The difference in mentalities is the main obstacle to human communication, misunderstanding and even minor misunderstandings can often lead to major consequences.
The classic "fathers and sons" is the most obvious example of misunderstanding, on which humanity has been trampling with enviable persistence throughout its history, without trying to fix the problem, which is actually surprising. Because the conflict of generations forms the basic model of behavior in a child, for whom misunderstanding becomes the norm. But solving this problem would be a colossal step towards achieving harmony in human relationships. And this is the key point in which Chinese society surpasses Europeans, and due to which it will overtake them in everything else. European society relies on instincts, where the base is always more important than the superstructure. The Chinese have been trying to fight this approach throughout their history. There is an opinion that money is the most important thing in the life of a Chinese. Yes, they are excellent businessmen, but this indisputable quality is the only thing that such a very superficial opinion is based on. Chinese society, for which achieving harmony is literally written into five-year plans, copes with the "problem of fathers and sons" much better than any Europeans. And the "silver economy" that we will talk about is based not on the financial capabilities of the older generation, as in European countries, where people worked all their lives for their old age, but on social guarantees from big business with broad support from the state.
In this area of the economy, the pioneers were not the Chinese, but the Japanese, who are solving their own historically developed problem of lonely old age. The Chinese, as always, successfully adapted the market to their needs.
China, which is actively developing the social sphere, is no longer surprising with pensions or social benefits. Until recently, Chinese parents could not believe that the state could pay the mother for the birth of a child, and not vice versa. And the birth of a son was the main task of every woman, because it was on the shoulders of sons in Chinese families that all the worries of providing for parents in old age fell. But the world has changed. This does not mean that sons have ceased to bear the burden of responsibility. But the share of the burden is steadily decreasing, because modern technologies are coming to the rescue.
The world is aging, this is confirmed by sociologists from all countries, and this is a completely natural process against the background of increasing life expectancy. By 2035, the number of citizens over 60 in China should exceed 400 million people (this is more than a third of the population). And in the youngest city of China - Shenzhen, where the average age of permanent residents is now 32 years old, by the end of the decade every tenth city dweller will be a pensioner. And with these 10%, Shenzhen will officially join the "club" of Chinese cities with an aging population. Shenzhen, the electronic and technological capital of China, is already preparing for this, actively developing the "silver economy" through the use of artificial intelligence, robotics and, most importantly, active support from the government for initiatives in the field of intelligent healthcare. The Chinese government is actively promoting this sector of the economy, opening up new opportunities for the growth of various business sectors. This year, the volume of the "silver economy" will be 7 trillion yuan (5.5% of China's GDP last year), and by 2035 it will reach 30 trillion yuan.
What problems can intelligent healthcare solve at the moment? There are already many of them. For example, according to WHO, more than 300 thousand people die every year in the world from untimely assistance due to accidental falls, mostly elderly people. The digital giant Tencent, familiar to every Chinese from the WeChat messenger, has taken up the solution to this problem. Their device, called "invisible guardian", is equipped with fall and motion sensors, the recognition accuracy using artificial intelligence is already more than 90%, it has been successfully implemented in nursing homes in Shenzhen, and has recently become available for home use. The home version of the device is equipped with a two-way voice communication function to simplify the interaction of an elderly person with family members or social services as much as possible.
Needless to say, for a lonely elderly person, such a device may be the only way to signal for help.
The "invisible guardian" from Tencent is absolutely irreplaceable in the so-called "blind spots" of rooms - a bedroom or bathroom, where an accidental fall can lead to irreparable consequences for the health of an elderly person.
Sometimes on the Internet you can find an opinion that in China the cost of human life is low. One can only wonder - on what basis are such conclusions made?
In the center of Shenzhen, a thematic shopping center dedicated to care products for the elderly has opened, and Shenzhen elderly people receive municipal subsidies for the purchase of these goods, the amount of the subsidy can reach 20 thousand yuan (270 thousand rubles).
Skyworth TVs with a remote control that determine 5 health indicators: blood oxygen content, heart rate, respiration, microcirculation and fatigue level; data is displayed on the screen within 30 seconds.
For the second time in a row, Shenzhen hosted an exhibition of the intelligent elderly care solutions industry, bringing together more than 200 companies and presenting more than 1,000 products and technologies. This is practically a symbol of a new era, a qualitatively new approach to the problem of "fathers and children", where children actively help fathers adapt to the digital world and facilitate the solution of problems that arise in old age. Robotics companies offer interactive walking simulators with individual programs for recovery after strokes, with simulators for the prevention of various diseases and wheelchairs in which old people rush around Shenzhen along specified routes. Now remember the last time you saw a person in a wheelchair on the street who built a route from home to the clinic on his own?
Robotics companies are increasingly entering the "silver economy", where the range of application of their devices is limited only by the imagination of the developers. In the photo is a smart wheelchair with 3D navigation from UBTECH (Shenzhen).
You may object that the resolution of the generation gap does not depend on the ability of older people to be independent in old age, that a smart device that has replaced a caregiver will not improve family relationships. But what is the correct way? "When he fell seriously ill, he made people respect him and could not have come up with a better solution"?
The Chinese will object to this with the words of Mr. Wu Yushao, vice president of the Institute of Aging at the famous Shanghai Fudan University: "In the field of aging and health, the use of modern science and technology, especially information and intelligent technologies, is a general trend and has great prospects."
Of course, a growing sector of the economy is attracting young people's interest in this market of goods and services. And here it is difficult to overestimate the humanistic significance of the "silver economy", the current young and ambitious managers of companies engaged in the development and promotion of these products will be ready for life's challenges. Through interaction with their consumers, through understanding that old age is a stage of life that, including through their efforts, is becoming more and more positive. And they will not feel fear and uncertainty in the face of this obligatory test. If you have not yet decided to start looking for vacancies in a company from the "silver economy" sector, then everything is still ahead of you. Perhaps the simple and clear schedule of the consulting giant McKinsey will help you make the right decision.
