Article September 24, 1990 Issue

SECOND THOUGHT

Looking again at news and commentary

Harvard University Gazette

"[Ellen] Langer is a professor of psychology [at Harvard University] whose recent book Mindfulness ... has received enthusiastic notices.

"She has found that many aspects of the aging process, which most of us regard as inevitable, may actually be a product of our assumptions about how one is supposed to grow old....

"'I believe the regular and "irreversible" cycles of aging that we witness in the later stages of human life may be a product of certain assumptions about how one is supposed to grow old. If we didn't feel compelled to carry out these limiting mindsets, we might have a greater chance of replacing years of decline with years of growth and purpose,' Langer said."

Reprinted with permission.

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