--- title: Five Best: How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing description: How the meaning of old age is changing, the most important work of the future will be the emotional labor we undervalue today and more. canonical: https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-23T16:00:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:44.166Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing og:description: And four more of today's best ideas og:url: https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing twitter:description: And four more of today's best ideas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jun 23, 2017 4:00 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jun 23, 2017 4:00 PM UTC **1\.** [**70 is the new 60: How the meaning of old age is changing.**](http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/2017-06-21-new-measures-of-aging.php) By the _Stony Brook University_ **2\.** [**The most important work of the future will be the emotional labor we undervalue today.**](https://aeon.co/essays/the-key-to-jobs-in-the-future-is-not-college-but-compassion) By Livia Gershon in _Aeon_ **3\.** [**Paralyzed by a tough decision? Sometimes, that can be good for you.**](http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/06/good-news-for-decision-making-maximizers.html) By Katie Heaney in the _Science of Us_ **4\.** [**Jordan is our best partner in gathering intelligence in the Middle East, and they could use some help.**](http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/06/americas-best-partner-middle-east-humint-needs-help/138889/) By Cameron Reed in _Defense One_ **5\.** [**A powerful tool to treat pancreatic cancer may already be in your body.**](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608117/a-potent-tool-to-treat-pancreatic-cancer-may-already-be-in-your-body/) By Emily Mullin in _the MIT Technology Review_  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/"},"headline":"How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing","datePublished":"2017-06-23T16:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:44.166Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/","keywords":["Five Best Ideas","Innovation","Aging","Work","Middle East"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/five-best-ideas/","name":"Five Best Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4830025/how-the-meaning-of-old-age-is-changing/","name":"How the Meaning of Old Age Is Changing"}}]}] ```