The aging brain: Why getting older just might be awesome

Believing in your power


'So is the future bright for the older would-be innovator?
Absolutely, says Taylor, the picture is rosy. But as with any rose, there are thorns.


Debra Dunn, an associate professor at the d.school. was a senior executive at Hewlett-Packard for 22 years.


Steeped in Silicon Valley culture, Dunn says: "Some of the most wonderfully innovative engineers I have known were older-timers."


Ultimately, though, Dunn believes that older people's perceptions of their own ability to contribute become powerful predictors of what they can and cannot achieve.


"What you think, you become," she quotes Buddha.


Small agrees. "The older brain is quite resilient and can be stimulated to innovate, create and contribute in extraordinary ways. We need incentives to encourage older people to continue to be creative because I think ... what they have to offer is tremendous." '




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