The Amortals

A new book has recently been published about the phenomenon of the growing number of people who stubbornly refuse to be defined by their chronological age. These apparently ageless individuals are what author Catherine Mayer, who writes for Time Magazine, calls "amortal".

"Amortal" individuals can be typified in personalities such as Madonna who at 52 is still vibrant, fit and supple and actress Helen Mirren who at 65 was still included in Vogue's most glamorous list. Such people refuse to be put off anything on account of their age and if they want to become a parent, like Sarah Jessica Parker, 44, they go ahead even using such means as surrogacy. Amortals will take up any challenge life has to offer and are ready for anything except death!

As Ms Mayer says: "Amortality may not be a word you’re familiar with — yet — but you’re bound to recognise some of the symptoms, perhaps even in yourself."

She points out that maybe people say you don't act your age but in reality you may not actually know just how people "your age" should be acting.

For example, she asks: "Did you start your first business at 17 or was it at 70? Are you always taking up new activities, tackling new challenges and enjoying pursuits that your contemporaries have put aside — from rock climbing to rock music?"

She concludes: "Amortals are challenging some of the prejudices and structures associated with all the phases of life, and especially their middle and later years."

This phenomenon of ageless ageing is happening now because the nature of life expectancy has changed significantly. We are living longer than ever with the average man dying in the late 70s and the average woman in her early 80s, whereas in Elizabethan times for example people might just about have managed to live to 40.

Thus, Ms Mayer suggests that whereas Shakespeare wrote about the "seven ages of man", now we could be talking about many more stages in our lives, even perhaps 15 stages. We now enjoy healthier diets and benefit from many medical advances, so that the numbers of centenarians have risen from a few thousand in 1950 to 340,000 worldwide in 2010. And in 40 years this figure could rise to nearly six million.

The author acknowledges that genes do play a part in how we age but argues that more important is our state of mind.

As Mark Twain once said: "Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

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