Old dogs can grow new brain cells
The headline says, "Older people need more practice to learn new skills." This is not as discouraging a pronouncement as, "You can’t teach an old dog new tricks," but it is another limiting belief about aging that won’t do you any good. And it’s just plain wrong.
Does it really make sense to assume that people who ran the world so competently when we were whippersnappers are guaranteed to mutate into doddering dolts as they pass certain chronological markers? Is our dotage truly the natural affect of aging as those little gray cells get grayer or is something else going on here?
Science used to believe that we came into life with a finite supply of brain cells that decreased in number as we aged. With that theory in place, it seemed that aging would inevitably lead to diminished mental capacity. However, that theory was wrong. New experiences and challenges generate new brain cells at any age. So if you’re becoming less clever, functional, and competent than you used to be, it’s because you’ve allowed yourself to be hypnotized into increasing stupidity by social assumptions you’ve chosen not to question.
Really, think about it: how could a perfectly functional adult decline in learning ability with an increase in years? If anything, your greater experience should make it easier for you to learn. But remember the scientific findings: mental challenges and exercise are what build new brain cells. With that in mind, it becomes clearer how those-who-must-be-obeyed turn into dismissible old fools.
The difference between a computer expert and an amateur is that the expert gets to make more mistakes. The person who can work every position on an assembly line has more gray cells than the sleepy individual going through the motions on one familiar piece of equipment. Trying new things and making mistakes leads to learning. Doing things that always work leads to nothing much in the way of mental growth. Yet one of the goals of age seems to be establishing a comfortable routine punctuated by predictable doses of passive vicarious thrills absorbed from television. It this kind of routine, not aging, that equals mental decline
Have you ever noticed how some of the dumbest-acting people on the planet can sharply and confidently reel off statistics related to every football game, play, and player stretching back over decades? What turns on those dim bulbs? Passion. Interest is a unequaled instrument for focusing and enhancing mental capacity. Interest only declines with age if you allow it to by telling yourself, "I’m too old for that. What’s the point? Who cares? What difference does it make? Why bother?" Those attitudes are a recipe for depression, which contributes to mental dullness.
Here is a formula for geezerly lackwittedness at any age
Retire. Dedicate yourself to doing less, having lots of free time, with no demands, and no disconcerting novelty to cope with. Establish a dependable routine and don’t vary it. Don’t try new things—what if you look like you don’t know what you’re doing? Avoid any potential embarrassment by sticking with what you know. Don’t work too hard—after all, you’ve earned a rest. Relax and put your feet up. Make sure the remote is close at hand so you don't have to move around much.
Here’s a recipe for snappy new brain cells at any age
Stay passionately immersed in life. There’s more than enough to explore to keep the longest lived person busy and interested forever. Make an effort—exerting yourself builds competence and strength. Extend yourself—you’ll become more flexible and resilient. Try new things—novelty opens the mind.
Explore areas of passing interest to see if they lead to paths you might want to wander. Take up new hobbies. Revive your interest in old ones. Interact with strangers. Travel. Learn to use a computer for the sake of exploring new territory, if nothing else. There are a million mistakes to be made and you’ll never be able to know everything about using the pesky beasts, so the learning is endless.
Pay attention to what you tell yourself and expect from yourself as you age. Expect more and you get more. Expect less and, lo and behold, you become less.