Life is more than a game!

I decided recently to unistall Solitaire and Free Cell from my PC. Despite being a 100% believer that these games exercise the mind and keep it agile, I felt that I had acquired a worrying dependency habit!

So I was naturally attracted to a recent article in The Times dealing with the issue of games addiction. It cited the story of a young man who ultimately was spending 17 hours a day on line playing World of Warcraft. It seems that 12 million play this particular favourite including celebs like Vin Diesel and Mr and Mrs Jonathan Ross.
Apparently it is the opportunity to create an avatar, to join others in guilds and to fight battles that attracts many players. Becoming somebody they cannot be in real life.
Jane McGonigal a game designer addressing a conference in California last month presented this as an opportunity rather than a concern. Suggesting to the audience that the experiences we learn playing games could provide a formula for saving the world. According to Jane and based on her research at the Institute for the Future, games create "super empowered hopeful individuals" with the potential to solve global problems such as famine, disease, and warfare.
She did point out that realising this opportunity would require us to increase our weekly on-line gaming time from 3 billion hours to 21 billion!
Other experts are less enthusiastic. One psychologist recently suggested that games expose us to a world where there is no real consequence for our mistakes. Hilarie Cash, a mental health counsellor in America who runs ReStart, a treatment clinic for internet addiction, believes that game makers deliberately give their products an “addictive quality.”  Many, she says, use the principle of intermittent reinforcement — “you have to be rewarded often enough to stay engaged but not so predictably that you get bored”  And there was me thinking I was getting better when I reached level 2 in Bejewelled!!

 

I have also done some research, with my own "super empowered hopeful individuals"....my grand-sons. My main observations are:

1. It is totally impossible for me to keep a high speed car on a race track;
2. I have considerably more success at 10 pin bowling if I just swing my arm at the screen and leave the swerve button alone;
3. Choosing to be Brazil when playing FIFA 2010 has absolutely no effect on my football skills;
4. Saying I did something well will provoke considerable laughter;
5. I am always learning something about the controls that they hadn't previously mentioned !!! 

Will being sneaky and laughing at the less able really help save the world Jane?

Is this the secret of how not to grow old?

I joined in on a Linkedin discussion group dealing with the issue of employer attitudes towards candidates with 30+ years of experience. Plenty of people had lots to say.

My contribution to the debate being  "...as an "old un" I'd suggest that we can argue the competency side quite well. The skills and experience are there, but like it or not our "chemistry" has altered. .....and we need to demonstrate equal if not greater levels of desire and appetite than the young guys."  I was quite pleased with that!
Predictably the consensus was  - yes there is resistance by employers... which is to their detriment as mature candidates have so much to offer.
As I read the replies I found one by a Dr James Motter. And if OnWeGo was to award Fellowships I would ask James to accept one. This extract from his CV could be his citation.  I am now 75. I still run my own show. I did a PhD in business adminstration at 59, a Masters in Philosophy at 64....  In my spare time I am an adjuct professor for MBAs at one University and I teach Business Research to MBAs at another. I was the Senior Researcher in Applied Accountancy at a large University in 2000/1.

What James exemplifies is the enthusiasm and the appetite to keep going, keep learning and improving, and to keep endeavouring to improve the ability of others.  The true spirit of OnWeGo!
And very much one of the themes of a recent showing of BBC Horizon's  Don't grow old!
What especially delighted me was the section that showed the benefits of not retiring; with amazing examples of centenarians in one study at Boston University School of Medicine. It shows how an active and usefully engaged mind will "over-ride" the pathelogical ageing process. Apparently it generates something called cognitive reserve.
Also in the programme, Dr Ellen Langer at Harvard University talks about her experiment where a group of 75 year olds were taken back 20 years in time. Their environment was recreated as was their lifestyle and they had to do things for themselves as they would have when they were 55. There were amazing improvements in physical ability, cognitive ability and IQ. Dr Langer reasoned with strong evidence that people will respond to how they are treated. Treat people as old and dependent and they will behave accordingly.

Which takes me back to James Motter and the other reason he would qualify for OnWeGo Fellowship.  In response to my "Rock on James!" reply to his original post he said "my grand-kids think I'm a cool dude....but dad's not seen the same way though!"

I replied "Yes James....me too!"   Adding "My philosophy is to live the life my grand-kids celebrate... and not the danger-to-himself one that my daughter's fret over!" 
 So stop telling us to act our age....and that may stop us ever reaching it!!!

   

"Oh Carol...I'm not such a fool!"

Maybe it was "outing" my passion for mathematics in a previous blog that released my feelings... but I can now reveal my love for Carol Vorderman! 

Watching her on Breakfast TV and hearing her say "I'm sorry but I'm passionate about mathematics!" was to listen to a soul mate. And I instantly realised why in their Countdown days I had always been jealous of dear old Richard Whitely. It all added up!

Carol was on the show to talk about her latest venture The Maths Factor.
It's a project that will promote, encourage and teach mathematics with an emphasis on better understanding and natural aptitude.

It was the natural aptitude theme that struck a chord with me. Probably because I've always enjoyed playing with numbers and because I also feel that something has been lost with the advent of calculators. Do they teach mental arithmetic theses days? I don't know. I do know that youngsters laugh when I tell them that as a newly recruited Junior Audit Clerk in the 60's I was handed the telephone directory and told as practice I must add up the columns in my head. Thinking back...nobody ever checked my answers....funny that??  But we did seem to acquire natural aptitude in the old days. Little tricks like when multiplying "awkward" numbers try doubling one and halving the other. So 15 x 18 became 30 x 9. Easy...270!
We learnt how to calculate percentages. Knowledge I was sharing when training young sales recruits....
"What is 20% saving on £350?"  I asked.   Nothing!!  "Ok then...what is 2 x £35? After some delay a tentative "£70?" came back.  "That's right and £70 is 20% of £350."

"So now you know. What is 20% saving on £280?"  Nothing!!  "Remember? What is 2 x £28?" After a longer delay a more tentative £56? "That's right. So what is 20% of £280?" ...................Nothing!!

And if we're talking about aptitude. Can you remember the Comptometer and the amazing Comp Girls! They combined quick minds and hands to punch out unerring calculations at breathtaking speed. And some I remember had handshakes to make a man cry!
And what about the slide rule? The "latest advancement" from the old printed Log tables and trigonometry ratios.  I loved mine. But when mentioned it gains not a flicker of recognition from my grand-kids other than to ask "Isn't that a good pass in football?"

Yes sadly these devices are all obsolete and thanks to vintage calculators for showing them proper respect. Which is more than you can say about football commentators! ......."Slide rule pass!"  I ask you!  But at least it gets a "metaphoric" mention from Lawro' and co. and together with Carol maybe we can resurrect those traditional aptitudes that went with them. And with a bit of help from us too!

Keep it going...you're probably still on top of your game!

I caught Carly Simon on breakfast TV this morning singing live an acoustic version of "You're so vain!" She was brilliant! That wonderfully distictive voice. Performing with that "master-class" aura of a supreme talent. Still on top of her game at 64..and sexy with it!

Watching her I was reminded of the Children in Need Concert from the Albert Hall last November. We had "our Cheryl" who despite the distractions of a wacky uniform and the obligatory dancers couldn't disguise what is a rather "generic" voice. Then we had Dame Shirley. Distinctive! Effortless! Sexy at 73! Blowing the audience away!

Now I'm the first person to defend new music from unfair criticism. But to defend it on behalf of its intended audience...young people! Because when you're young you want new stuff and want to be in tune with it. And it makes me cringe when I hear "50 somethings" going on about Kasabian and Snoop Dogg. That has more than a touch of "disco dancing dad" syndrome about it!

But having said all that I still believe that the old songs and the old singers are the best. And more to the point that they should still be singing them!
I got into quite a row with a colleague over retirement. He seemed to support some kind of social engineering of society whereby us wrinklies should be moved aside to allow young people to come through. What a cheek!!
We argued it through and eventually he agreed that experience does matter. It's not a given! But if you have a talent or skill... and you have worked to keep it in shape and relevant...and have a pride and passion in what you do...then you probably are still on top of your game.
You just have to get our there and let the audience see for themselves. Maybe we'll forget the dancing though.
I'm off to see Tony Bennett at the Albert Hall on June 30th.     He's 84... and still singing the songs!

Age and Time - Silverback's theory of Relativity

I find mathematics a fascinating subject. Having come 1st in the year-end school examinations back in 1957 maybe I'm mathematically gifted?  After all I can still remember how to calculate trigonometry ratios ...something that leaves my grandchildren surprisingly unimpressed??
I think it's the reassurance of maths that I find so satisfying. To be able to say with complete certainty that the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees.   Which is why I found a recent edition of BBC TV's Horizon To Infinity and Beyond a bit unsettling.  The write up did offer a warning..

"Mathematicians have discovered there are infinitely many infinities, each one infinitely bigger than the last. And if the universe goes on forever, the consequences are even more bizarre. In an infinite universe, there are infinitely many copies of the Earth and infinitely many copies of you. Older than time, bigger than the universe and stranger than fiction. This is the story of infinity."

And the story was told by a group of extremely clever mathmeticians who discussed amongst other things:-  The largest number...something called a googolplex. Is there such a thing as infinity? Is space infinite? If infinity exists, why in theory a monkey should be able to type the complete works of Shakespeare!!

With much respect to the charismatic "Taffy" Evans who taught me back in 1957 I don't think my GCE "O Level" fully empowered me to participate in this lecture. And although totally engaged by the wonderfully malevolant Steven Berkoff's linking questions and summaries, I did lose the plot occasionally...but not infinitely!

But then I had one of those "Eureka" moments! Mathematics is also about theorising on the unfathomable. And the programme has inspired me to start work on my own theory of age and time relativity... to be developed around these "unfathomables:"

- As a year is made up of 365 ever slowing revolutions of the earth each year is actually getting longer.

- The years only seem shorter as you get older because when you were 6 years old a year was 1/6th of your whole life, whereas when you're 60 it is only 1/60th.

- People who are several years younger than us seem our age, whereas people that are our age seem so much older than us.

So mathematical and social reasoning proves it. It's all to do with comparison. Forget how old you are, and time and ageing will slow down. Quod Erat Demonstrandum

How to live longer - some good suggestions here

Do you agree that worrying about getting old is probably the biggest mistake we make? I think so, and I can honestly say that I don't give it much thought. Of course I do get reminders. Like my girls calling me "the old fart!" ....or when I talk about the '66 World Cup with people who weren't born then!
But to me my view of life hasn't aged much and I guess that's how I see myself....from the inside out. A positive perspective on age that I maintain with the help of the odd article or survey. Like the one I just read compiled by Norwich Union actuaries and reported in Timesonline.  As you would expect of a survey by actuaries it offers quite precise predictions on the added years available by various means. And amongst the expected good habits like not smoking, avoiding obesity, enjoying a healthy diet, and getting a good night's sleep, I especially liked these.
Enjoy a good laugh!  Apparently there are lots of health benefits to be derived from a 15 minute daily laughter work out. Good for the heart and lungs....all those endorphines and stuff!  And it's good for an extra 8 years!
Have a positive outlook! A definite favourite of mine this one. It seems that with an optimistic outlook we are less prone to viruses and we also recover quicker from illnesses and injuries. Not surprisingly a positive outlook also leads to a healthier,more active and social lifestyle. And the prize for that another 9 years!
There are some new and quite surprising tips, like.
Floss your teeth!  That bacterial build up can contribute to cardio-vascular disease. So floss another 6 years onto your life.
Then there are some new but somewhat challenging tips, like.
Be born later? That is a bit challenging....although it is worth an extra 6 years.
Be a woman and live in Eastbourne!! Now there is a limit to what I'm prepared to do to live longer. Even though the aggregate benefit is another 10 years I am not going to live in Eastbourne!!
Returning to my particular favourites....a good laugh ...and a positive outlook. Adopting these two as habits is a real "no brainer" isn't it!  Whenever I meet colleagues and I get asked "how you doing?" I always tell them "Things are great!" often followed by "Life treats me far better than I deserve!"  It always prompts a smile and often a laugh and we both of us feel good. And what if being positive doesn't add any extra years? ...I'll never get to know anyway!   

Power to the people!! Especially the older ones.

Who said "there's nothing any good on the telly?" Well I guess anyone could who happens to watch the popular channels on a Saturday evening. Which is why I found myself on BBC2 and stumbling across "Virtual Revolution!" It's a brilliant programme.

Fronted by the compelling Dr Aleks Krotoski the series began by taking us back to the origins of the internet.  I vaguely remember reading somewhere how the need to link computers at US military bases gave us the first network. Then how Tim Berners-Lee came along with a system that enabled computers to talk to each other. That was the World Wide Web.

What I didn't appreciate was that the early settlers of Silicon Valley had been the free loving, spliff smoking, flower power beautiful people of 60's San Francisco. And that the culture and vision that drove the development of the Web was that same anti-establishment, free speaking attitude.  

I always hoped that I was "where it's at!" in the 60's. And felt I was in harmony with San Francisco's flower people. I did once fly to San Francisco. It was on an unofficial company "jolly." We were rumbled and summoned home the next day.  I didn't want to talk about it much. But I did feel spiritually connected and could see myself when returning home greeting everybody I knew with "Peace and Love!" They were all too busy smirking over my enforced return!!

But clearly that spiritual connection remains. The anarchy in me still burns. And Dr Aleks's reporting of the attempts by corporations and governments to limit or manipulate that freedom kindles those old anarchic attitudes in me.

But that wasn't the igniting moment. Half-way through watching the programme my two daughters call and instruct me to remove a newly posted blog!!!. Can you believe it??? Inverted parental censorship!!!

So come on fellow children of the 60's. We are the original cyber warriors! Get your blogging slippers on.  Power to the people....especially the older ones!