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There is way too much acceptance and compensation in the way people approach problems relating to old age. It just doesn't exist in other fields in the same way

There is way too much acceptance and compensation in the way people approach problems relating to old age. It just doesn't exist in other fields in the same way. So much is done atop the axiom that whatever is wrong with the old - in a biological, physical sense - is set in stone and cannot be changed, and thus, collectively, vast resources are addressed to coping or compensating rather than addressing. Problems should be solved, not papered over.

kbenson 10y ago
On the one hand, I agree that aging and the problems associated with it are often treated as unavoidable to the future detriment of us all, but on the other hand, it's also definitely investing our time and effort where we get the most return (given that we're pretty sure we'll get a return, which isn't necessarily true of trying to eliminate the ills of old age).
- zardo 10y ago
  My grandparents watch people 15 years younger than them get fat on the cafeteria food served in their retirement community, and move down the hall to more and more involved nursing care until they die of heart failure. Most diseases of old age are diseases of lifestyle, we know how to cure them, we just don't know how to get people to take the medicine.
  - 794CD01 10y ago
    Most of the time we also know how to get people to take the medicine, but an outdated code of ethics prevents us from doing it.
    - emiliobumachar 10y ago
      What do you mean? Could you please elaborate?
      - Something1234 10y ago
        He means forcing them. It's for your own good. It's taking the decision out of their hands.
        794CD01 10y ago
        Their hands are not the problem, it's the brain driving those hands that shouldn't be trusted.
      - 794CD01 10y ago
        I mean that we expect patients to provide "informed consent" to medical treatment, something which is impossible because the vast majority of patients are not physicians, and even those who are will usually not be experts in the relevant specialty. Most of the time, patients have the sense to trust and listen to their doctors. However, sometimes they do not, and the fact that the option exists means that a vital skill for physicians has become the ability to persuade patients into accepting the right treatment, a skill which is largely orthogonal to the one of deciding what the right treatment is. For a concrete example, all you have to do is look at the recent outbreaks of measles due to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.
m_mueller 10y ago
I think this podcast may give you a different perspective: [1]. It's not particularly about old age, but about how trying to just solve someone's condition can sometimes lead to unsatisfying results (especially when the condition is chronic and people trying to solve it haven't admitted yet that we just don't have any good solutions). [1] http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/483855073/the-problem-with-the-solution http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/483855073/the-proble...

kbenson 10y ago

On the one hand, I agree that aging and the problems associated with it are often treated as unavoidable to the future detriment of us all, but on the other hand, it's also definitely investing our time and effort where we get the most return (given that we're pretty sure we'll get a return, which isn't necessarily true of trying to eliminate the ills of old age).

zardo 10y ago
My grandparents watch people 15 years younger than them get fat on the cafeteria food served in their retirement community, and move down the hall to more and more involved nursing care until they die of heart failure. Most diseases of old age are diseases of lifestyle, we know how to cure them, we just don't know how to get people to take the medicine.
- 794CD01 10y ago
  Most of the time we also know how to get people to take the medicine, but an outdated code of ethics prevents us from doing it.
  - emiliobumachar 10y ago
    What do you mean? Could you please elaborate?
    - Something1234 10y ago
      He means forcing them. It's for your own good. It's taking the decision out of their hands.
      - 794CD01 10y ago
        Their hands are not the problem, it's the brain driving those hands that shouldn't be trusted.
    - 794CD01 10y ago
      I mean that we expect patients to provide "informed consent" to medical treatment, something which is impossible because the vast majority of patients are not physicians, and even those who are will usually not be experts in the relevant specialty. Most of the time, patients have the sense to trust and listen to their doctors. However, sometimes they do not, and the fact that the option exists means that a vital skill for physicians has become the ability to persuade patients into accepting the right treatment, a skill which is largely orthogonal to the one of deciding what the right treatment is. For a concrete example, all you have to do is look at the recent outbreaks of measles due to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.

m_mueller 10y ago

I think this podcast may give you a different perspective: [1]. It's not particularly about old age, but about how trying to just solve someone's condition can sometimes lead to unsatisfying results (especially when the condition is chronic and people trying to solve it haven't admitted yet that we just don't have any good solutions). [1] http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/483855073/the-problem-with-the-solution http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/483855073/the-proble...