Ageing: How does life experience influence us as we age? (Beckenham venue)

NOTE: the pub does not charge for our space on the understanding that we all purchase something from the bar. Please support them.

I'll be there from around 7pm if anyone would like a social chat before we get started. Please arrive in time for a prompt start at 7:30.

In this discussion we’ll explore the effects of life experience and maturing as adults on our development. We’ll focus on two aspects in particular: personality and wisdom. Along the way we’ll consider the extent to which we are responsible for who we are today and who we might become in future.

Personality: To what extent do we become different kinds of people as we age? "Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man." this quote, widely attributed to St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, suggests a degree of predictability of adult personality from the 7 year old child, (though perhaps only after an early childhood of indoctrination, depending on how you interpret “Give me a child until…”).

To what extent do we believe this?
To what extent do our experiences beyond 7 shape us in ways that could not be predicted at 7.
Is it true prediction – as opposed to hindsight: seeing the roots of adult personality traits when looking back at memories of the child?

The now completed “7 Up” TV series followed a diverse cohort of people between ages 7 and 70, filming every 7 years from 1964 to 2026. All episodes are now available on ITVx. They provide both examples and counter examples we may discuss, in addition to our experience of ourselves and our children. (If you haven’t followed the series, try watching the first 1964 programme, then write down your predictions before watching the 70up programmes, which provide summaries of the intervening years.)

Wisdom: We’ll try to increase our understanding of what we mean by “wisdom” by considering questions like:

What things seem difficult to learn except by first-hand experience?
What forms of understanding or perspective tend to emerge from a long life?
Does experience make us wiser—or merely more confident in our existing beliefs?
What advice would you give your younger self? Would your younger self have taken it?
To what extent is the knowledge we have gained through life relevant to future generations?

Before the discussion, please consider:
1) What characteristics did you have at seven that are still recognisably present in you today?
2) What characteristics of your adult self would have been completely unexpected at seven?

Optional preparatory watching/reading:
https://www.itv.com/watch/the-7-up-collection/3a0317
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom (See the sections on philosophy and psychology in particular)
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/wisdom/

Hope to see you there.