|
|
Article: Aging
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Aging
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
AGING
We tend to think of aging in terms of human beings living in time, and, in particular, as the chronology of human experience in later life. But human aging is set in a much wider context, encompassing the biological, geological, and cosmological spheres. Aging is the elegant and continuous means by which the forces of nature, from the microscopic to the universal, create the conditions for regeneration. Many scholars consider aging to be a great equalizer, because it submits all forms of matter, including biological life, to a common set of principles. In human life, there are forms of aging not tied to the individual life course, but to human creations and even whole societies. ...