I Think, Therefore I Am...I Think

Let's face it, we're slowing down on all fronts. We're fighting it and we'll keep fighting it, but there's no doubt about it - it's a struggle.

And I'm not talking about our tennis games, our jogging, our ability to sink those putts. I'm talking brain power - our ability to process information as efficiently and reliably as in the past.

The other day, I finally solved an annoying little problem with our pool pump. Darn thing kept taking in some air. In previous weeks, I tried lots of stuff - searched for leaks, replaced two rubber O-rings in the system, cursed it, banged it, kicked it. Nothing helped. Then, staring at it in pure hatred, the cause came into focus - the valve that controlled water flow into the pump. Gee, maybe if I readjust that? Sure enough. Problem gone. The simplest, most obvious solution had eluded me for weeks. I am utterly convinced that this would not have happened 30, 20, 10, even five years ago.

This is familiar to all of us. Some days, we're just sharper than other days, and it has nothing to do with how much sleep we had the night before, how much...see, right there, I momentarily forgot the name of my favorite beer...Corona we might have consumed, or anything else that we readily can point to. Some days, we wake up and the old sharpness is right there; some days, it's not.

Not to worry, it's normal, the experts say, and there is some compensating mental value to getting old moving along in time.

A study (actually a study of previous studies) recently found that the human brain's ability to process information deteriorates with age, but at the same time, our deepening well of experience provides growing benefits.

"Thinking capacity declines with time," said Ellen Peters, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon and a senior research scientist with Decision Research, a non-profit research group. "We learn less easily. We process information more slowly."

However, from the emotional side of processing, "we may show improvements over time, she said. "We may tend to feel our way through decisions more when we are older."

Her work mostly involves the truly elderly, but much of it applies to Baby Boomers.

Take this insight and conclusion, for instance:

As we grow older (and time grows shorter), our motivation begins to change from doing what might be best for us in the future to doing what might feel best to us right now. (Yeah, I know, Boomers and self-indulgence and living for the moment and blah blah blah, but we're being serious here).

For instance, Another recently published study found that, when it comes to making choices about health and medical treatment, older people focus more on positive and fairly immediate benefits and less on the long-term negative risks.

So, for instance, though your doctor might tell you to try that Prilosec OTC for 14 days and then lay off it for awhile, if the acid reflux returns after just a day or two without it...boom...there you go, unsealing that annoying foil wrapper and popping one of those wonderfully effective pink pills. The heck with the future; I need this now.

Probably nothing wrong with that, but it could be helpful as we get older to keep in mind that...our minds keep changing.

The Kids Are Gone, Let's Buy Something...

...that's on sale.

(And, no, BoomVista is not going to carry your pocketbook as we walk through the mall.)

OK, we are 78 million strong and, Lord knows, we're not in the habit of denying ourselves anything that we want or think we need. So that means we spend money, and that, in turn, has inspired more than a few companies to begin specializing in Boomer-related consumer research.

We'll spend some time looking at those firms, but for now, we've come across an interesting study by a unit called BoomerEyes. According to the group's website and a summary of the report:

- We spend about $2 trillion annually.

- Nearly 40 percent of the 1,110 survey respondents are empty nesters, and they say they have an average of $315 more to spend each month.

- Nevertheless, nearly half of the respondents say that financial issues are at the top of their list of concerns.

- More than 70 percent of those 50 to 64 years old say they spend a lot of time using the Internet. (Which we here at BoomVista consider very good news indeed.)

Don't Mess With Us

How could this happen? It turns out that now WE are the establishment.

According to a new study by the Scripps Howard chain of newspapers, Boomers now hold a majority of the 6,100 elected state and national offices around the country,

The study found that 55 percent of the nation's governors, state lawmakers and congressional representatives and senators were born between 1946 and 1964.

Ten of the 15 announced or soon-to-announce candidates for president are Boomers, as were the last two occupants of the White House: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

We also control the U.S. House and soon we will control the Senate.

We are SO going to outlaw learn how to appropriately appreciate hip-hop "music."

Read more from the report here. (Whaddya think? Click the comments link right below this post.)

We Are Not Alone

Hey, they also have boomers in England, though they apparently boom a little earlier there. Probably has something to do with all that cigarette smoke.

Anyway, a web report from Over There asserts that "the over-50 population now command approximately 80% of the UK's wealth."

Sister, can you spare a shilling?

A report by Friends Provident, which apparently sells life insurance or something (why can't the British learn to speak/write English properly?), also says that those over 50 years old "are living a dream life" in the United Kingdom.

This obviously includes the Queen. And her No. 1 son. And probably his No. 1 son. (They are shown here. Charles is on the right, his son on the left. Or possibly the other way around.)

The report also found that retirees in the baby boomer generation, people aged between 52 and 60, have achieved a "perfect work/life balance" and can eat chocolate chip ice cream three times a day without ill effect, and don't even get us started about their sex lives.

OK, I made up the last two. I think. I kinda stopped reading the thing. Hard to know whether to feel envious of them or pity for them insofar as anyone would believe all of that.

Anyway, if you want to press onward, the entire report is here.