> Why do people lie about their age? I suppose
> most people don't actually lie about it, but
> almost everybody I know at least jokes about
> lying about their age.


Because it is ingrained into our culture that
young=good and old=bad. Old people are one of the most devalued segments of our society.

>
> Furthermore, when and why did 39 become
> the magical age that everyone wants to stop
> at? What's so dreadful about turning 40
> anyway?


I personally didn't find 40 so dreadful. Actually, I realized that I finally felt like an adult :-)

>
> Why is 40 looked at as that horrible halfway
> point where the first half of your life is over >and the last half begins?


Well, because in a way, it is. Maybe not exactly at the age of 40, but around then your lifestage changes. If you look back at the thread we had regarding "what do you really want to do?", a lot of the replies included "completing my schooling, finding a significant other, having children, finding a career*"--all things which tend to be acomplished by age 40, more or less. Of course, there are exceptions, but by and large, most people have hit the "benchmarks" (for lack of a better word) of schooling, marriage, kids, and so forth by then or thereabouts and are hmmm, shall we say, gradually moving into the "enjoying the fruits of your labor" stage of life.


>Does everybody really
> believe they're going to live to be exactly 80
> years old?

I don't think people look at it as a math exercise ;-)...it is more the realization that they are no longer the player in the youth culture that they once were. And in a society that worships youth, that can be a a jarring epiphany for some.

>And why do people choose 39 as
> their year to stop having birthdays? Why come
> so close to the dreaded 4-0 before stopping?

Because it's more believable. :-)
It also springs from the same psychology that gives us the $9.99 price point instead of $10.00.

> Or why not
> be optomistic and stop aging at 43, 49, or 56
> ("I'm going to live to be 112!")
> What if I'm only to live to the age of 56? That
> means I need to stop aging right now! Yessir,
> I'll be 27 until the day I die. That's my story and > I'm stickin' to it.


Wasn't that the curse of the Cyclops?--that they knew exactly when they would die?


koala"I am just an ingenue, and shall be till I'm eighty two**"mom


*and also, learning to play a musical instrument was mentioned a lot, which I thought was interesting. And even with this, I am sure there are more music students under 40 than over.

**bets no one under 30 knows who I'm quoting here.