Age and Transformation

I've been thinking a lot about my university days lately. The other day I was discussing with my friend, Chua about whether our minds have deteriorated since we were students together.

I am of the opinion that it has improved--or at least I would like to think of it that way. To me a lot of the things that I studied then are a lot clearer to me now. I might not remember all the mathematical equations exactly but I understand their significance better. I might not have the patience and diligence to derive equations now, but I certainly have a better intuitive grasp of things.

I feel a bit like the astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) in 2001: A Space Odyssey. After having been sucked into the Black Monolith outside planet Jupiter in the first movie, in 2010: Odyssey Two, the sequel directed by Peter Hyams, he returned--apparition-like--to appear before Dr Heywood Floyd ( Roy Scheider) warning him about an impending "cosmic event". To quote Bowman: "You see, it's all very clear to me now....the whole thing... It's wonderful."

Before his encounter with the "higher intelligence" in the first movie, Bowman was struggling to grasp the mystery of the Black Monolith and its significance. Now that he has been transformed into a non-physical "Starchild" , it's all "very clear" to him now.

As we grow older, our powers of abstraction improve. Though we might not have the mental stamina to deal with details, we can see the big picture better. Like an experienced football striker, we know how to anticipate where the ball is going to fall and how opposing defenders are going to react, and time our runs perfectly, to beat the offside trap. Our sense of positioning becomes better.

It will be very sad, if our minds fall apart as we grow in age. Sometimes we ourselves allow it to happen. We become lazy to think. We shy away from anything that seems slightly intellectually challenging, preferring to shrink back into our comfort zones.

I like to see the process of growing old as one of transformation--like Bowman's--rather than one of deterioration. Well, luckily I am not that old yet--many still see me (erroneously, I must say) as a swinging bachelor refusing to be tied down. But I look forward to age as transformation. Transformation--physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual--is something positive, something natural, something that is driven by some "higher" divine impulse.

Life is transformation. And like what Bowman said: "It's wonderful".