Older people are getting smarter

M0nica thank you for sharing this article.
At nearly 69 I found it extremely interesting and (hopefully) very useful!

FranP

Yes, I am smart enough to teach young children to read; I am smart enough to pay cash to the little local businesses for small amounts so they do not pay punitive bank charges eating their small profit; I am smart enough not to put banking app on to my phone, which I am constantly putting down/leaving at home, and which would work badly in my local supermarket (yes I have to stand behind some young person who take ages wandering around to get the signal for his loyalty card and then banking app (sigh); I am smart enough to use phone/in person banking, cash and manned tills because use it or lose it comes to mind.

Sounds more like my way of thinking.

Fortunately where I live now - I can only think of one (maybe two) places that don't take cash basically and I know they often appreciate I'm paying them that way usually.

I'm smart enough to think I don't do online banking or pay by phone for things and it would be way harder for a scammer to try and steal any of my money from me.

I'm smart enough to be well stocked-up with all sorts - so if Society stops working for a few hours...even a few days = I can manage. Or in the case of living in West Wales having its frequent heavy rain and/or wind = I don't have to go out regardless to get anything - I can just stay in the warm and dry and wait it out.

I always use in person tills at the supermarket - after all I've been there/experienced that re employers trying to save themselves money at the employees' expense.

Before Covid, I had decided that technology was surging forward so fast and that I wouldn't use my precious time getting to grips to it ~ but then Covid came, and I realised it was essential for me. So from then on I applied myself and cope much better (but still not as well as my grandchildren).

Yes, I am smart enough to teach young children to read; I am smart enough to pay cash to the little local businesses for small amounts so they do not pay punitive bank charges eating their small profit; I am smart enough not to put banking app on to my phone, which I am constantly putting down/leaving at home, and which would work badly in my local supermarket (yes I have to stand behind some young person who take ages wandering around to get the signal for his loyalty card and then banking app (sigh); I am smart enough to use phone/in person banking, cash and manned tills because use it or lose it comes to mind.

RosiesMawagain

I heard somebody recently even defending Donald Trump against accusations that at 79 he might be “losing it”. “Nonsense” came the reply. “ he may be 79 but has the mental capacity of a 7 year-old” 🤣🤣🤣
(Apologies to all 7- year olds we know.)

Yes, a lot of 7 year-olds are only just learning to apply a thought filter to their mouths, see things a bit black and white, and are naive, and often still have not learned to share, so yes that just about sums it up

Sometimes it pays to be older. I act dumb at the airport and they do all the checking in and baggage checks and weighing for me because I am a poor old lady. Skips the queues,too.

CaroleAnne

My husband is 85 yrs and still running a professional consultancy in AI etc. He has always had an intelligent active mind.
I do not think that one should generalise on ones mental aquity at whatever age as a lot depends on genetic make up good physical health etc.

But what is being reported is extensive sudies that show that on avaerage older people are brighter than they were further into old age than was expected in the past.

Saying this does not mean that there is not immense variation from person to person just as in the past, just that on average. older people are healthier and more alert than people of their current age were a generation or two ago.

My DH is still working on and off as a consultng engineer in the offshore wind industry. On the other hand, my father who died 20 years ago at 92, was still at his death the kingpin of several local groups. But when we tell these particular personal stories of people still able to run businesses etc in old age, they are the stories of individuals in a huge population of people and it is the population facts that tell us what is happeningover all older people, not the individual stories.

CaroleAnne

My husband is 85 yrs and still running a professional consultancy in AI etc. He has always had an intelligent active mind.
I do not think that one should generalise on ones mental aquity at whatever age as a lot depends on genetic make up good physical health etc.

Agreed.

My husband is well over 80, takes time away from his business, but is still active in all decisions. I do all his money and bidding at over 80.

RosiesMawagain

I heard somebody recently even defending Donald Trump against accusations that at 79 he might be “losing it”. “Nonsense” came the reply. “ he may be 79 but has the mental capacity of a 7 year-old” 🤣🤣🤣
(Apologies to all 7- year olds we know.)

Agree 100% ..

However, his level of cruelty, fascism, bullying, phishing and satanic sadistic behaviour is appalling.

Ha ha ha!

But is this more to do with the type of people they are (a tad lazy maybe?) Than their age. I know plenty of women in their 80's and even 90's who are perfectly competent.

Elegran

Seven-year-olds is an exaggeration.

I'd put it nearer the terrible twos, or at most the forceful fours. By seven they are beginning to learn a few genuine facts about the world and their relation to the rest of it.

Yes, I think the meme I mentioned was Trump having a Terrible Twos Tantrum or perhaps the Thunderous Threes.

Yes, most seven year olds can be quite engaging, but not all. Some, apparently, can be monstrous - hearing tales from primary school.

Under legal frameworks like the Mental Capacity Act (in the UK), the formal assessment of mental capacity generally applies to individuals aged 16 and over. For a 7-year-old, "capacity" refers to their developmental stage rather than a legal ability to make complex, binding decisions. While they can make daily, low-stakes decisions (e.g., choosing clothes, selecting games), they typically lack the cognitive maturity to weigh long-term consequences….
I think this tells us all we need to know about Trump’s “mental capacity”

My husband is 85 yrs and still running a professional consultancy in AI etc. He has always had an intelligent active mind.
I do not think that one should generalise on ones mental aquity at whatever age as a lot depends on genetic make up good physical health etc.

AuntieE - or anyone else using their buspass via a travel app.

1. So am I right in thinking that means = put an app on your smartphone instead of a buspass?

2. If so - what alternative do they provide for people who don't have a smartphone for whatever reason? (whether it's because they can't use one or can't afford one or whatever else). Do they accept anyone with a buspass card already will continue to use it? What happens about anyone who hasn't been old enough to get a buspass yet if they don't have a smartphone?

Staying alive until the age of 70 or 80 may have something to do with learning as we lived or using common sense, but a lot of it has to do with sheer, dumb luck, surely?

I mean no-one plans to die of cancer at 40, 50 or 60, but we probably all know someone who did.

On the whole our generation expects to live longer than our grandparents, but I don't think I am likely to live much longer than my father, paternal aunt or maternal aunt, as they all lived to the age of 89.

As to what we keep up with of new developments, I have noticed a certain laziness creeping into my life there. I have not (yet) started streaming music because I have a large collection of CDs, or started reading e-books, as having been able to read a conventional book for 70 years, I don't feel the need, but I have just, been forced to downloaded a travel app and ACTUALLY USED IT SUCCESSFULLY twice now, as bus cards are no longer being issued here,

I imagine, I will continue to learn to use the new things I either have to, there being no other choice. or want to, and not bother about others.

That to RosiesMawagain and Allira.

Seven-year-olds is an exaggeration.

I'd put it nearer the terrible twos, or at most the forceful fours. By seven they are beginning to learn a few genuine facts about the world and their relation to the rest of it.

Sadly I know some who proudly state their ignorance of today's digital world. They don't know what they're missing.

Nanny27

Clearly I'm too old to manage to preview and edit my post. Sorry

😂

Nanny27

Still get at the constant suggestions through the media that older people probably can't cope with the Internet, online banking, smart phones etc. Most of these things were commonplace while out generation were still active in the workplace.

Tbf I do know quite a few older women ( don’t know about men) who haven’t a clue how to use a computer, don’t have an iPad and only a very basic phone for emergencies.

Clearly I'm too old to manage to preview and edit my post. Sorry

Still get at the constant suggestions through the media that older people probably can't cope with the Internet, online banking, smart phones etc. Most of these things were commonplace while out generation were still active in the workplace.

RosiesMawagain

I heard somebody recently even defending Donald Trump against accusations that at 79 he might be “losing it”. “Nonsense” came the reply. “ he may be 79 but has the mental capacity of a 7 year-old” 🤣🤣🤣
(Apologies to all 7- year olds we know.)

Oh, that did make me giggle!!

I did see something on Facebook which was a young Trump, aged about seven, smashing up his Lego map of Greenland just because he is always being thwarted in his attempts to buy it!

Apart from health situations that we are unable to govern, it might occur to these people that the fact that we have managed to stay alive for 80 years ,could possibly imply that we have used our brains over the years, learned things as we go and , having survived this long, we might have used our common sense to stay alive! At my age, having been through the usual mix of life events , I now live alone and am able , within reason, to live my life as I choose and there are less stressful situations - unless I watch the idiots like Trump and such like on the news - so it makes sense that we are living longer , as we are living our lives, not sat in a corner doing nothing feeling bored. There are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I would like to do, so I plan to be around for a good while to try out some more things I havent had a go at yet - well sadly accept that I might not manage to learn to ski at my age!