For our fifth fieldwork, Ben and I had an online meeting with Deborah Heiser. Throughout the meeting, Deborah, a clinical psychologist that specializes in aging, helped us understand the process of aging. Deborah started off the meeting by asking us what “old” is. When I answered 65, and ben answered 60, she told us that she thought “old” was 80. She then explained that everyone thinks of “old” as a different age. A three year old might think 45 is old, while a 10 year old might think 13 is old. No Matter what, we all think of aging in a different way. She then went on to explain how growing old really works. She drew a graph, showing the mental state of a senior versus the physical state. The graph started at birth, with the physical and mental state both at zero. Both of these progressed about equally until age 65. At 65 the physical state started to drop, but the mental state still progressed. She explained to us that while society might think of seniors as “weak” or “inferior” beings, their mental state is stronger than ever, and their wisdom is actually profound.
