I Can’t Believe It’s Science (for Feb. 26, 2007)
A recent study out of the University of Virginia concluded that not only are older adults more likely than young people to make errors in recollection, but they are also more confident that their memories are accurate.
(Via Seed Magazine)
Continue reading at above link. Seeing only one perspective – one’s own – can be the danger of getting old, although plenty of young people exhibit that kind of calcification. Training or practicing one’s ability to step into a different perspective becomes very important. A Big Mind board-game would be interesting – Monopoly meets Big Mind…
Stepping outside one’s own little sphere, opening up one’s world, developing compassion by putting oneself in other’s shoes etc… it all comes down to becoming flexible and remaining flexible. Meditation helps. It’s calisthenics for the mind, or mind-yoga if you like. I find that I have to remain constantly vigilant, because the mind likes to apply past experience, rather than being open and examining each case individually.
Oh, how lucky I am that I have such a rotten memory. Every experience for me is brand new again. I’ll call myself flexible instead of senile : ) Thanks.
Hmm…I don’t know if I’m so sure that seeing only one’s own perspective is a sign of age–old or young–at all.
Thanks for another little nugget. These are your best posts :)
Adam – not only are older adults more likely than young people to make errors in recollection, but they are also more confident that their memories are accurate…
I think that’s pretty clear, don’t you? I read this to mean that just as our bodies become less naturally limber and flexible with age, our minds do, too. What I would find interesting is whether the “confidence” increases with the “calcification”. And, does the calcification (inflexibility) create more confidence, or does the confidence create more calcification…
yes, i agree that the mind needs to be excercised throughout life in order to
maintain its natural flexibility (i too have found meditation to be helpful)
what does it take to be open and willing to experience new things and ideas as well as be willing to accept that what you think you know at any given time may not be the way things are? courage.. trust?
with age and for various reasons some people experience contraction and become limited (physically and mentally) and lose the full range of mind and body…perhaps the “confidence” is an avoidance of the aknowledgement of the calcification?
So many of our thoughts are there by habits formed over the years and we bring all of that to each new experience. However, there is always more to things than what we think we see/hear/feel – no matter how flexible we are, we can never get it truly right… but what do i know? (smile)