News from the Unscripted Self

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen,

Einstein

the colours of autumn are calling

The Power of Belief

But I’ve often mused, could it apply to things like aging, and death also? Or are these immutable laws of nature?

At a point in our lives we start to slow down, we notice change, we feel more aches and pains. But is this natural or does it happen because it’s what we expect? The fact that we see evidence of age and aging all around us is merely the universe confirming our belief to us (this is true by the way no matter what you believe).

But what if we believed something different?

An experiment was carried out some time back in the US that set out to show that the aging process itself was subject to belief and conditioning. A select group was brought to a hotel which was designed to look as it did in the 1970s, the décor was changed to that time, the music played was all from the '70s, the staff were trained to speak and use mannerisms and words in vogue then. No detail was overlooked. Everything was made to appear as if it were that time. No one was allowed to talk about current affairs. Old newspapers from the time were left out so that people could read the ‘current’ news and debate that.

It seems like a lot of playfulness, and maybe that’s all it was, but as time passed an amazing thing started to happen. Many of the participants suddenly began to feel younger. Aches and pains simply disappeared. Even arthritis and more serious ailments lessened. People were up dancing who hadn’t danced for years and some people even started looking younger. It was even reported that flagging libido was reversed!

So could it be that age itself is just a trick?

I accept that for this to be scientifically authenticated more rigorous tests would have to be done, including double blind tests and such like. Plus the participants knew in advance what was happening and were willing players (perhaps their level of awareness was higher than the average). But it still is fascinating.

For one thing it shows the power of belief in our lives. And much of that (maybe too much) comes from the environment we live in. People buy into the ‘I’m getting old now’ story far too easily. Because of the emphasis on youth today you see people getting old in their forties, but in past times and other civilisations you were considered young in your seventies, and people were still very active then, could walk for long distances, and didn’t have the diseases and ailments we associate with that age today.

So is age real, or is it just something we believe. What do you think?

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing, George Bernard Shaw

What was I saying?

Reading Room

Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.

That's all folks

Take care,