From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Sat Aug 26 2000 - 14:09:55 MDT
At 02:24 PM 8/26/00 EDT, Nadia wrote:
>Will increased life span and/or immortality make old age attractive in new
>ways?
Yes, definitely. The term old age will change and new phrasing such as
young-old, which is already in use, will soon prop up along with many other
words and terms to describe those who enjoy increased life span and
youthfulness. But this is of course just a beginning.
>For now, we are mostly interested in youth. A plain person can be famous
as a
>beauty (see any of the teen idols today) if they are just young enough.
>Women (including myself) seem far more preoccupied with "looking" young than
>men, at this time. Especially good looking ones. For youth is beauty.
The concept of youth can be a bit misleading because youthfulness is indeed
desirous, but youth as in looking young is not necessarily alluring. I do
not find young looking males particularly attractive or sexual, but find
the deeper age much more alluring and beautiful -- meaning I am physically
and emotionally attracted to a bloom than a blossom. Same for females.
(snip)
>Of course not everyone, for many age gracefully and/or resist aging in
>sensible ways, taking care of themsleves and being lovely emotionally well
>balanced people. Beauty is always inside anyway. The outside is merely a
>reflection, is it not?
In a world of depth, but not always. Although I prefer to blend the inner
and outer beauty, the visual image and what catches the eye is the physical
appearance, and I rather enjoy admiring beauty on many animals.
>With the advent of longevity, perhaps youth (the power of longevity) will go
>out of fashion. Perhaps enduring and mastering a long passing of time will
be
>seen as beauty, and the evidence of time - not hormone loss - but character,
>wisdom, grace, knowledge and poise- will give one "beauty"...
When individuals can pick and choose what we want to look like, striving
for beauty will no longer be such a major preoccupation because physical or
non-biologically physical beauty can be easily achieved. When it is no
longer such a preoccupation, other elements of an individual or entity will
take precedence. I find it similar to achieving a goal. Once the goal is
achieved, I look for the next goal. I don't think it is a small matter or
a wasteful preoccupation to want to be youthful, vigorous and attractive
just as I don't think it is a needless preoccupation to want to be
intelligent, creative, generous, kind and successful. More people
preoccupy their time trying to make money than trying to be beautiful.
I don't think youthfulness will become passe or beauty out of vogue, just
as I don't think we have any idea now what will become future cultural
preferences other than making projections based on potential evolutionary
trends. One thing I do know is that most people tend to appreciate (with
awe) a beautiful sunset.
>20th centurions may become highly sought after individuals: ancient, rare,
complex and exotic, compared to the new crops of baby immortals who never
had to face dying, never knew what it was like.
Relics of the past are unique. A wonderful book to read which covers some
relics of the past is _An Underground Education_ by Richard Zacks. I'll
confess, I don't find the relics of some of the past very exotic - but
horribly stricken by the constraints and unhealthy environments in which
they resided.
My mother, in her mid-80s, is beautiful because she is both lovely and
generous. I don't, however, look at her with rose-colored glasses. Her
mind causes her to be irritable and impatient, but I know that she cannot
help what goes on in her mind. She is a young-old person who is frustrated
that she cannot produce ideas as she once did or to be as mentally
adventurous. I don't find this aspect of her beautiful, but very sad that
she, presently, cannot grow beyond her mental limitations. What I do
appreciate enormously is that she has survived much.
Natasha
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:30:36 MST