Study: Old Age Begins at 27
telegraph.co.uk
Study: Old Age Begins at 27
1–10 of 76 posts
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#2If true, and I don't know enough about this area to comment, but if so, it seems for optimum gene selection, people should procreate (or at least freeze their genetic material in a lab for future use) prior to this age.
I have often thought that perhaps the rise in mental disorders in children such as autism could be related to people waiting until later in life to have children, at which point, their DNA has already begun to break down. Studies showing that the oldest child in a family tends to also have a higher IQ is consistent with this. The younger you are when you reproduce, the more fit your genes are, and therefore the smarter, healthier, etc. your children are likely to be. Economic pressures now make people wait until later to reproduce than they did a generation or two ago, but this could be counteracted by saving genetic material in a lab when one is young, then later, when one is economically ready to reproduce, one can make use of the stored material to do so. It is unlikely in the near future that people will all of a sudden want to go back to having kids right out of high school, so, for optimum gene selection, they should at least save off their genetic material (sperm, eggs) for future use. Otherwise, going forward, the average intelligence of the populace is likely to decline.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#3This makes sense. Most Paleolithic members of the species Homo sapiens were dead by age forty, so there hasn't been much selection pressure to favor human beings preserving health or their faculties much past that age. I'm living on borrowed time, being almost twice as old as the headlined age. On the other hand, some people decline more or less rapidly, and from a better or worse base, so fifty-year-olds can still outsmart twenty-seven-year-olds in specific cases.
"However, the report published in the academic journal Neurobiology Of Ageing, found that abilities based on accumulated knowledge, such as performance on tests of vocabulary or general information, increased until at the age of 60."
Live life to the fullest while you can appreciate it.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#4If true, and I don't know enough about this area to comment, but if so, it seems for optimum gene selection, people should procreate (or at least freeze their genetic material in a lab for future use) prior to this age. I have often thought that perhaps the rise in mental disorders in children such as autism could be related to people waiting until later in life to have children, at which point, their DNA has already…
What you say is consistent with what I said in my comment. I would point out, regarding storing genetic material, that I think the studies so far have not shown a large enough effect size from age on sperm to be sure that storing sperm (which has its own damaging effects in some cases) results in a better trade-off. But the general evolutionary picture would favor marrying and reproducing at younger rather than older ages.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#5Lately we're finding good arguments for the idea that people start declining in abilities earlier than we thought.
At the same time, there's a lot of work being done on life extension.
What happens if we extend life to, say, 150 and what we get is this long, 100-year decline into complete cognitive paralysis?
I'm 43 and I don't feel like I'm losing it. In fact, in some ways I feel more cognitively adept than I was at 27. When I was 27 I was quicker on my feet, but there wasn't a depth there. Now, at least to me, I feel that I have a lot more weight to my decisions and actions. I dunno - tough subject. It could be, like the pot discussion, that I simply feel this way.
I do know that if cognitive decline is going to be defined as starting in the late 20s, we're going to start seeing a lot of middle-aged people getting medicated for age-related cognitive issues in the near future.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#6> Twenty-seven has long had negative connotations, as it is the age at which many popular musicians died, including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain.
Twenty seven is an interesting age. This much I knew for years before reaching it, and turned out to be true. I don't really know why, but it sortof makes sense. It's when you go from being a young man to a real adult. Strangely though, for me it was not filled with responsabilities, on the contrary.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#7If true, and I don't know enough about this area to comment, but if so, it seems for optimum gene selection, people should procreate (or at least freeze their genetic material in a lab for future use) prior to this age. I have often thought that perhaps the rise in mental disorders in children such as autism could be related to people waiting until later in life to have children, at which point, their DNA has already…
I don't know enough about this area to comment
The study you're thinking of about the oldest child having a higher IQ (3 points higher on average) made a point that it was nurture, not nature.
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#8It's never too late to start anything - developing yourself is a function of time and passion:
http://www.unlikelysalsero.com/2007/08/magic-of-time-last-on...
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
-Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
No matter what age you are, I think this is important.
How often (daily? weekly?) do you think about your self image, attitudes, actions, beliefs, relationships, and recurring thoughts?
I didn't want to get all Mike Litman on you but..
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#9[deleted]
Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27
#10Lately we're finding good arguments for the idea that people start declining in abilities earlier than we thought. At the same time, there's a lot of work being done on life extension. What happens if we extend life to, say, 150 and what we get is this long, 100-year decline into complete cognitive paralysis? I'm 43 and I don't feel like I'm losing it. In fact, in some ways I feel more cognitively adept than I was at…
And about your last point: this is a good thing. :) I can't wait.