I often hear people make remarks such as, “My mind isn’t what it used to be.” It sounds harmless, but if you make remarks like that often enough you will come to believe them.

Two analogies are applicable. First, our minds are like muscles–use them and they grow strong; don’t exercise them and they wither. Second, our minds are like computers. As we age we develop a rich collection of programs (software), which we hopefully update with experience and new information. We acquire a rich repertoire of data. And alas our processing speed (megahertz) becomes a little slower. A computer with excellent software does things better and faster than a computer with mediocre software. For example, an older, skilled bridge player runs circles around someone who has only been playing for a few years.

If you are inclined to make a remark like “I just can’t remember things very well anymore,” things very well anymore,” be kind to yourself and remember that you have much larger, richer data files to search than a younger person has. So it may take a little longer. Part of the difficulty in remembering something might be that you now have a lot more information to search. Often if you trust and instruct your mind to continue searching for the information, it comes to you later in the day. That is a good indication that your mind is still sharp. Ask yourself, would I really want to trade a computer with a wealth of programs and data for a computer that had a faster speed but few programs and little data?

While many older people have avoided computers, that too is changing. More and more seniors are using computers and teaching their friends how as well. E-mail has bonded many families and friends scattered around the country and even around the world. It also has bonded many grandparents and grandchildren. Fortunately, computers are becoming more user friendly each year. Features to help people with poor vision are improving as well.

One woman told me that her parents adamantly resisted computers. One day she visited them and they were clicking away on their Web TV. Why? It was so easy for them to learn because it was “just like TV”–sit on the sofa, watch the screen, and work the remote control. It is always easier to learn new things when we have a template. (USA Today knew this when they designed their vending stands to look television sets).

We need to think of our minds as flexible, always learning, and open to change. As George Bernard Shaw put it, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Rev. Denny Brake described the alternative: “Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.”

So can you teach an old dog new tricks? We “old dogs” object! We don’t wait anymore for someone to teach us, we have lots of ways of learning the tricks at our initiative.

By: Michael Brickey, Ph.D.

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