50 General Discussion 



Bertrand Russell as one example — because they have inner resources 

 which sustain them irrespective of the jobs which are available or the 

 support that is provided from outside. 



Going back to your first point, I would mention a distinguished 

 compatriot of Dr. Vischer's, Dr. von Monakow, who ^\Tote an impressive 

 personal review of old age and its favourable aspects when he was liim- 

 self quite old though still active mentally. That essay can be added 

 to the literary accounts you referred to. 



Cowdry: May I ask Prof. Lewis a question by expressing a view that 

 I have, that it isn't so much the loss of work, though that is very 

 important, as it is the change in attitude of mind of older men. I believe 

 all of us have lived most of our lives away from the home, and have 

 employed others to some extent — we employ a secretary, we employ 

 100 men in a factory, we are employers, and have developed the employer 

 complex. Now I mean very seriously, when a man is deprived of this 

 work, he goes home, he meets there a stronger mentality, and he be- 

 comes an employee. I think this is one reason why life expectancy at 

 retirement for men is so low — not the lack of work, but the tribulations 

 in the turnover from an employer to an employee habit of mind. 



Lewis: I think that many of us oscillate between these two r61es even 

 during our active life, don't you? 



Freeman: How does that affect the individual who is a labourer and 

 who is employed both before and after retirement? 



Cowdry: Well, of course, that is entirely different. But I was just 

 thinking of the way it affects most of us w ho are employers in a small or 

 large way. When we stop being an employer finally and suddenly — the 

 life expectancy for a man of sixty-five is just about half that of a 

 woman of sixty-five. 



Tunbridge: According to a recent study the majority of those dying 

 shortly after retirement showed evidence of considerable physical 

 disability, and death w as not due merely to cessation of w ork. There was 

 an urge to keep going until retirement, which drove them on beyond 

 their physical capacity. 



Lansing: Doesn't it follow, then, that there is a loss of drive at the 

 time of retirement? 



Tunbridge: The goal, you see, is achieved at the time of retirement, 

 and is not replaced by another goal. 



Lansing: I think that is the point, though; there is a loss at the time of 

 retirenient. Apropos of unemployment, many have faced it prior to 

 retirement, but it is not disastrous, because it is generally agreed to 

 be reversible when one is employable. The big blow of retirement is that 

 it is an irreversible process. I think that is where the psyche takes a 

 beating. 



Do I understand. Prof. Lewis, that you go along w^ith Lehman's 

 concept of peak performance prior to the mid-thirties? 



Leivis: I agree absolutely. The notable exceptions nearly always 

 arise because of the retained intellectual habits and determination and 

 experience, rather than because of continuing creative capacity. A man 

 like Euler, for example, can go on solving mathematical problems until 



