dagblog - Comments for "Aged to Perfection? Late Bloomers, Late Boomers"

Was just scrolling through

artappraiser — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 01:09:57 +0000

In reply to Aged to Perfection? Late Bloomers, Late Boomers

Was just scrolling through tweets on the death of director John Singleton @ 51. Now he was a bonafide "whiz kid", as at 23 the youngest ever nominated for Best Director Oscar, and as the NYTimes obit states when he made the film Mr. Singleton had graduated from film school less than a year earlier. He later conceded that when he made “Boyz N the Hood” he did not yet know how to direct a film.

So this tweet of the many was particularly striking to me and made me think of this thread immediately:

We’ve lost One of the great young masters of film,
John Singleton, who had so much more to do
And to give but will always be remembered
— William Friedkin (@WilliamFriedkin) April 29, 2019

Mr. Friedkin, once a "whiz kid" director himself, is now a tweeting octagenarian (born 1935, as wikipedia via google sez: closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s)

I just want to say that I

artappraiser — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 22:46:25 +0000

In reply to I moved to Charlottesville 20

I just want to say that I liked that you chimed in with your nuanced anecdotals, C'Ville.

Will just add:

Generalizing my experience so far, aging is one thing the majority of us boomers aren't being arrogant about so far, because it's hitting us like a ton of bricks. Though we may have been arrogant know-it-alls in our youth, we're now eager to share our flaws. Just trying to figure it all out again as we all lose a lot of near and dear that we thought would live forever with us.

Not a bend, just a continuum.

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 21:33:38 +0000

In reply to I moved to Charlottesville 20

Not a bend, just a continuum. Jan Garber's still there, doing some things better, some things worse. I tried to help in an old folk's home at 15 - couldn't do it - depressing, quit a week in. Decades later I looked after my mother-in-law, not that long overall, but still, was much more patient, humored, living. The idiot's father to the man, to bend a phrase. Sure, maybe my calculus isn't up to speed, but I never really used all that calculus anyway - semesters and semesters, what a waste. Have those qualities diminished? I hope so.

I moved to Charlottesville 20

CVille Dem — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 16:44:21 +0000

In reply to Aged to Perfection? Late Bloomers, Late Boomers

I moved to Charlottesville 20 years ago. Some time after that UVA started a Cognitive Aging study and I volunteered for it. I’ve always been good at figuring out what a 3 dimensional object would look like if I folded the dotted lines drawn in 2 dimensions. I could easily recall unrelated words that were read out to me by making up a silly story using the words as I listened.

Identifying visual patterns in squares was a challenge; that part of my brain was not great at any time of my life, although recognizing the faces of famous people, dead or alive, was a snap. In other words, I was good at some things and not at others. I was in my mid-fifties when I started these tests. They last 3 hours a day, and were for 2 days. Each year they would call me back, and I usually went. They do not give any feedback, ever. To anyone. They started paying $125 for the tests, which became more and more exhausting, and harder and harder to do.

The last time I took these tests was 4 years ago. As the faces of Jennifer Anniston, Elliott Gould, and George Clooney flashed on the screen, I was stumped. I got so nervous because of the implication of this, that I missed others that I should not have. I could ID Mikael Barishnikof, George Bush, and many other newsmakers without a problem. But overall, I knew that I was most definitely in decline of my abilities they were testing. For some time I caught myself searching for synonyms for words I couldn’t think of. My friend says this is normal. (Good friend, huh?)

At the same time in my life I felt a new strength in my relationship with others; a very satisfying way of getting along. Empathy was a part of it, compassion, and an appreciation for the less-noticed qualities of those around me, made me a better friend and companion. As some of you may know, my husband of 4 years (my high-school sweetheart) jus died last month. He was with me, and in my care at home until the end. I’ve never done anything harder in my life, but I am so grateful that we found each other so I was the person who cared for him during that challenging last year. I know that the 24 year-old Jan Garber, RN could have given him the comfort and love that 71 year-old Jan Maugans (retired RN) gave. Oddly, I feel stronger no, although I’m still forgetful

They called again recently to ask for my participation in the study, and I said no. I just can’t do it again. But as to the subject at hand, it seems as though all that energy I had as a young woman and all of the fool-hardy things I did somehow contributed to qualities that I have now that I like.

I just really, really, really don’t want to “go around the bend.”

So you're not for a pack of

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 04:55:18 +0000

In reply to Perhaps but that more wise

So you're not for a pack of septagenarians leadung the field?

True as well. Still I think

artappraiser — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 00:13:28 +0000

In reply to Perhaps but that more wise

True as well. Still I think there is in general the wisdom thing, it's just that full function of it is reduced in hours per day.

Also to keep in mind: anyone of any age that is physically ill does not function at 100%. I.E., with a flu or a cold or chronic pain. Physical illness is undoubtedly more common as body breaks down, certainly chronic pain is. But of it is possible to solve the cause of the chronic pain, i.e., replace a worn out knee, then I think the brain can function well again as age appropriate, I've seen it happen. There is also the flip side, where someone with a broken body uses mental gymnastics to escape the pain or distract from it, and thereby gets even better at thinking.

Perhaps but that more wise

ocean-kat — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 23:47:28 +0000

In reply to Ain't no social scientist nor

Perhaps but that more wise brain is still sitting atop a declining body. I don't know anyone nor do I have anecdotals about old people who see no physical declines.They say w. bush planned to be a CEO president, a 9 to 5 president. Events over took him. Events that happened in the day half a world away that required him to be wakened at 3 am. How about a study that lasts a few weeks and requires tests that last several hours at a time at all hours of the night or day sometimes on little sleep. I think we'd see significantly less evidence of real wisdom among the elderly when they are forced to deal with real fatigue.

Ain't no social scientist nor

artappraiser — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 22:58:42 +0000

In reply to Aged to Perfection? Late Bloomers, Late Boomers

Ain't no social scientist nor developmental psychologist, but from anedoctals, I am so a "nod, nod" on this excerpt:

A 2015 Harvard study showed that rather than losing abilities as we age, we actually acquire a different and multifaceted range of skills.

Our 20s might be ideal for working memory and rapid processing speed, “but in our 30s, 40s and 50s, we develop cognitive capabilities like empathy that support being better managers, executives and communicators,” says Karlgaard. “And in our 60s, there’s cognitive evidence of real wisdom.”