Anti Aging Articles
Minds Can Get Better with Age
Michael Brickey, Ph.D.
I often hear people make remarks such as, “My mind isn’t what it used to be.” It sounds harmless, but if you make remarks like that often enough you will come to believe them.
Two analogies are applicable. First, our minds are like muscles–use them and they grow strong; don’t exercise them and they wither. Second, our minds are like computers. As we age we develop a rich collection of programs (software), which we hopefully update with experience and new information. We acquire a rich repertoire of data. And alas our processing speed (megahertz) becomes a little slower. A computer with excellent software does things better and faster than a computer with mediocre software. For example, an older, skilled bridge player runs circles around someone who has only been playing for a few years.
If you are inclined to make a remark like “I just can’t remember things very well anymore,” be kind to yourself and remember that you have much larger, richer data files to search than a younger person has. So it may take a little longer. Part of the difficulty in remembering something might be that you now have a lot more information to search. Often if you trust and instruct your mind to continue searching for the information, it comes to you later in the day. That is a good indication that your mind is still sharp. Ask yourself, would I really want to trade a computer with a wealth of programs and data for a computer that had a faster speed but few programs and little data?
While many older people have avoided computers, that too is changing. More and more seniors are using computers and teaching their friends how as well. E-mail has bonded many families and friends scattered around the country and even around the world. It also has bonded many grandparents and grandchildren. Fortunately, computers are becoming more user friendly each year. Features to help people with poor vision are improving as well.
One woman told me that her parents adamantly resisted computers. One day she visited them and they were clicking away on their Web TV. Why? It was so easy for them to learn because it was “just like TV”–sit on the sofa, watch the screen, and work the remote control. It is always easier to learn new things when we have a template. (USA Today knew this when they designed their vending stands to look television set.)
We need to think of our minds as flexible, always learning, and open to change. As George Bernard Shaw put it, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Rev. Denny Brake described the alternative: “Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.”
So can you teach an old dog new tricks? We “old dogs” object! We don’t wait anymore for someone to teach us, we have lots of ways of learning the tricks at our initiative.
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This article may be reprinted in E-zines, newsletters, newspapers,
and magazines provided
they the content is not edited and the following attribution is given:
Dr. Michael Brickey is President of the Ageless Lifestyles Institute and author of Defy Aging. His new book, 52 baby steps to Grow Young, gives two-page-a-week practical steps for developing a youthful mindset at every age. Further information is at www.DrBrickey.com.
Formatting may be changed and you may use one of the web site pictures of the author or books to accompany the article. If published online, please keep live links.
For further information on Contact :
Michael Brickey, Ph.D.
President
Ageless Lifestyles Institute
865 College Ave.
Columbus, OH 43209
614-237-4556
articles@DrBrickey.com
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