There is some anxiety in many societies of ageing populations and "loss of vitality". Is that justified, or can the process of increasing lifespans and lower birthrates be seen from a more possitie point of view?
One of the big differences between Humans and the great apes (and much of the animal kingdom) seems to be "prolonged childhood", a longer period were kids are helpless and dependent, but on the other hand learn more, and aquire more skills.
Many if not all "big steps" in human history seems to depend on people using time to learn new skills and getting new knowledge. One might even speculate that there might een often have been an increase in lifespans before many of those "steps".
possible examples:innovative tool-making by early humans and hominids, development of language (hardly possible if lifespans are extremely short), writing, and learing of "collective knowledge", which seems to imply a high degree of communications
between age groups and generations, developments of "learned" and skilled elites, who needs many years of learning and educating, or experience and practice.
One may even speculate that "extended responsibillity for child care have been an larghely overlooked factor in our path toward humanity (parents cooperation,"nannies" of any sort, "teachers". In itself probably a big help for prolonging the life
of many kids, and allso for making them more skilled, than one mother could possibly do. Even the situation were big sister/brothers do some of this work probably have involved a complex intellectual activity as well as increased need for communication).
Now in the last 100 years, and probably a bit more, life spans has increased as never before. Perhaps that may be a great opportunity in many ways for new intellectual capabilities as well as for improving skills for humans, if each individual use more time to learn, and perhaps reach many "optimum levels" or "peak" later in life.

It appears more likely that ageing populations form benefits, although those who have had battles with the so-called Social Security Administration (better known, by those who have dealt with it, as the "SS") would claim otherwise.

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Don't assume more years mean more productive years. While the so-called "middle age" is slowly stretching, the reality is, the bulk of years gained through longevity are years beyond the "productive" life.

Living for a hundred and ten years, with more than half beyond the point where I can function at full speed, is not what I would call a benefit.

As far as benefiting from their experience, in the post-modern nightmare world of the attention deficient information age, wisdom is seen as obsolescent, resulting in a neverending wave of "latest and greatest" re-inventions.

On the other side of the coin, any newly gained knowledge that does manage to creep through the ignorance is now commoditized as intellectual property and not subject to distribution to the public for fear of the loss of ability to capitalize on it. Where an elder statesman of a given industry might hand on their knowledge to newcomers to make them a productive member of a team carrying on a tradition, they are now demanding pay raises and promotions to training positions before they do. Capitalist atavism brings out the inner mercenary and the question "what's in it for me?" comes to the forefront, particularly to older workers facing retirement in a world of companies that have stabbed them in the back when the time comes to collect a pension.

As the next generation ages, their collected wisdom will no longer be handed out until the check clears the bank.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

Dude, I'm about to come over there and swipe your cynic pills and flush them. (Though I think that comtributes to androgynous fish in the Delaware River)

And when did you decide to use Steven Hyde as an avatar?

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In your rush to call everyone "entrenched" or closed-minded or "limited" you fail to note that the "limit" here has a very natural boundary: that point at which the evidence stops. - JayUtah

Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

That's my EVE avatar, no intended connection. And no, I don't have cynic pills, its a natural gift.

Besides, taking a cynical viewpoint has a double positive side effect. One, I simply cannot be disappointed by human behavior, because I expect so little of it, and two, when people do prove me wrong, its not like its a bad thing.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.