De Senectute

Intelligence, and reflection, and judgment, reside in old men, and if there had been none of them, no states could exist at all.

--Cicero (aged 62).

The resurgence of oldsters into wartime industry has given scientists a good chance to check up on this Ciceronian saw. In the Harvard Business Review Professor Ross Armstrong McFarland of the Harvard Medical School reported findings indicating that Cicero was right. The consensus of recent studies, McFarland's and others:

> In factories, oldsters have at least as good a production record as youngsters: e.g., in a sample group of 1,444 skilled workers, those rated "excellent" averaged over 47 in age, "inferior" workers, 41.

> Oldsters are more stable than the young, change their jobs less often and, contrary to what many suppose, have far fewer accidents: one study showed that mill hands over 60 suffered only half as many accidents as those in their 20s; as automobile drivers, oldsters (up to 60) are safer than youngsters.

> The notion that older workers are too slow and inflexible McFarland dismisses as largely prejudice. What they lose in strength and quickness of reflexes they more than make up in greater endurance and skill. Biologists have found that by 50 most men have slipped a little in hearing and eyesight, but individuals vary greatly: one study showed that in a group in their 50s, a quarter had keener vision than the average man in his 20s.

> On most mental tests, oldsters do as well as youngsters. Their memory for recent events is not quite so sharp, but they rate just as high in reasoning, critical judgment and learning ability.

>Surprisingly, older men make excellent civil air pilots. Under high-altitude flying conditions (reduced oxygen pressure), oldsters actually stand up better than youngsters: they are less likely to faint or collapse (apparently because they have more stable cardiovascular systems), suffer less loss of memory. With glasses, McFarland believes, many pilots up to 60 can pass the strict flying vision tests; one big airline has 100 pilots over 45.

Professor McFarland stresses the "inescapable fact that we are becoming a nation of elders."* He concludes that the U.S. should make "far-reaching plans" to put its oldsters to work. Says he: "The social economy will be improved and the older person will be happier than if he is pensioned."

* People over 45 now make up more than a quarter of the U.S. population (twice their proportion in 1850) and sociologists anticipate 40% by 1980.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.