Speculative Gerontology Revisited: The Herd Instinct

Abstract

Using as a vehicle the history of "Speculative Excursions into the Everyday Lives of Old People" (or some variant of that title) sessions at the Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meetings, this article is a semi-serious discussion of the place of humor in gerontology. The article describes the purposes of these sessions, the reactions of colleagues, the rejections of papers, and the hopes and future prospects of Speculative Excursion Gerontology.