It is just over six months since I started this “intellectual journey” of Newsletters. I thought it worthwhile looking back on my explorations. I have climbed a metaphorical hill to look down on my route.

Why the Newsletter?

I incorporated the poem by Dylan Thomas railing against death in Newsletter # 025. It has made me realise this is not just an intellectual journey. This is personal. I am a Third Age Consumer (#002) and have no intention of “going quietly into the night”. I am exploring my own evolution but also rebelling against the ageist stereotypes that exist. Holding stereotypes is part of the way that our brains work more efficiently. Holding negative stereotypes about older people is also natural (#014).

My argument is different. Healthy lives have grown so fast in a single generation that the stereotypes are not keeping up. A Fourth and last “Age” stereotype is being applied twenty five years too early (#004). That is bad news for all the Third Age Consumers like me. We want to carry on consuming as usual. We are frustrated that our service providers are not adapting to us. This is doubly dangerous because of self- ageism or “The Enemy Within” (#017). As individuals we need stereotypes or scripts through which to live our lives. The danger is that we adopt one that is much to old for us.

Service Consumers

Along the way each of my Newsletters has had a sub-title. I started this almost by accident but it has become a useful way of looking at our journey together. Lets start with the different perspectives on being a service consumer. It is important because we live large parts of our urban life in a world curated by services.

We have looked at the consumer’s service experience through three different lenses. Firstly, these experiences are multi-sensory (#008). We use every sense to try and understand them . Whether we like it or not every sense works on every experience. "We may claim to be smelling a rose but we cannot help but to see and touch it". We are also participants in every service experience. We follow the script and play our part in the production (#013). Our third lens viewed the consumers as partial employees, working to produce their own service. No matter which lens, the service firm needs to adapt to consumers who on are getting older. The typeface on menus needs to be bigger for consumers who are over 40. Near vision fades throughout our lives (#018). If we are to follow the script then it needs to fit for "ageing actors" to perform. If we are workers, even partial ones, we need our workplace designed to fit our capabilities (#009).

Power to the “Old” People.

Changing global demographics are converting the over 65’s into an attractive market. Attractive markets have power. Germany is one of the countries leading the way. Reduced child mortality and fertility have shrunk the number of young people. Combined with increased longevity they have converted a population “pyramid” into a “thin column” ( #003). Populations are stagnating and declining all over the world. The population of China has peaked and is forecast to decline rapidly (#006). Fertility rates are declining at an accelerating rate. The global population is going to peak in forty years and then decline (#021). Companies are faced with markets that are declining. At they same time the markets are ageing. There are more “grandparents than grandchildren” (#011). The over 65’s are the only growth market.

The “old” people are staying younger. They are aging mentally (#010) and physically more slowly (#027). Their “Third Age” has grown dramatically in a single generation (#002). They are making good decisions with less effort using their expertise (#021). They are continuing to consume .

The Aging Senses

The exploration of the senses has thrown up a lot more than age driven decline. It has highlighted how artificial is the distinction we make between the brain and the senses. A smell can help us to encode and to recall memories (#005). A touch can influence our propensity to take risks, so too can a sour taste (#008). A touch can also induce us to give tips to restaurant staff (#012). Put us in too high a temperature and we become aggressive (#016). That can make us tough negotiators and active bidders in auctions. Reduce the temperature to make us comfortable and we will agree with the consensus in a meeting.

Senses do not operate alone. They influence each other. The sound of eating can influence our sense of crunch (#007). Music can change the taste of chocolate (#007). A heavy bowl can make yoghurt taste creamier (#028).

Across all the different senses thresholds rise. We need more stimulation to see, hear, small, taste and touch. Remember however that many people preserve all their senses until their eighties. Losing multiple senses as a Third Ager is rare. Declines in taste and smell in particular can affect what we eat (#022). Changes in mouthfeel can mean we lose the taste for thick soups (#028).

Some effects are not age dependent. We all need to be heard, like the White Crowned Sparrow (#019). As background noise increases we instinctively speak up and articulated more. It takes very little therefore to create a snowball of sound in a busy restaurant. It is worse for people with ageing hearing who may not recognize specific voices or be able to locate them in space. Technology will soon to be able to help and allow individually customised sound spaces (#020). Changes in our sight mean we need menus that are brighter lit and have bigger typefaces. If all else fails the brain comes to the rescue and “fills in the gaps” (#015). Perceptual completion uses memories to compensate for declining senses.

Body and Brain.

Our body slows down but we can change how fast (#023). We can exercise our muscles and improve the flow of oxygen around our bodies. We create an artificial separation between body and brain. They are an integrated whole. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and helps us to learn (#025). Physical exercise is not enough. Our brain needs exercise as well, in the form of activity (#025). Even small amounts of exercise and activity will help.

As we age we also compensate by changing our behaviour. For example, we adapt our driving strategically and tactically to stay safe (#024). We are more of a danger to ourselves than to other road users (#026). Ageism can take away our independence. Stereotypes created by younger people can lead to self- regulation. We give up driving because “we are not supposed to do it”. We should instead be “raging” about the constraints of the stereotypes rather than changes in the body, brain and senses.

Are We There Yet?

This is the question that all parents dread. Ten minutes into a long journey the child wants to know whether we are "there". Have we arrived ? This is an intellectual journey driven by curiosity. Of course it is not over. Stepping back to take a perspective on the last 6 months has generated a whole new list of questions. I hope you will join me. Please let me know of topics I can help you explore.