accomplished absolutely nothing. RC is far more than politics, also. Hence the meta-problems that can be posed by Radical Centrist philosophy can extend into any number of fields ( subjects, interests, etc ), everything from management to sociology to religion and various forms of art. RC offers an opportunity to accomplish something meaningful, maybe something very important, and it does so at the same time as it engages one's intellectual capacities. How to stay young, how to be mentally youthful ? Get involved in a Radical Centrist group. This is NOT the primary reason for RC, needless to say. Each of us want to see the world we live in made better, made more efficient, and become more humane and decent and fair for everyone. We have, it may be said, a religious sense of mission. But why not add that there is this second order benefit, as a means to stay young at heart and in mind ? Billy
-- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
