What determines success? Something different in every field, of course. But very often it’s intelligence, self-discipline, sometimes special talents, sometimes creativity, sometimes physical abilities…but research in recent years has consistently shown that something else plays a much bigger role. A grit! That is, the ability to consistently dedicate oneself to one thing. To be interested in it for a long time, to put effort into it for a long time, to not get sidetracked by another project. Simply commit to that one thing.
Grit determines not only whether someone will be a world champion, but also whether someone will just manage ordinary life projects in a fairly ordinary way.
The interesting thing is that grit grows throughout life and reaches its peak around the age of sixty. Why aren’t old people the most successful? Because high purposefulness is usually devalued by the decline of physical strength, sometimes beginning with dementia, and also simply because there is not enough time left.
All this together means that extending life (and even more so extending the age at which people have energy and are mentally fit) can radically change the power relations in society. There may emerge – and probably already is emerging – a group of seventy-somethings and older who are radically more capable than those in their thirties and forties. Experience, better education, and more single-mindedness will easily trump youthful fervor. It’s no longer about helpless old men who need enough places in medical institutions.