They may just be the most enviableWorthy of jealousy or envy. people in human history. Since the beginning of time, humans have been trying to get younger. Now, the people of South Korea have achieved it.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of our oldest recorded pieces of literature, details the journey of Gilgamesh, king of UrukOne of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia., as he seeks the secret to eternal life. In the 5th Century BC, HerodotusAn Ancient Greek historian and geographer. wrote of a much-desired Fountain of Youth that would restore youth to anyone who bathed in its waters. And the famed conqueror Alexander the GreatA king of ancient Macedon who is renowned as one of the greatest military leaders in history. He conquered a vast empire stretching from Greece to modern-day Pakistan. is said to have sought a river that would "heal" age.

But who knew it could be as simple as just changing the calendar? On Wednesday, South Koreans woke up to find themselves a year or two younger after a new law took effect to align South Korea's traditional age-counting system with international standards.

The law, pushed by President Yoon Suk Yeol, was due to the "unnecessary social and economic costs" created by the traditional system of calculating age.

In the traditional system, when babies are born they become one year old. Then, they gain a year on 1 January - meaning that a baby born on the 31 December would become two years old the next day. Some also used the "counting age" system whereby a baby would be zero at birth but would gain one year on 1 January.

The new law, which was voted in last December, is overwhelmingly popular among South Koreans, some 75% of whom were in favour of standardisationMaking something conform to a standard..

There was delight in the capital, Seoul, as the law rolled in. Many celebrated that they could put off key milestone ages like 21, 30 and 50 for a little while longer.

But to plagiariseTo take the work or idea or something else and pass it off as your own. It comes from a Latin word meaning kidnapper. Shakespeare, what's in an age? We all like to think that it is nothing more than a number and the occasional excuse to celebrate a birthday.

Yet many of us are paralysed by the fear of ageing. Shakespeare (to quote him properly this time) called it a "hideous winter". Maya AngelouAn iconic 20th century American writer and civil rights activist. described being old as being "like a sack left on the shelf."¹ Simone de BeauvoirA French feminist philosopher best known for her book The Second Sex. saw it as a process of being increasingly "othered" analogousSomething that is similar to another thing. to being discriminated against on account of gender or race.

To a certain degree, age has to count for something. A toddler cannot use a forklift. Few 90-year-olds could climb Mount Kilimanjaro. And we have laws in place that dictate at what age adolescents should be allowed to drink or vote.

But in other ways, the meaning and importance of age has never been fixed. Now, we think of adolescence as a freneticFast, frantic and uncontrolled. period defined by identity discovery and youthful fancy. But the concept of teenagerhood did not even exist until the 1940s, and many even think that its invention was a marketing technique.²

And up until recently there was also little writing about old age due to its stigmaA mark of shame or disgrace that sets a person apart from others. In the 16th Century, it referred to a literal mark branded into the skin.. One writer described it as "the great suppressed and censored topic of contemporary society, the one we do not care to face."

Now, we have more structured notions of what it means to be what age. But many have pointed out that they are based on a capitalist framework which defines us by our productivityThe rate at which an individual, company or group produce work or make something. potential. 

Adolescents are the ones predominantly consuming rather than working, as are the retired elderly. That leaves perhaps forty or fifty years that are simply defined as "adulthood", regardless of how we may evolve and develop in that time.

So, say some, time to drop this follyFoolishness. Also used to describe a building built with no purpose. altogether. We could all be happier and healthier if we saw beyond the numbers.

Yes: Just as there is a huge difference between a five-year-old and a 10-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 20-year-old, there are differences too between people at different stages of their adult lives - people in their twenties and in their thirties, for example. Age helps us to understand others' maturity and life experiences.

No: There are genius prodigies just 10 years old, and there are immature adults. The important things are personality, maturity and life experience, none of which can be accurately measured by how many years you have lived.

Or... Age matters to the extent that we need to protect people at vulnerable stages in their lives, such as children and the elderly. But we need to respect everyone, no matter their age.