Changing the old story

"One hundred and fifty years."

That was the answer the genetic scientist gave us at a conference in San Francisco this past July, when we asked him, what was the longest a human being could biologically live, knowing what we know today.

Hearing that answer and being a finance person, the first thought that crossed my mind was, "this person is going to be out of money for 65 years!"  I might be forgiven for thinking so because in our industry we are driven by the common assumption that the average human longevity today is about 85 years.

The gap between what we are assuming and what is confronting us as reality is fast becoming a yawning gap.  How do we think about this?  What does it mean?  Are they opportunities to be realized?

Book launch at MIT

These are the questions that Joe Coughlin addresses in his new book, "The Longevity Economy." Coughlin is the Director of the MIT AgeLab.  At the lab, Coughlin works with business, government, and NGOs to improve the quality of life of older people and those who care for them.

There is a powerful message that Coughlin delivers through this book, that continues what Daniel Kahneman and Yuval Noah Harari have articulated.  That is, the human mind is wired to concoct stories.  The human mind, according to Kahneman, is not wired to make decisions based on facts and reasoning.  Indeed Kahneman expresses pessimism for the human species on this count.  And Harari goes as far as to say that Homo Sapiens will be replaced by Homo Deus for this very reason.

Coughlin uses this key understanding of the human mind's working to dismantle the "narrative" we have been using about old age.  At the outset, Coughlin writes, "Old age (as a concept) is made up.  Most of it was invented by human beings for short-term, human purposes over the past century and a half. Today, we’re stuck with a notion of oldness that is so utterly at odds with reality that it has become dangerous. It constrains what we can do as we age, which is deeply troubling, considering that the future of our older world will naturally hinge on the actions of the older people in it."

Once this narrative sets in, as human beings we cannot look at old age in any other way.  Kahneman would call this framing.  Once old age is framed in our minds as frail and incompetent, it leaves no room for any other way of thinking about vast and an ever growing swath of society.

Fearless Girl on Wall Street

There are two telling examples in the book.  One is when the author is speaking about females being decision makers on key aspects of managing family affairs such as health care and doctors.  An audience of well educated senior corporate professionals in the audience took exception to his observation.  The narrative power of males being the "deciders in chief' was too deeply rooted to even tolerate this counter observation.  Yet as Coughlin points out, the demographic future (of the human race) is female.

The other example is even more pervasive and perhaps dangerous in the long run.  There are many retirement villages being built all around the world.  These villages are so complete that retirees flock to them.  They have all the amenities to make life comfortable.  The retirees are happy, the people who work there are happy and the developers of these villages are happy.  What is not to like about this set-up?

The flaw is in the narrative of old age that we have accepted without questioning it.  To retire is to go away.  To separate.  To withdraw.  That is the definition we all accept.  Thus we are creating communes where people with experience, wisdom, vitality and a whole lot to offer are no longer active part of the larger society.  With 20+% of the global population forecast to be in this category by 2050, that is a tectonic shift in what we are setting ourselves up for.

App for Elder Care

Coughlin sees opportunity in all this.  He terms this opportunity, which is also the title of his book - The Longevity Economy.  Businesses can think afresh of the products and services to cater to this vast and growing segment to generate business growth and profit.  Analysts elsewhere have sized this opportunity at $15 trillion.  That is larger than most countries on the planet.  Coughlin shares examples of everything from apps to social networks to every day objects to services as creative examples that companies can develop and pursue.

The book is well written and an easy read.  It is full colorful anecdotes including the author's experiences at MIT, the US Government and working with companies all around the world.  These anecdotes build upon each other, and one is left feeling inspired to go out and change the narrative on old age and re-integrate the entirety of the human age spectrum back into society.

Heck, one might be even inspired to go start a company!