Rock-Stars-of-Aging-by-Marc-Middleton

Rocks Stars of Aging
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MENTAL STIMULATION
28: Centenarians Are Intellectually Curious
“Curiosity is one of the best qualities a person can have. Flowers, if
you don’t water them, they wilt. And a person, if you don’t fill their
mind, you’re a goner. I want to see who the next president’s going to
be, and what’s going on in schools. Even when I wash dishes, I look
at the bottom of the plate, and I see where it came from, and I think,
‘Oh, how wonderful. Where is that place?” -- Ruth Hamilton, world’s
oldest blogger (April 21, 1898 – January 18, 2008)
Centenarians have nearly insatiable appetites for learning about
everything. Almost every time we interview centenarians, they have
as many questions for us as we do for them.
As their eyes or ears begin to fail them (and sooner or later they do)
centenarians don’t give up their desire to learn. They don’t withdraw
like most elderly people do. They don’t shut down. They fight to make
whatever accommodations are necessary to continue stimulating
their minds and feeding their appetites for knowledge.
“People die when curiosity goes.” -- Graham Swift, author
Rock Stars of Aging
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