Introduction
When an individual reaches sixty-five, it is regarded as being in the late adulthood age bracket. The mid-sixties is a stretched development phase across a lifetime, and individuals within this age group are increasingly expanding (Erber, 2020). Clocking extreme ages such as one hundred years is often difficult. The number of persons globally with centenaries is few, indicating the complexity of reaching this age.
However, some places have recorded more persons in late adulthood, especially one hundred years old and beyond. The secret to such a mind-boggling feat has only remained a misery, with various concepts put forward to explain it. Psychologist Pinker explores the secrets of a long life in her stimulating talk show to unlock the reasons for such longevity in some regions.
TED Talk Summary
In her viral TED talk, “The secret to living longer may be your social life,” Psychologist Susan Pinker discusses some ways of extending lifespan. In a remote village in the blue zone of Sardinia, there are ten times as many centenaries as in North America and six times more than in mainland Italy. Pinker believes the secret to keeping the islanders healthy and living longer is not a gluten-free diet, a sunny disposition, or a low-fat diet.
Contrarily, she stresses the significance of social connections and face-to-face contact as a secret to a healthier and longer life, especially in this period of virtual connections and disbanded families (Pinker, 2017). The speaker continues to give inspirational insights touching on the issue of longevity.
She appears dedicated to revealing every secret to assist any individual world to live for one hundred years or beyond. Her interest in the matter was ignited by conversing with older persons who have clocked over one hundred years. Pinker established that all the older adults interviewed had expressive social relations, but others who died while younger did not exhibit this character. Astoundingly, conditions such as obesity were the third-ranked predictor of longevity, while the best predictors were social interactions and close relationships.
Reflection on Content and Major Highlights, Supported by Textbook
Contributors of Healthy and Longer Life
While giving an inspiring talk to the listeners, Pinker states some fascinating facts, although astonishing. The speaker reveals that individuals with active social interactions possess higher chances of longer living. The finding completely differs from the documented contributors to a healthy and longer life.
Beyer and Lazzara (2020) discuss key players in improving life quality, encompassing reducing stress, stopping smoking, exercising, consuming vegetables and fruit, and lowering the intake of alcohol. Reducing stress is crucial not only in late adulthood but also in early life. Despite observing all these factors, reaching one hundred years still becomes a mirage except for a few individuals.
Life Expectancy
From a clear perspective, global life expectancy, the average number of years an individual lives, is still low compared to that of Sardinia islanders. Specifically, life expectancy is roughly 53 years in developing nations and 84 years in developed countries (Beyer & Lazzara, 2020). While reducing societal stressors may increase life expectancy, the situation has always changed. For instance, the life expectancy in the U.S. before COVID-19 stood at about 79 years, while the present average world life expectancy in 2021 was about 73 years (Beyer & Lazzara, 2020). However, it is tremendous to learn that Islanders at Sardinia defy the odds to have more centenaries than any other place in the world. It piques everyone’s interest to comprehend the explanations behind this magnificent phenomenon.
In another scenario, the talk details how women live longer than men. The primary explanation for this situation is that women are highly likely to groom and prioritize face-to-face interactions across their lifespan. It is believed that in-person connections establish a biological force field over disease. The situation is not just common in human beings but also in primates. Joan Silk, an anthropologist, illustrates that reduced stress makes people live longer (Pinker, 2017). The lower life expectancy in men is attributed to poorer focus on health, higher levels of stress, more engagement in dangerous jobs, and higher deaths following suicide, homicide, and accidents.
The Concept of Aging
Various theories have been suggested to explain the science of aging, the longevity of life, and death. DNA damage, protein cross-linking, and genetic aspects are linked to explain reduced lifecycle (Erber, 2020). For instance, according to Giovani, a biomedical scientist, genetics accounts for about 25 percent of the differences that result in an increased lifespan in the Sardinia region. In comparison, culture accounts for 75 percent (Pinker, 2017). Pinker shows that the community lives in closely spaced apartments, intertwined lanes, and streets (Pinker, 2017). The phenomenon also contributes to increased interaction among the villagers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Pinker’s talk was insightful towards understanding the longevity of life among individuals. The main question worth pondering is what humans should do to ensure reaching one hundred years and beyond. Pinker trusts that the Sardinia people were doing something right and worth emulating if a person wanted to hit the unthinkable years.
The speaker established that lonely life is not part of the everyday lives of the residents in this location. They embraced social engagements and in-person interactions that are increasingly reducing in many parts of the world. Therefore, the findings show that human interactions significantly contribute to longevity and should always be upheld.
References
Beyer, A., & Lazzara, J. (2020). Psychology through the lifespan. Pressbooks.
Erber, J. T. (2020). Aging and older adulthood. Wiley.
Pinker, S. (2017). The secret to living longer may be your social life [Video]. Ted. Web.