Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is 90 years old, is being treated at a hospital in Iowa for an infection, his office announced Tuesday.

  • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The 80 to 90 year olds in your life are for the most part not like the 80 to 90 year olds in Congress.

    Study after study on aging and mental acuity proves that how you occupy your brain day to day in your younger years pretty much predicts how lucid and sharp you will be in old age.

    These are my personal observations: I know a lot of old people. Aside from being a fly fisherman, a sport dominated by old guys, for many years I represented old people in legal cases against certain product manufacturers. By and large, guys who were engineers, say, are much sharper, have better memory, are less angry, and more rational. Similarly, the smartest and wisest old people I know are were career trial lawyers and judges. They had careers that demand intense focus, analysis, and memory, and they are sharper and quicker mentally than many thirty-somethings that I know.

    Plenty of young people spend the day bouncing from one distraction or vice to the next, punching the clock, and basically spend their lives regressing and their brains get soft.

    • tory@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      He’s looking sharp as a tack, alright. Now shut up and color, kids. You’re nowhere near as mentally up to it as these pros.

      Okay now, if someone could please help the honorable gentleman from Kentucky with his diaper… thank you!

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Fluid intelligence declines with age beginning at 30, no amount of brain training can prevent an 80 year old from having meaningful and significant cognitive decline.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      LOL you gave a whole lot of anecdotes. Yes, being active and mentally engaged CAN decrease the effects of aging and prolong life. There is no guarantee, however. You see this with people who smoke for decades and are perfectly fine while that vegan you know who does yoga every day suddenly died of cancer.