Psychologists believe that in old age a person really becomes wiser
Alexander Genis, Radio LibertyIt is believed that with age, the human brain "works" worse and worse: older people have difficulty remembering information.
However, psychologists at Harvard University have shown that the aging brain absorbs more information than the brains of young people, but does it more slowly and reliably, linking it with other phenomena and classifying it.
In an American supermarket, especially in summer, the customer usually has a choice – which cashier to queue for? To a young man who earns money on vacation, or to an old man who earns money for retirement. Since I, for old times' sake, hate any queues, I usually tend to the second option. The elderly work slower, but they make fewer mistakes, as a result, the exchange of goods for money is faster and more reliable.
At first I did not attach importance to such random observations, but recently it turned out that they have both statistical and scientific, psychological justifications. The fact is that representatives of the most populous generation of "babybumers" in American history are now retiring en masse. It was then that it turned out that it was harder to find a shift for them than it seemed. Therefore, such large companies as, say, the giant Wal-Mart retail chain, lure pensioners back to work, offering even ordinary employees, the same cashiers, a shortened week and jobs in Florida.
Interested in this fact, science took up the case, which decided to figure out what is happening to our aging brain – what is worse, and what is much more interesting, is better than a young brain. One of the authors of the study, an employee of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University Shelley Carson (Shelley H. Carson) told about it to the correspondent of Radio Liberty Irina Savinova. (A brief retelling of this work based on the article "Older Brain Really May Be a Wiser Brain", New York Times, 05/20/2008, is given in the afterword – WM.)
– It is generally believed that over the years the brain begins to work worse. A study conducted at Harvard University showed that the brain of older people absorbs more information than the brain of young people; it does this more slowly due to the expansion of the focus of attention, but more reliably, linking it with other phenomena in the course of memorization and classifying it in the brain in connection with the latter. Can this be considered wisdom, which, as always believed, comes with the years? – I'll start by defining what wisdom is.
One of the definitions I remember: wisdom is the ability to perceive more and more deeply. We can say it in another way: wisdom is the ability to use the life experience gathered over many years. If the accumulated information is knowledge, and wisdom is the ability to organize this knowledge and use it, then of course old age is associated with wisdom. But over the years, wisdom does not always come: it is inherent only in the aging brain, not pathologically, due to diseases, but naturally.
– 13% of Americans over the age of 65 suffer from Alzheimer's disease, but, nevertheless, your research shows that old people have a certain advantage over young people. In which professions is this noticeable? – Of course, in professions relying on the use of accumulated experience and knowledge, preference will be given to the elderly.
Among such professions are law and judicial, that is, those where technical education is not required. In recent decades, it has become noticeable how young people are increasingly becoming presidents of large companies, professors, and news commentators. This is probably due to the fact that our society prefers young-looking people and because the technological development of our society requires knowledge, the accumulation and rapid processing of which is more successfully carried out by young people.
– Let's look at the world of politics. The young and elderly president of the country... Who and what are the advantages? – I believe that, first of all, the brain of an elderly person is less impulsive, and this is the advantage of a solid-aged president, such as former President Reagan or Republican presidential candidate McCain.
Also, older people, including politicians, are less concerned about what others think about them. And, of course, do not forget about the wisdom of life experience. All this taken together says that it is preferable to have an elderly president. The young president will be more inclined to make changes to the accepted order of things and affairs, he will be spontaneous in making and making decisions. But he has nowhere to take wisdom. But here I would not like to cite as an example the participants of the current presidential election campaign.
– And what are the shortcomings of the elderly president? – I can name the speed of information processing:
it really slows down with age, this is noticeable in the example of one elderly candidate. But the difference is more between different people than between different age groups. Another aspect: older people function more productively at earlier hours of the day than younger people. In the case of President Reagan, the White House staff was forced to take into account the time of day when he worked most optimally, and changed their schedule.
– Creativity and age: in what period of life do people create most productively? – It depends on what kind of creativity a person is engaged in.
Typical examples are visual arts, music, literature, and science. Dean Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis, conducted an important study of the creative process throughout a person's life. He discovered that a person reaches a peak in creative activity at a different period for each type of creativity. A theoretical physicist, as a rule, reaches the peak of his creative potential at a young age. Examples are Einstein and the genius mathematician John Forbes Nash, who became the hero of the book and film "Mind Games". Composers, artists and writers are more successful at creating later in their lives. But creativity spreads over the entire length of life. The accumulated experience, I repeat, does not contribute to every creative process.
– Where and how is it better for society to use the elderly? – Elderly people with their accumulated knowledge and experience become excellent consultants in almost all kinds of human activities where a technical knowledge base is not required.
Another field of activity where we simply need to use older people is teaching. In America, there is a growing movement among older people who offer their experience free of charge – they become mentors in educational institutions. But I believe that along with volunteer – charitable – activities, it is necessary to offer retired elderly people paid positions.
– Shelly, what kind of old age do you dream of for yourself? – For myself and for your readers, I wish old age without diseases.
I myself would like to continue studying all the time. I keep a diary where I write down what new things I learned for each day. Not just new information, but how it changes my understanding of the world. I want to make the last entry on the day of my death. When I get old, I want to travel around the world, be mentally and professionally active, take piano lessons, climb Machu Pichu, paint watercolors. In old age, we have free time, not for long, but still, we can do what we did not have time to do in our youth, when we were in a hurry to do urgent things. We will have time to think about how the acquired knowledge explains the meaning of life.
– What can be done to prevent our brain from weakening with old age? – Different studies suggest different ways to keep the mind alive.
The most popular is the constant acquisition of knowledge. I am happy to note that there are more and more opportunities to continue education in old age. After retiring, many people start taking some lessons: drawing, language, archery, philosophy. But the most important thing is to stay physically active. Doing aerobics, for example, we feed the brain with oxygen. Proper nutrition and rest for at least eight hours a day are the next two important components of maintaining the vital activity of brain cells and our memory system.
Scientists have found out why people become wiser with ageAmerican scientists have refuted the widespread claim that older people think worse over the years.
In fact, the brain begins to perceive more information with age than before, The New York Times reports.
Often elderly people cannot remember some insignificant data, such as a name or phone number, but this distraction, according to scientists, is of particular importance. In this way, the brain perceives important information more fully, and filters out irrelevant information.
Scientists do not deny that over the years, some people's brains really become weaker. In America, 13% of older people over the age of 65 are susceptible to Alzheimer's disease.
However, for most people who are not susceptible to this disease, the focus of attention becomes wider over the years, which, in fact, can be perceived as a positive change.
The scientists analyzed their research in the new edition of the book on neurology "Progress in Brain Research". According to Shelly Carson, a psychologist at Harvard University, distracted attention "helps to increase the total amount of information that can later be used in conscious activity."
Two groups of subjects took part in one of the scientists' experiments: elderly people over 60 years old and students. They were tasked with reading the text, which included extra words and phrases. While the students read the text at the same speed, the older participants read more slowly in those places where the meaning of the words concerned the topic of the text, they also emphasized the "extra" words. After reading, the participants were asked questions, the answers for which were "extra" words from the text. Older people answered these questions much better than students.
The thing is, says Lynn Hasher, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, that "older people have learned all the additional information in one situation and can transfer it to another," and this, in turn, helps to better solve the tasks.
Older people are much more likely to prioritize, "filter" information by degree of importance. According to Jackie Smith, a professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, this is what we call "wisdom."
Other benefits of adulthood were found by researchers at the University of Texas, who studied the psycho-emotional state of over a thousand pensioners over 60 years old. As a result of the study, it turned out that with age, people become more confident and less emotional. They are easier and wiser about life's troubles and generally experience more satisfaction from life than young people.
Psychologists believe that older people experience less negative emotions because they lead a more passive lifestyle, thus protecting themselves from many experiences and possible conflicts.
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