@alonicus released a prompt in the world-building community, which resolves around old people in our fictional societies. To be honest, it is an area that I haven't thought about too much, bar one or two short stories - so figured it would be an interesting one to talk about.
Here's A Link To The Prompt If You'd Like To Check It Out.
Doshan Culture
On the world Dosha, the older members of their society are revered, and treated like wells of information, and experience, and even have multiple different days throughout the year, celebrating them, and the past. They are seen with admiration, for building a future in the past, which can be appreciated in the present.
Doshans live for hundreds of years on average. It is hard to judge an actual age limit as most of the records were lost during the war. The oldest living members of their society are over 800 years old and are considered spritely compared to other Free Space races.
Doshans leave their world to travel to the stars when they reach adulthood. Before this, they study in small communal groups, and at different milestones of their lives, they are sent to other regions of their world based on where their tutors recommend. This helps them meet new people, get used to uprooting, and trust their instincts - and at that - their elders.
Before leaving, they are given a last name, which coincides with what their career - and life purpose - will be. After they amass some skills, they are supposed to intern home, to forgo a 'middle-mid' ceremony, when they reach another maturity level, and with this, they reconnect with old friends and take on a second name, which means that they'll now use their current skills and specialise in a new field of study/ work. By the time they reach their third or fourth name, they have specialists, who focus on very specific areas of life, and all of this knowledge helps to spearhead incredible breakthroughs and innovations, which is a major benefit to Dosha, and Free Space as a whole.
Doshan Elders
By the time someone reaches the age of 800, they are advised to stop what they're doing, so they can return home and live out the rest of their life on their homeworld. This is mandatory, and should a Doshan refuse, or ignore the offer, a special branch of the military will be sent out to track them down and return them by force... but also, in as dignified a manner as possible.
This has led to some serious situations, one notable occurrence was a military specialist, who was determined to end his days off-world. She was found, but contact with the team was lost shortly after approaching them, and no one knows what happened to them.
Another notable person who had other plans was Imis Dentis, who refused to live life the way his society wanted, as his true passion was galactic history and mythology. He chose his own path, which would be to document all there was to know about each race, planet, planet, and creature of the known galaxy.
His work was well respected by the end of his life, but he was initially disdained by his people at the beginning of his career.
Imis planned to travel to dark space and discover all he could about that as his final living act, and once entering, he was never heard from again. A team did pursue him, but most who travel there never return. Only one person is known to have returned from a trip there, and they weren't right when they got back.
Reason To Return
The Doshan people believe if they die on a world, their soul will remain there meaning that they cannot share their knowledge with the other spirits of their world.
Not many still believe this fully, but the tradition remains and is taken seriously among the older generations of their world.
This post was intended to cover a few races, but I ended up sticking with the Doshans. Every time I speak about them I can't stop. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since over the last year or so, I've fleshed them and their culture out a lot.
