Recent unretouched or Photoshopped photo of Midtown Blogger me, taken just recently.

I will be 70 in November. With my shirt on I look younger ( but I am working on my body too, with some success--lots of yoga, light weigh reps, aerobics, diet, fast walking and stair climbing).

However, I ordinarily wear glasses... and my teeth are dentures.

Inside, tests show I am "normal for my age" but I have "good" blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. etc. Do have to take Flomax though.

I do not die my hair. My father was just beginning to go grey in his late 70's...so I take it that is genetic.

I am no kind of love machine and I will not take Viagra.

Nobody can tell me what my life expectancy is. I am mostly vegetarian but eat some meat and fish ( love chicken), very low carb diet with lots of vegetables. Greek yogurt. Very low sugar intake. ( This is my idea of a healthy diet, but who knows, five years from now they will tell me it was the worst diet possible).

I am slowing down like most older people and trying to do so with dignity. I like to meditate and take short naps. They are NOT "Power Naps." They are just short breaks to let me recompose myself.

I have no signs of dementia except...hmm, I forget.

In reality my memory is much like it was like when I was much younger. I still have trouble remembering names of people I have just met and have to use associational techniques.

Oddly, I find science and tech stuff on the whole easier to understand than when I was younger.

I like poetry more. I pray more now too.

So, that is how THIS old timer is shuffling along..

NOW for the Sci Daily observations

Science News

from research organizations

Study compares traditional, modern views of aging

Date:: October 19, 2015
Source:: Cornell University
Summary:: Traditional societies may see the aging process in a more positive light than modern societies, according to a researcher.
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FULL STORY

Traditional societies may see the aging process in a more positive light than modern societies, according to a Cornell researcher in a recent study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science.

"There have been anecdotal reports and theoretical reasoning that people in traditional societies look at aging more favorably," said Corinna Löckenhoff, associate professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology and associate professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. However, this is the first study of aging perceptions to gather quantitative data and to use the same questions across modern and traditional societies, Löckenhoff said.

In the study, the researchers showed participants a photo of a young person and a photo of the same person that had been digitally altered to make him or her look older. Participants were then asked a series of questions to assess their attitudes toward aging. These questions tested such perceptions of aging as respect received (whose opinion is more respected?); wisdom; life satisfaction (who is more satisfied with their life?); memory (who is more forgetful?); and new learning. In response, participants were asked to point at the older or younger face.

The researchers found that Tsimané Amazonian forager-farmers viewed old people as having better memories than young people, while people in Poland and the United States viewed the young as having better memories. They found that across the different societies there was consensus that older people are more respected and perceived as wiser than younger people, and that in general, participants perceived aging as more detrimental to women than men, Löckenhoff said. But Tsimane' participants differed from their industrial counterparts in perceptions of memory. While the participants from industrialized nations held negative beliefs of aging and memory, the Tsimane' people felt the elderly had better memories.

"There are reasons to think that traditional societies would have more positive beliefs about aging and memory," Löckenhoff said. Modern societies no longer rely on oral traditions where older people serve as repositories of culture and knowledge, she said, whereas traditional societies still value experience-based knowledge. The findings are important for traditional societies to ensure their attitudes toward older adults do not suffer as they increasingly modernize, Löckenhoff said. And for modern societies, the findings shed light on how culture and context can have an influence on the way that aging is seen and that in turn can affect how people age, she said.

For example, there is evidence that stereotypes about aging affect older people. This phenomenon is known as stereotype threat, where negative stereotypes about certain groups -- such as the notion that the elderly have poor memories -- can affect performance. "Older people could be doing better if they were not pulled down by stereotype threat," Löckenhoff noted.

Next steps in this research will be to test if older people's memories are actually working better in the Tsimané culture and if other traditional societies show similar patterns, she added.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Cornell University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

Piotr Sorokowski, Agnieszka Sorokowska, Tomasz Frackowiak, Corinna E. Löckenhoff. Aging Perceptions in Tsimane’ Amazonian Forager–Farmers Compared With Two Industrialized Societies. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2015; gbv080 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbv080

Cite This Page:

Cornell University. "Study compares traditional, modern views of aging." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 October 2015. .

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