experience under our belts, our vision for what is essential for happiness gets much narrower. Life becomes much simpler. We do lose things like strong hearing and we do struggle with some other physical setbacks, but those things don't qualify us as unintelligent. The most healthy of older generations practice selective optimization much more than those who are not healthy. Older adults can select fewer and more meaningful goals and activities, optimize their existing abilities through practice, and compensate for the losses of some abilities by finding other ways to accomplish tasks. My grandparents are the perfect representations of both examples. As my grandmother has gotten older and her health declines, she has become more and more reclusive. She always says that she isn't capable of doing the things that she was once very active in doing. Then there is my grandpa, who in his younger days was one of the most aggressive and active skiers I have ever met. Even just after retiring he was going skiing every day. He has now passed into his 80's and while he can't physically handle the level of activity he once had, he still works at the resorts he frequented as a mountain guide several times a week. He is generally a very happy man and I think it is the practice of selective optimization that allows him to feel that way.
experience under our belts, our vision for what is essential for happiness gets much narrower. Life becomes much simpler. We do lose things like strong hearing and we do struggle with some other physical setbacks, but those things don't qualify us as unintelligent. The most healthy of older generations practice selective optimization much more than those who are not healthy. Older adults can select fewer and more meaningful goals and activities, optimize their existing abilities through practice, and compensate for the losses of some abilities by finding other ways to accomplish tasks. My grandparents are the perfect representations of both examples. As my grandmother has gotten older and her health declines, she has become more and more reclusive. She always says that she isn't capable of doing the things that she was once very active in doing. Then there is my grandpa, who in his younger days was one of the most aggressive and active skiers I have ever met. Even just after retiring he was going skiing every day. He has now passed into his 80's and while he can't physically handle the level of activity he once had, he still works at the resorts he frequented as a mountain guide several times a week. He is generally a very happy man and I think it is the practice of selective optimization that allows him to feel that way.