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“The aging process we discovered is like a married couple—when they are young, they communicate well, but over time, living in close quarters for many years, co

“The aging process we discovered is like a married couple—when they are young, they communicate well, but over time, living in close quarters for many years, communication breaks down,” said Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics David Sinclair" - Totally off topic though but I think he's describing a couple heading to divorce. Nearly all successful marriages move in the exact opposite direction.

tommoor 13y ago
Yep, this struck me as an odd analogy!
rquantz 13y ago
Without intervention, the human body usually headed for divorce, in this analogy, anyway.
grok2 13y ago
I think, it's not really that communication breaks down, it is more that you don't need to communicate at all because you know the other person so well by now. Then divorce happens because you don't like what you know or you realize your spouse isn't what you wanted, or the marriage becomes stronger because you anticipate your partners needs/actions without having to communicate. So yeah, the analogy is not really right.
- DigitalJack 13y ago
  While it is true that you learn your spouse that well, it will be long before that when you realize if don't like them. However when you don't communicate, your lives get out of sync. At some point this has gone on long enough, the changes we go through (called life) cause people to become strangers again. It's like two inertial systems. They drift, differently, over time and this difference accumulates. Communication between the two inertial units can synchronize them. Or a trusted third party (GPS) can give them both a course correction.
  - agumonkey 13y ago
    So I was supposed to be my parents GPS.
gkop 13y ago
Reminds me of http://www.theonion.com/articles/sociologist-considers-own-behavior-indicative-of-l,421/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/sociologist-considers-own-b... .
timmyelliot 13y ago
I think it was a case of bad paraphrasing. Another source doesn't make Sinclair sound as odd: "Much like a married couple talks to each other when they're newly married but then they stop communicating after about 20 years, at least in some cases." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-20/scientists-develop-anti-ageing-process-in-mice/5168580 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-20/scientists-develop-ant...

tommoor 13y ago

Yep, this struck me as an odd analogy!

rquantz 13y ago

Without intervention, the human body usually headed for divorce, in this analogy, anyway.

grok2 13y ago

I think, it's not really that communication breaks down, it is more that you don't need to communicate at all because you know the other person so well by now. Then divorce happens because you don't like what you know or you realize your spouse isn't what you wanted, or the marriage becomes stronger because you anticipate your partners needs/actions without having to communicate. So yeah, the analogy is not really right.

DigitalJack 13y ago
While it is true that you learn your spouse that well, it will be long before that when you realize if don't like them. However when you don't communicate, your lives get out of sync. At some point this has gone on long enough, the changes we go through (called life) cause people to become strangers again. It's like two inertial systems. They drift, differently, over time and this difference accumulates. Communication between the two inertial units can synchronize them. Or a trusted third party (GPS) can give them both a course correction.
- agumonkey 13y ago
  So I was supposed to be my parents GPS.

gkop 13y ago

Reminds me of http://www.theonion.com/articles/sociologist-considers-own-behavior-indicative-of-l,421/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/sociologist-considers-own-b... .

timmyelliot 13y ago

I think it was a case of bad paraphrasing. Another source doesn't make Sinclair sound as odd: "Much like a married couple talks to each other when they're newly married but then they stop communicating after about 20 years, at least in some cases." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-20/scientists-develop-anti-ageing-process-in-mice/5168580 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-20/scientists-develop-ant...