Meet Dr. Marc Cooper, an internationally acclaimed aging expert and visionary thought leader, who challenges us to rethink the true goal of longevity. Through his groundbreaking insights, he reveals that a longer life is truly valuable if it’s also a meaningful one.
As a contemporary elder and passionate advocate for conscious aging, Dr. Cooper dives deep into the societal and cultural dynamics shaping our perceptions of aging. His compelling book, Older to Elder: The Thinking and Being of a Contemporary Elder, and his most recent essay, expose the explosive growth of the longevity industry—fueled by billions in investments—and questions whether this rush to extend life is missing a crucial ingredient: cultural acceptance and respect for aging.
While science and technology race ahead, societal attitudes remain stuck—viewing old age as burdensome, outdated, and unappealing. Dr. Cooper argues that without shifting our cultural mindset, the promise of longer, healthier lives will fall flat. You can’t truly enjoy the benefits of longevity if society doesn’t value and embrace aging.
In his work, Dr. Cooper offers more than just insights into aging; he guides us toward a richer, more conscious experience of later years. His approach emphasizes self-awareness, spiritual growth, and wisdom—transforming aging into a time of purpose, grace, and fulfillment. Whether you're young or old, his message is a call to reimagine aging as a vital, meaningful chapter of life.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
What does it mean to be a Contemporary Elder?
Being a Contemporary Elder means more than possessing ancient wisdom, those time-tested truths about life, death, and human nature. Being a contemporary elder is being an elder for this time, this place, this moment in history. Being an elder today is about knowing how to make those truths work in our fast-paced, fragmented, anxiety-producing, and uncertain Western world.
Contemporary Elders aren’t just "elderly," they’re free from that box. They don’t get old, they grow whole. As their body contracts, wisdom fills that vacant space. Elders understand that living in and from wisdom rather than knowledge alters the way we grow old.
Ancient elders were the wisdom keepers, the ones who steered their communities toward patience, service, collaboration, and humility. Those values didn’t just maintain peace; they were the foundation of civilization. Unfortunately, these values have greatly diminished in our culture. Contemporary Elders will reignite them.
Contemporary Elders understand why these values have all but vanished. They know everything is moving at breakneck speed. Technology is taking over, youth is idolized, and individualism is running rampant. But contemporary Elders have figured out how to navigate the madness, offering a cool, steady hand when everything else is an anarchic mess.
Contemporary Elders adapt the ancient wisdom, make it practical, and speak the language of today without ditching the principles that have held society together for millennia. Contemporary Elders generate a presence of high regard, akin to that of a sage, which influences how people speak, listen, and ultimately make decisions.
Being a Contemporary Elder is not about getting older. It’s about growing wiser. And using that wisdom to put the brakes on a culture that seems like it’s heading toward the cliff.
How Has the Face of Aging Changed?
Over the last 50 to 100 years, aging has shifted from being a natural part of life to something we try to avoid; “keep it away.”
A big reason? The loss of the extended family. Growing old used to happen in plain view, in the home. Now it’s tucked away. Add to that a culture terrified of death and obsessed with youth and more and more beauty, more speed, more everything. Being around the old? That’s a reminder of the endgame. No wonder the “Do Not Enter” signs are everywhere.
Layer on technology, globalization, and politics, and you’ve got ageism on steroids. Aging is now seen through a narrow lens: decline, frailty, irrelevance.
But Contemporary Elders got new lenses. They asked for clarity—lenses that revealed just how deeply our culture fears aging. And wow, once they saw it, they couldn’t unsee it.
With this new clarity, they chose a different path. Not warehoused, not silenced, not dismissed—but free. Free to be who they are. Free to live with purpose, take risks, and shake off the expectations of others.
The cultural story of aging is being rewritten, and Elders are the authors. Not obsolete, not a burden, the protagonists.
Contemporary Elders have learned to live wisely in a world that gives them the cold shoulder. Their wisdom brings balance and understanding—think Mandela, Angelou, Gandhi, Tutu.
They know what matters. The challenge now? Getting the world to listen.
Why is it important to respect and appreciate the aging process?
Let’s start with the obvious: aging is not optional. No serum, surgery, supplement, or smoothie is going to stop time. So instead of waging war against the inevitable, maybe we ought to start respecting it.
Our culture treats aging like a party crasher—something to be ignored, denied, or shoved out the back door. “You’re only as old as you feel!” we chant, while slathering on anti-wrinkle cream and pretending not to notice the mirror. But let’s be clear: that’s not optimism—it’s delusion with a Botox budget.
Respecting aging means recognizing it as the only process that actually qualifies you to understand life. Youth is potential; aging is realization. It’s where wisdom shows up, where depth develops, and where truth stops being theoretical and starts being lived.
Aging isn’t a slow decline—it’s a shift in altitude. You rise up above the noise. You start seeing patterns, consequences, and context. You see through things. Including people. Especially people.
When we appreciate aging, we stop measuring life by productivity and start valuing perspective. We stop asking, “What do you do?” and start listening to how someone sees. That’s when Elders enter the scene—not as spectators but as guides. Not relics but radars.
A society that respects aging doesn’t just honor its seniors—it gets smarter. Wiser. Calmer. More humane. It taps into the accumulated capital of experience instead of constantly chasing the latest shiny object.
And let’s not forget: disrespecting aging is like cutting the power to your own GPS. Where do you think you’re going without it? Every culture that has thrived over centuries did so because it valued its Elders. Ours, meanwhile, is still trying to build the future using only youth and ambition.
So yes, respect the aging process. Not because it’s easy. Not because it’s perfect. But because it’s the only road that leads to real wisdom.
And if you’re lucky? You’ll get old enough to thank yourself for it.
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