Old-Age Prepubescents
Aging causes the body to decay, but the development of understanding generally stops in the teens.
Society employs its taboos and censorship to significant effect. By the time someone reaches fifty, they should know that Santa does not exist, that we die and suffer, and that human life is an exercise in futility, along with everything else. By the time someone reaches seventy, they might understand that humans are extraordinarily deceitful animals, spewing out lies whenever they open their mouths. Now, while such a process sounds wholly negative, it might allow a person to drop their illusions and come to terms with life and, in the process, lose the denials and neurosis that fuel most people’s lives. Eventually, they might even face death with “eyes open,” as the Tao Te Ching expresses.