Generalizations About Older People As Out Of Touch

Aging is a complex process. It is not just one thing but rather a series of processes that involve contradictory mechanisms happening simultaneously. As we age, we experience decline, growth, and maintenance all at once and in varying gradations. Decline is the paradigm that we are all most familiar with because the signs and effects of physical decline are so salient in everyday life. It is easy to recognize, and we so often talk about daily aches, pains, and struggles to do the physical things we used to do with ease. Stories of decline and physical loss are shared from person to person and generation to generation, and they build both empathy and fear. Empathy is an essential human trait, and empathy exercises are often built into health profession curriculums to help connect providers with their patients. Students wear a suit designed to approximate the motor skills, visual ability, flexibility, dexterity, and strength of a person in their midseventies. That said, I believe having empathy as a central focus of instruction is a misguided, limited, and frankly perilous approach. Empathy is a term used to describe understanding and sharing another’s feelings. The problem with this aging suit is that while it does an excellent job of allowing the user to walk a mile in another’s shoes physically, it does nothing to contextualize the experience with the growth and development that come with age and balance the sense of loss older adults feel. Simulating aging in this manner can provoke cognitive dissonance by simultaneously invoking competing feelings of empathy and fear.

Book Of Dreams

Having a younger person who has not yet developed the skills and maturity to understand an older person’s sense of comfort with their own bodies wear a suit to mimic aging is shortsighted and dangerous. Aging is more than changes to our bodies. Aging is a process of change, adaptation, and growth. There are indeed normal and expected effects of becoming older on the body. There are also pathological processes that are more likely to occur as we age, such as developing arthritis or a heart or vascular condition. Notice that I say more likely, not guaranteed. Certain aspects of biological aging are universal, but more factors are idiosyncratic and depend on genes, individual behavior, and environment. Perhaps this commonality is why we are so quick to think of physical decline first when we think about aging. What we know, what we talk about, and what we model and teach each other is the single story of aging as physical decline. What we lack is a story that captures the rich, nuanced complexities of the aging experience taken as a whole. Let me illustrate by asking a question. Think for a moment about a younger version of you.

None But The Brave

For many, these would both be accurate and valid assessments. Aging is no different. It involves things lost and also things gained, and this is the story less told. Intelligence provides a perfect example of the complexity of simultaneous loss and gains with aging. Fluid and crystallized intelligence changes over time, with particular abilities peaking at different points in the life span. Fluid intelligence, the ability to solve problems in new situations without preexisting knowledge, is known to decline as we age. Crystallized intelligence, the ability to use previously acquired knowledge through education and experience, continues to increase with age. Research demonstrates that those who experience aging as a lifelong journey are more likely to feel that their later years consist of renewal and engagement. In other words, a sense of the whole journey is essential to optimal adaptation to elderhood. This is illustrated by the U curve of happiness, a striking and somewhat surprising concept for many people. This U curve demonstrates that happiness declines with age from early adolescence to midlife and then turns upward and increases with advanced age. Understanding the complexity of aging as simultaneous processes of growth, decline, and adaptation underscores ancient Chinese views and calls into question the dominant ancient Greek views on aging.

Sleep Doesn't Fix It

Both perspectives were informed by valid interpretations of aging. Being music aficionados, they excitedly anticipated how this new technology would bring better quality of sound to their favorite classical music. There are countless stories like this one from families, told with laughs and good humor. At the same time, this story is also a brick in the foundation of ageist stereotypes about older people being left behind in a modernized society. There is a broad misconception that older people and technology don’t mix. Fault can be found in the industries themselves, which systematically exclude older people from the development, design, and marketing of new technologies. The roots of stereotypes and generalizations about older people as out of touch with technology can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, when technology and industry drastically altered circumstances for older people and attitudes about aging. Throughout American colonial history, older people were considered active and productive contributors to the economy and society. In agrarian times, elders were viewed as learned farmers, essential providers, and primary educators of future generations. The extended family structure suffered, and the prized role of elder changed drastically. Moving to where the jobs were was easier and more appealing for younger people. Older family members were reluctant to move away from family land, which created competing priorities for family units. In this way, the Industrial Revolution significantly affected the family structure and the value system that had existed for millennia. Tradition and stability were replaced with mobility and adaptability.[1] With the rise of industrialization came urbanization and the increasing separation of living and working spaces. People no longer needed to live on the farms where they worked but rather preferred to live in locations separate from their workplaces. Older widows were especially vulnerable and dependent on others’ charity within their communities. Social values dictated that older women, especially unmarried or widowed, were unemployable and therefore economically unable to maintain independent living. To accommodate the neediness of such people, public relief was provided in an almshouse, also known as the poorhouse.