Ah… if only I could stay young… instead of faking it.

No kidding! It’s actually true that our brains change with age. There was a report that said forty percent of your brain cells are lost with age but that’s actually not true…
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Something the middle aged brain is better at doing is recognizing the central idea or big picture. So if the brain is in good shape, it can build pathways that allow it to recognize patterns and their significance and find a solution faster than a young person.

This is an excerpt from a 10 page article from 2010 State of the World, transforming Cultures, From Consumerism to Sustainability.  If, like me, you may feel there is something missing in the cultures of today’s world, that will preserve what we feel is good about our lives; you might get some ideas about what it is from this article. 

Elders: A Cultural Resource for Promoting Sustainable Development
Judi Aubel, The Worldwatch Institute

Respecting the Wisdom of Elders
A community elder in southern Senegal recently lamented the fact that development programs rarely pay attention to local cultural values: “There have been so many programs carried out in our community: to build more school classrooms; to construct a health center; to teach us how to grow more vegetables,how to prevent disease, about the importance of sending girls to school, and of planting trees.” His testimony reflects the trend toward carefully targeted development programs that aim to produce “tangible and quantifiable results” corresponding to donor and government priorities but that may fail to address other less tangible cultural parameters that may be equally important for the survival of the communities the programs aim to support. In spite of rhetoric about the need for “culturally adapted” approaches, development policies and programs often unknowingly convey a set of western values that may be counterproductive to the long-term social development and survival of non-western societies. 

One specific and decisive facet of non-western cultures that is rarely even dealt within discussions on culture and development is the central role played by elders in socializing younger generations, passing on indigenous knowledge and cultural values, and ensuring the stability and survival of their societies.The late Andreas Fuglesang, a well-known leader in development communication, referred to the essential role played by elder community members in more traditional societies as the “information processing unit” of a community. As Malian philosopher Amadou Hampâté Bâ notes,“When an elder person dies in Africa, it is as though a whole library had burned down.”

More

The Cliche’ (Cliches can be an enjoyable way to spend your time, but there are other opportunities too.)

Elderly people in modern society
Angels Web, Helium.com

“Old” Age is nothing like it used to be! Older people want to get out, enjoy life and just have fun. There is a dance called the “Chicken” and I have seen eighty and ninety year old people, squat like they were laying an egg, and then stand up and do it again. These are the same people who entered the room with canes and were complaining about their aches and pains. I agree with my Mother; I wish for all older people to live their lives to the fullest. Their kids should not be telling them how to behave for their age. My Mom was always a lot of fun to be around. She enjoyed and appreciated all the wonders in life. We both believe that life should be lived to its fullest, and that we should never take the time to waste even a moment!

The Talents of a Middle-Aged Brain
By Tara Parker-Pope, NYTimes.com

After we hit 40, many of us begin to worry about our aging brains. Will we spend our middle years searching for car keys and forgetting names?

If you Google “Roles of Elders” or similar phrases, you will find a voluminous collection of relevant material.

Yes we will do Current Events!  As I write this They have three miners up from the depth of the mine in Chile.  (What is similar and what is different on the flags of Texas and Chile, and what about Cuba’s?)

The offshore drilling Moratorium is Lifted! Really?  No not really. (Our president is just having fun with us.) Anybody who wants to drill must meet a lot of new regulations before they can get a permit.  And nobody seems to know just what all those new regulations will be. It’ll be a while. 

And of course there is more