Slashdot Mirror
Old Age Simulator
quackking writes "Tired of being young and healthy? Now you can simulate your own old age. This story describes a sensory-modification suit which, among other things, selectively blocks out certain sound frequencies, and lets you experience arthritis."
This is just a worse case scenario. Look at Sean Connery. He's 72. This would be a good scare tactic for young people who don't take care of themselves.
Simulate arthritis? Make all of you joints ache? Is this what being old is for all of the elderly? I think not, my friend's father is well over 70 years old, but he bikes everyday, works out, and lives an active lifestyle. Sure he doesn't rave every weekend like a 20 year old, but he lives a very fulfilling life. I'm going skiing with him in a week. This article paints a picture that this machine shows how elderly feel, but in my opinion it paints an extreme case. The elderly can have productive pain free lives.
How they do this, is by taking care of themselves while they are young. Eating right and exercising are great ways to keep you body working at peak performance, so when you do get old, everything still works.
This machine would have the people who try it believe that all the elderly feel this bad all the time. It might lead some to think that euthanasia is the answer or that we should treat the elderly as helpless people, unable to even get onto a bike. Perhaps we shouldn't even let them drive.
A better machine would be one that would show the effects of aging based on the wearer's health, fitness, and diet today and project how they would be in 40 years or so with those same habits. It may reinforce their good health now, or for those who are overweight, show them how diabetes, arthritis, and other diseases will stem from their current state. Then the wearer could see how it would feel if they actually took better care of themselves now. Now that would be a good machine for exploring old age.
I plan on living a long, healthy life.
This suit won't apply to me personally. Some people, yes. But those people are the same folks who eat fast-food once or twice a day, never exercise, don't have any spiritual beliefs or practices.
Jack La Lanne is nearly 100 years old, yet he looks 65 and still works out every day. I was born in the 1970s, and I plan on living well into my 120s and 130s. I'm not kidding.
- Eat healthy food. Pretend you're a car. Would you put sugar into your gas tank? Of course not. So don't eat junk food either.
- Exercise. It keeps your mind clean and your body healthy.
- Listen to music. It soothes the soul. Playing music is even better.
- Smile a lot. Be happy. Happy people live longer. They like being alive!
- Have sex/masturbate frequently. The chemicals released during sexual activity make you feel better and aid normal day-to-day activities.
- Don't smoke.
- Don't drink.
- Have beliefs. There has to be some spiritual basis in your mind. You don't have to be Catholic or anything, but that doesn't mean you can't do yoga or pray to some higher power.
Quit your Coca-Cola + Frito Lay + Computer habit that dominates many of your lives. I eat pears, apple slices with peanut butter, celery & peanut butter, raisins, nuts, cereal, etc. while at the computer. Most of you probably don't. Ditch those M&Ms for some healthy trail mix!
Oh God, and please smile too! Life isn't that rough. It'll be better if you take things as they come. Just ENJOY being alive! Life is interesting if nothing else.
And keep games to moderation. This includes Slashdot. Too much of any one thing is bad. Life your life in moderation. Sleep well!
Good things will come, and you and I will still be roaming these hills for 100+ years to come!
This suit is designed specifically to give manufacturers an idea of the ease of use of their products, by people that are elderly.
Yes you may know some 70 year olds that are fitter then 30 year olds, but there are alot that have trouble performing everyday tasks.
This suit is a pretty neat idea on how to make better design choices.
Contrary to the fantasies of the young, much of how you feel as you age depends on luck and genetics, not lifestyle. Lifestyle certainly counts, but we don't even know what is best. For example, exercise a lot and if you aren't lucky and careful, you will have *more* arthritis as you age. Eat well and when you get old you may discover that what was thought was eating well was no longer the best.
I had the misfortune to contract an intestinal infection relatively young. It triggered an autoimmune disorder that has caused me trouble for over 20 years. Lifestyle had nothing to do with it! Now I am an old fart with arthritis (and not from overexercising I guarantee you!). Friends of mine who were in took care of themselves are dead from various causes (cancer, stroke, etc).
People want to believe they are immortal and in control of things. I see this the most in pilots (which I used to be) as they analyze how *they* wouldn't make the stupid mistakes that just killed one of their peers. The cult of exercise is a similar psychological phenomenon. A lot of people believe, deep down, that if they exercise well and eat the right stuff (and maybe avoid pesticides or power plants, or wear tin hats when the UFOs fly over), they will live forever... or at least long enough that they need not consider their mortality. I think this is one reason that people have such extreme emotional reactions to certain kinds of risk - such as nuclear power or trace chemical contaminants.
There is no doubt that moderate exercise is better than no exercise, and that overweight is worse than not being overweight. Beyond that, it's far less clear what to do. Probably the most important determinant, for someone in our prosperous society, is what parents they chose.
The only good weather is bad weather.
I see people talking about manufactures using those to test how old people would feel inside their cars or whatever. Okay, I understand somebody might try this thing out of curiosity, but car manufacturers? Wouldn't it be easier to pay a few old people?
Really, In my old age I plan to have sufered a car accident leaving me paralyzed from the waist down. Will this simulate that??
It would be nice if our joints stiffened on a predictable schedule. If we all had arthritis with the same severity at the same age.
I can understand where this might aid in usability studies and the like (of course, you could just hire 75 year olds to test products) but I worry that statements like Julia's could have the opposite effect. The young believeing that every elderly person is some sort of invalid. Statements such as "I could barely buy a rail ticket" implies that anyone over the age of 60 is incapable of being fit and lively.
Heck, why not design a suit that simulates being thirtyish. Give everyone a bad back, too little sleep, make the joints in the suit pop incessantly between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. Put twenty pounds in the thighs and belly of the suit, and small needles in the ass to simulate your newly found irritable bowel and hemorroids. A visor that slightly blurrs the vision to simulate staring at a monitor all day and that monday hangover you get from trying to prove you can still party. Same pins in the hand to simulate your carpal tunnel.
"I couldn't even ride a bike!" says Julia, 18. "After sitting for 8 hours in that office chair staring at a monitor, My back hurt too bad, and the bike seat aggrivated my Hemmoroids." Another user concluded "I couldn't even buy a rail ticket. My eyes were exhausted from staring into a CRT all day, I couldn't read the schedule, and benefits and taxes consumed so much of my pay check that I could barely afford the rail anyway."
The Thirty-something suit should also include a 25 lb. weight that is strapped on the chest when they get home to simulate their children.
I guess as much as we know that this is not every thirty year old, we should realize that the "Old Suit" is not every elderly person. Also, we need to realize that over time you become accustomed to your joints becoming stiff, you eyesight fading. To have it happen in 30 seconds as opposed to 30 years is bound to have a more drastic effect.
~Hammy
If you exercise moderately and don't smoke, you'll extend your life somewhat and are at lower risk of some unpleasant diseases. Beyond that, it's out of your control.
I used to be that way when I was coding hours on end. Then I took up racquetball with a friend of mine and played a few times a week. It really does wonders for your body. After the first few days I was aching like crazy (I wasn't very good at first), but after a few more times my body got used to it, got better at playing and I had a _lot_ more energy. So, I recommend taking up a sport or something. Racquetball is a good sport: it's indoors, has nice air-conditioned courts, you can play it regardless of the weather, it's far more interesting than running, and it's great fun.