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Unfortunately they didn't setup a control case to test if it was actually returning them to their 1970s lives or if it were forcing them to live in a "more chal

Unfortunately they didn't setup a control case to test if it was actually returning them to their 1970s lives or if it were forcing them to live in a "more challenging" environment. There's no way for them, as researchers, to disambiguate the effects of "time travel" from just making them do more things for themselves.

IgorPartola 16y ago
Agreed. But does it matter? Live a more challenging life and shape the world around you is the takeaway.
- Vivtek 16y ago
  Yeah, it does matter. The way this was set up, it was impossible to tell whether the admittedly cool premise of pretending it was 30 years ago had any effect at all. That would have been an interesting thesis, and now we still have no idea whether it's true. I mean, how much of feeling old is just feeling that the world is moving on without you?
  - jamesbritt 16y ago
    The biggest indicator of "oldness" is no longer making big plans, no longer looking forward to things, but instead spending increasing time with some form of nostalgia, or focused on the mundane. People like Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O'Keefe just keep working and making plans like they were going to live forever. They had the right idea.
    - ggchappell 16y ago
      Possibly so. But, ironically, this article is about making people feel younger by giving them what amounts to an intense nostalgia trip.
- jcl 16y ago
  It's a little annoying that they're passing off a human interest story as research. It doesn't tell us why the people felt younger (Because of increased exertion? Because they expected to? Because they were good at acting? Because they were part of an experiment?) or how long the effect lasted, or whether there were any undesirable side-effects. True, the article sends a pleasant message, and there's probably not much harm in it, aside from a possible increase in elderly tripping over bell-bottoms and shag carpet. :)

IgorPartola 16y ago

Agreed. But does it matter? Live a more challenging life and shape the world around you is the takeaway.

Vivtek 16y ago
Yeah, it does matter. The way this was set up, it was impossible to tell whether the admittedly cool premise of pretending it was 30 years ago had any effect at all. That would have been an interesting thesis, and now we still have no idea whether it's true. I mean, how much of feeling old is just feeling that the world is moving on without you?
- jamesbritt 16y ago
  The biggest indicator of "oldness" is no longer making big plans, no longer looking forward to things, but instead spending increasing time with some form of nostalgia, or focused on the mundane. People like Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O'Keefe just keep working and making plans like they were going to live forever. They had the right idea.
  - ggchappell 16y ago
    Possibly so. But, ironically, this article is about making people feel younger by giving them what amounts to an intense nostalgia trip.
jcl 16y ago
It's a little annoying that they're passing off a human interest story as research. It doesn't tell us why the people felt younger (Because of increased exertion? Because they expected to? Because they were good at acting? Because they were part of an experiment?) or how long the effect lasted, or whether there were any undesirable side-effects. True, the article sends a pleasant message, and there's probably not much harm in it, aside from a possible increase in elderly tripping over bell-bottoms and shag carpet. :)