Image by Ibrahim Qandily on Unsplash.
The New York Times recently ran an article: Super-Agers’ Brains Have a Special Ability, New Study Suggests
The findings, they say, may help explain why this group has such exceptional memory.
I don’t know (or care ) if I’m a super-ager, but my brain remains sharp as I age.
I decided I wanted to read the Rocco Schiavone series by Anthony Manzini, which hasn’t been translated past the sixth volume. I read the first six *in French* and then decided to learn enough Italian to read the rest…and now I’m reading all sorts of Italian “giallos” (detective novels) in Italian, with the help of the online dictionary.
I learn cultural references from ChatGPT. I write blog posts and am working on books, including one about “my love affair with Rocco Schiavone.” In September I traveled alone (by plane and bus) to the small town in Italy where the novels take place.
I don’t forget appointments (well, I get a zillion reminders…) I do barre and yoga at a normal studio, not a “senior” exercise program. I live on the Internet.
Am I a super-ager? I don’t know and don’t care. They’d have to pay me a lot of money to run invasive research on my brain.
But the bigger question is not “Are you a super-ager?” It’s, “So what?”
Given the extreme forms of ageism that are all around us, having a good brain (whether or not you’re a super-ager) can be frustrating. You have more negative experiences and, because you have a brain, you process them intensely.
Medical people talk to you like you’re two years old, regardless of your level of fitness, mobility and brainpower. Techs call you “sweetie” and assume you can’t walk across the room. They worship nonstop televisions, which contribute vastly to brain rot, and refuse to understand that some people heal through silence, not noise, and some would rather use their brain to read a book. (Nothing against watching an occasional program…but nonstop TV as background? No thanks.)
Strangers offer to help you on the street (“because you’re old you must need help,” someone actually said to me).
When you’re in most social gatherings, you’re just a number – your age – not a 3-dimensional person. That is why in my book I wrote that I refuse to tell my age.
You can’t be hired for meaningful work, even if you freelance, because nobody wants to hire old people (they assume we can’t do tech, but I built a new website last year). If you already have a list of faithful clients, they may continue, but it’s extremely hard to develop new ones.
Super-ager or not, you’re still relegated to grandparent and volunteer roles. You’re still expected to respond positively if someone calls you “grandma” or “grandpa” when you’re single and happily childfree.
So why are scientists studying super-agers? The idea seems to be that if they uncover the secrets, more people will have more brainpower.
I suspect most people’s brains owe more to heredity than anything else. Early educational opportunities will probably play a role. People who have been using their brains at an early age are unlikely to stop. Funding good schools would be a better use of funds.
Science needs to stop focusing on super-agers or, for that matter, any qualities that set certain older people apart as “special.” People who do 30 pull-ups when they’re 75 and run marathons at 90. People who win dance contests in their sixties.
Instead, I’d like to see an emphasis on making the world more welcome to people of all ages who can think critically and/or move easily. Give them some scope to exercise their capabilities. Stop seeing them as exceptions. Reward people who want to exercise their brains in the waiting room. The number would probably surprise you.
Who knows how far people can go when we focus on opportunities…instead of what makes them different.
At one time, people were amazed that women could drive trucks and fly planes. Now they’re landing fighter jets on carrier decks and playing professional basketball. I don’t remember seeing studies of why some women are active professionally and athletically, while others chose to be full-time homemakers. Build it, and they will come.
