Several factors shaping the healthy aging process operate undercover – outside the domain of full conscious thought. We could start with a quotation from David Eagleman, Stanford professor, prominent brain expert and successful entrepreneur: “The conscious mind thinks that it is the captain of the ship when in fact, it is nothing more than a stowaway.”
One of these ‘undercover’ dimensions is the influence of our social network. Humans are social beings. Our species and our direct evolutionary ancestors managed survival for a couple of million years by collaborating for the hunt, for rearing the young and for common defense. Tribes who were successful at these tasks survived to breed more children and dominate control over precious resources like water sources.
Barack Obama spoke at the services celebrating the life Nelson Mandela. He focused on the South African term “ubuntu.” He explained:
“Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. Ubuntu, a word that captures Mandela’s greatest gift, refers to his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.”
Take note of his reference to “ways that are invisible to the eye.”
Nobel Prize winning psychologist ** Daniel Kahneman offered this insight: “Most of us feel that we believe what we believe because we have reasons to believe it. That is, to a very large extent, an illusion. We believe what we believe mostly because we believe in what people we like and trust believe. We believe what we’re taught to believe. Reasons come later. … The idea that we hold reasonable beliefs is an illusion.”
Loyalty to the tribe became one of the most valued character traits. Anyone violating that cultural norm risked ostracism. This dynamic has a major impact on our social norms to this day. Contemporary politics demonstrates this reality every week.
In 1942, Walter Bradford Cannon, a Harvard professor, published an article in The American Anthropologist titled ‘Voodoo Death.’ The article cited numerous specific instances in which individuals who violated group norms had been ostracized and were dead shortly thereafter.
Social status and respect continue to be one of the most powerful dynamics in modern society as exemplified in the controversy surrounding social media websites. (Meta / Facebook was recently subjected to a judicial order to pay a $567 million fine in addition to an original ruling ordering it to pay a $375 million fine for endangering child safety.)
A recent New York Times article described the suicide crisis in Wyoming. Rural states like Wyoming, Montana and Alaska have double the average suicide rate in the U.S. Cultural influences play a prominent role. “In a state that glorifies “tough guy” personas, admitting to a problem can feel dangerous, said a businessman who has struggled with suicidal thoughts. He feared that his friends and colleagues would think less of him if they found out about his depression. In that culture, you don’t show any weakness or you’re pretty much shunned,” he said.”
Healthy aging outcomes are constructed on a three-legged platform:
- Regular physical activity
- Activities that challenge your brain, and,
- Rich social networks that support the belief that you can shape the quality of your life in later life decades.
What kind of social support do you have for each of these ‘pillars’ of healthy aging?
** Careful observers of the Nobel Prize experience might note that there is no prize for Behavioral Science. They would be correct. Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics. He was a founding father of the now popular Behavioral Economics field.
This article was originally published in CHOICES For Fifty Plus, a Dubuque area magazine for people that are 50 and older. Single copies are available at Dubuque area newsstands or click here to read the digital version of the latest issue.
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