Did you hear that we are getting close to "peak youth"? Ooooo! In case you haven't heard, "peak youth" is the moment when the number of people 65 and older around the world is greater than the number of people less than 5 years old. Why it is relevant to look at this statistic is never explained. After all, there are roughly 35 years worth of people over 65 or older (from 65 to 100) but there are only five years who are younger than 5. This is a statistic that just doesn't matter.
If one wanted to look at the relative age of the human population, the best measure would be the median age. That is the point at which half the people in a country are younger. It's the midpoint in the age distribution. That median age has been growing for many years. In fact, aside from times of epidemics or wars which distort the age distribution, the median age has been rising for all of the last century as health has improved.
So now we know that the population is getting older in general. Is that big news? NO. But for the media, peak youth is still a big thing. It makes me wonder, will we ever get to peak idiocy in the media? It sure doesn't look like it.
If one wanted to look at the relative age of the human population, the best measure would be the median age. That is the point at which half the people in a country are younger. It's the midpoint in the age distribution. That median age has been growing for many years. In fact, aside from times of epidemics or wars which distort the age distribution, the median age has been rising for all of the last century as health has improved.
So now we know that the population is getting older in general. Is that big news? NO. But for the media, peak youth is still a big thing. It makes me wonder, will we ever get to peak idiocy in the media? It sure doesn't look like it.
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