I remember Eric Hoffer saying that given the very high mortality rate, poor nutrition, poor medical care, etc. ... people in ancient times (right up to the 19th century, when medicine improved) had a very short life expectancy. Forty years old was extreme old age. He said ‘history was made by juvenile delinquents’.
Not really. Some ages of the greatest minds in Western Civ. lived very long lives. (Western Civ. had an incredible advantage—in the beginning —because Greek language was perfect for expressing abstract ideas, also. )
There was a short life expectancy, yes-—but those who lived short lives hardly affected knowledge and ideas. You had to live long enough to be Wise and to write—or like Socrates—have others write your thinking down. (Jesus is an exception). Our Founding Fathers besides Franklin—were amazingly young—like Madison who was born in 1751. It was highly unusual. People like Nietzsche and Einstein showed incredible genius early-—but again, it was pretty astonishing and exceptional.
Pythagorus 75
Ptolemy 78
Sophocles 90
Socrates 70
Plato 80
Aristotle 62
Cicero 69
Marxists want you to THINK the young are “wise”. They started making “OLD” people look stupid over 50 years ago (Conditioning/Brainwashing) (Archie Bunker) and making it so teenagers don’t listen to “ignorant” parents—because they don’t “know” anything.
That is what the Socialists did to the families in Germany—with the Hitler Youth. It was to keep children stupid and not learn from people who KNEW what was REALLY going on.
I didn’t figure out what was going on until after 40. I was STUPID —not about pop culture—or child development-—BUT about ideology—why people think how they think? No Clue about Marxism, Liberalism, Progressivism, Theology=-—all the really important ideas that shape WHY you do everything. (Philosophy). No one teaches Aristotle anymore—The Father of Logic. Schools got rid of Classical education-—makes people rational—logical—they can debate ideas well.
The young are ignorant. (They are good for armies, but you need Patton’s for genius). Confucius and Socrates thought you needed to be 30 before you really could “start” being wise-—you never had enough experience to know “reality” prior to that. Think of it. How wise were you at 20. I was SO incredibly naive. 30 was much, much better and I only got wiser the more I studied and interacted with more people. Time is crucial to Wisdom.
John Locke—Father of Classical Liberalism—72
Thomas Hobbes—91
Karl Marx 65
Machiavelli 56
William Wilberforce 73
Thomas Reid 85
Ben Franklin Independence he was 70 his death 84
Thomas Jefferson 83
John Adams 91
Samuel Adams81
Thomas Paine 72
Age is crucial to Wisdom. All history proves it. I left off many brilliant people but I am out of time. :)