“There he sat with his hand on the tiller in the sun, staring at the Lighthouse, powerless to move, powerless to flick off these grains of misery which settled on his mind one after another.
Many of the studies on aging using traditional psychometrics, e.g. IQ tests, confound time failures with content failures. Unforunately, normative data does not allow for untangling this confound. But, given that the aging process slows speed of response, failure to discriminate these results in assignment of cognitive decline to what is probably more realistically, a slowed, but possibly more reflective, speed of processing.
Rebecca! What a wonderful surprise to receive your email and read about your exciting research! You are your father’s daughter and great minds think alike! It is hard to believe he is 85 but not at all hard to believe that he is still working tirelessly to design and create sustainable ways to save the environment. Your work is equally amazing and impressive! I am turning SEVENTY (OMG!) in October. I am thrilled to know that I am not necessarily destined to become a senile old lady. I’d like to think I have many years of relevant life experience and that my creative mind is still very much alive. Your research is beyond intriguing. Thank you for including me in your post! So great to hear from you! Love, Merle
Rebecca, I met your dad and mom about 14 years ago at a conference in Fort Lauderdale. I had the privilege of being able to speak with them for about an hour. I learned a lot from both of them and realized that brilliant ideas are usually shared in the simplest of terms. It is a pleasure to read your story. Being 68 years old, a lot of what your father has experienced with his ideas, looking for the fatal flaw so he can tear it apart first before some one else does and then where the funding would come from are common themes. I know this path only too well. I will take to heart your analysis of the aging mind and creativity and not be so hard on myself for those momentary lapses of memory as well as the idea that many of our best ideas are gestated by a younger self but need the confidence of age and experience to fully pursue them. Write on, I shall read! Thanks!
Thank you so much for alerting me to this. I loved it for so many reasons!
Fascinating and of course it's right: the whole idea of assessing the aging mind by different standards than those of a young person...
Some of what you described about how an aged mind operates is similar to how some parts of an ADHD mind works...And we see the ADHD mind as a different kind of mind... not a bad mind: A neurodivergence.
Your work life much be so great Rebecca!
I also loved hearing about John: My time with him and your mother is a treasure to me.
Was fascinated, too, to hear his perspective that what limitations there were to his creativity were the function of a lack of confidence or fear of ridicule... I get it! (I didn't put that together back when, but of course his taking such a divergent path from the academia he came through must have been hard.)
Joan lovely to hear from you. I've been thinking about you lately! I was also thinking about the link the ADHD mind (as the proud owner of one, and supervisor of many student proud owners). I found one paper directly linking ADHD to creativity and would love to hunt that line of research down further. One of the undergraduate students in my lab is doing a small qualitative study on the relationship between ADHD and food (and culture) which is turning out to be really interesting. She should be posting a podcast based on that here soon.
And I was also really interested to learn about the whole role confidence has played in my dad's creativity - that was new to me too.
I'd love to learn more about what you're up to these days!
Many of the studies on aging using traditional psychometrics, e.g. IQ tests, confound time failures with content failures. Unforunately, normative data does not allow for untangling this confound. But, given that the aging process slows speed of response, failure to discriminate these results in assignment of cognitive decline to what is probably more realistically, a slowed, but possibly more reflective, speed of processing.
Ohhh great point!
Rebecca! What a wonderful surprise to receive your email and read about your exciting research! You are your father’s daughter and great minds think alike! It is hard to believe he is 85 but not at all hard to believe that he is still working tirelessly to design and create sustainable ways to save the environment. Your work is equally amazing and impressive! I am turning SEVENTY (OMG!) in October. I am thrilled to know that I am not necessarily destined to become a senile old lady. I’d like to think I have many years of relevant life experience and that my creative mind is still very much alive. Your research is beyond intriguing. Thank you for including me in your post! So great to hear from you! Love, Merle
Merle! Wonderful to hear from you! What are you up to these days? Speaking of creativity - are you still playing music/doing design?
Rebecca, I met your dad and mom about 14 years ago at a conference in Fort Lauderdale. I had the privilege of being able to speak with them for about an hour. I learned a lot from both of them and realized that brilliant ideas are usually shared in the simplest of terms. It is a pleasure to read your story. Being 68 years old, a lot of what your father has experienced with his ideas, looking for the fatal flaw so he can tear it apart first before some one else does and then where the funding would come from are common themes. I know this path only too well. I will take to heart your analysis of the aging mind and creativity and not be so hard on myself for those momentary lapses of memory as well as the idea that many of our best ideas are gestated by a younger self but need the confidence of age and experience to fully pursue them. Write on, I shall read! Thanks!
Thank you Valerie. That's wonderful to hear. Create on! -Beck
Rebecca--
Thank you so much for alerting me to this. I loved it for so many reasons!
Fascinating and of course it's right: the whole idea of assessing the aging mind by different standards than those of a young person...
Some of what you described about how an aged mind operates is similar to how some parts of an ADHD mind works...And we see the ADHD mind as a different kind of mind... not a bad mind: A neurodivergence.
Your work life much be so great Rebecca!
I also loved hearing about John: My time with him and your mother is a treasure to me.
Was fascinated, too, to hear his perspective that what limitations there were to his creativity were the function of a lack of confidence or fear of ridicule... I get it! (I didn't put that together back when, but of course his taking such a divergent path from the academia he came through must have been hard.)
Wow. Sending love and thanks again...
(Joan Wilder(
Joan lovely to hear from you. I've been thinking about you lately! I was also thinking about the link the ADHD mind (as the proud owner of one, and supervisor of many student proud owners). I found one paper directly linking ADHD to creativity and would love to hunt that line of research down further. One of the undergraduate students in my lab is doing a small qualitative study on the relationship between ADHD and food (and culture) which is turning out to be really interesting. She should be posting a podcast based on that here soon.
And I was also really interested to learn about the whole role confidence has played in my dad's creativity - that was new to me too.
I'd love to learn more about what you're up to these days!