Older People Are Happier by: Laura Carstensen
Laura Carstensen is a psychologist and director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and has spent a large amount of time studying the wellbeing and effects of living an extended lifespan. Laura gives an astounding fact in which by the year 2015 (the year we are currently in), there will be more people over the age of 60 than of people under the age of 15. This means we as a species are living longer, but are we living happier? That is the question Laura answers by giving data that she has collected from the research she and her colleagues have gathered. She also explains how culture plays a role in shaping our future as we keep living longer lives.
Her colleagues have found out that since older people are wiser, in which they have experienced life’s ups and downs, they tend to work through their emotions differently than the young. In an experiment that tested young and old people alike, they placed pictures and faces that either caused happy or sad emotions. The older people tended to remember and pay more attention to the happier faces and pictures than the ones that caused sad emotions. Thus it can be concluded that the old can find a more positive outlook in life and work through their emotions better than the young. As for culture, Laura states that “ armed with knowledge about the practical matters in life and motivated to solve the big issues, there can be better societies than we have ever known. The numbers won’t determine the outcome, culture will.” by investing in technology and science to fix the real problems.
In Catcher in the Rye, Holden is afraid to grow up because he believes the older one gets the “Phonier” one becomes. He see older people all the same, all having the same fate. For Holden I say, there’s nothing to worry about, if you’re happy that’s all that matters. In my American Dream, I want age to not be an obstacle, for it not to be the limit. The mind gets wiser and the old are as important as the young. The old pass on the knowledge and the wrongdoings so that the new generation learns and can build better more efficient societies.
Her colleagues have found out that since older people are wiser, in which they have experienced life’s ups and downs, they tend to work through their emotions differently than the young. In an experiment that tested young and old people alike, they placed pictures and faces that either caused happy or sad emotions. The older people tended to remember and pay more attention to the happier faces and pictures than the ones that caused sad emotions. Thus it can be concluded that the old can find a more positive outlook in life and work through their emotions better than the young. As for culture, Laura states that “ armed with knowledge about the practical matters in life and motivated to solve the big issues, there can be better societies than we have ever known. The numbers won’t determine the outcome, culture will.” by investing in technology and science to fix the real problems.
In Catcher in the Rye, Holden is afraid to grow up because he believes the older one gets the “Phonier” one becomes. He see older people all the same, all having the same fate. For Holden I say, there’s nothing to worry about, if you’re happy that’s all that matters. In my American Dream, I want age to not be an obstacle, for it not to be the limit. The mind gets wiser and the old are as important as the young. The old pass on the knowledge and the wrongdoings so that the new generation learns and can build better more efficient societies.