Editor's note: This column is part of 'Why Do We?' — a weekly video series hosted by culture expert Martin Lindstrom that untangles unique quirks of human behavior. Click here for the full series page.
Why do we feel younger on the inside than the outside? For years, I thought I was alone in this feeling — sitting there in meetings with people my own age feeling younger than all of them.
A personal oddity? Maybe a form of imposter syndrome? As I started asking around, however, I realized that the answer is more complex and that age isn't merely a number.
Take me, for example: according to my birth certificate, I'm 53 years of age. Doctors call this our chronological age. But what about our inner age? Since I certainly don't feel 53 — my twin age as I call it — that combination of childishness, craziness and creativity puts me closer to 18.
And the combination of age and feeling goes beyond these two archetypes. Take business executives, who, after years of dealing with corporate BS and red tape, have a corporate age that's typically higher than their chronological age.
Or there's what doctors refer to as biological age, which refers to those aches and pains that arise over time and pay no heed to the number of candles purportedly on the cake!
Yet, if all this is true, why do we still only refer to our age in the singular?
Who better to help me tackle this question than a man recognized as one of 'The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness'? He has authored more than 80 books, stands firmly on the Books of The Century Bestsellers list, had his second home on the Opera Winfrey show, and perhaps most impressively, has found a way to never be sick. I'm speaking of none other than the legendary Deepak Chopra.
In our conversation, Deepak took me on a deep dive into the nature of our souls. We spoke about how technology has changed our interactions with the surrounding world; how the possibility of a click and the ensuing abundance has dissolved our collective excitement. Perhaps even more worrisome, how the possibility of clotting purposeless with constant entertainment poses a more serious sort of existential threat than most of us allow ourselves to grasp.
And while my observations about the multitude of ages seemed to strike a chord, if I learned anything from my time with Deepak it's that my initial thoughts were far from complete.
Spoiler alert: it's not just one or two or three ages, but upwards of six! Intrigued? Join Deepak and me as we try to discover the reasons why we feel younger on our inside than on our outside.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Martin Lindstrom is the author of several New York Times best-selling books, including "Buyology," "Small Data," "Brandwashed," and "The Ministry ... Read more
