“Get up off your apathy.” This is the challenge given by Dr. Robert Butler to the baby boomers of America. He speaks authoritatively as the most prominent geriatrician in this country and a man who has raised national consciousness about the ongoing longevity revolution.
Baby boomers, Americans born between 1946 and 1964, now make up one-third of our population. Yet, according to Dr. Butler, they are woefully unprepared for later life. “They are not saving, they are not taking care of their health, and they are sedentary,” he claims. If the United States is the second fattest nation in the world (after Tonga), members of this generation can claim a fair amount of responsibility for this distinction.
The trouble is that so many of the boomers have not yet caught up with the good news about aging. As Bob Butler states it: “A lot that we call aging is under our control,”.
Butler was in town last week for celebrations marking the opening of a new exhibit called “The Secrets of Aging.” Hosted by the Museum of Science in Boston, this innovative display began on April 5th and runs for six months. When it leaves Boston, the exhibit will travel to five other sites across the country.
David Ellis, president and director of the museum, calls the exhibit unique because it combines the latest science with the personal face of aging. “We hope that people will see aging in a new light,” he explains, “as part of the normal life span.”
The main secret behind the “Secrets of Aging” is the targeted audience. Though the mu-seum hopes that older people will come to see the exhibit and take part in it, they are not the main target. Rather, as the vice-president of exhibitions, Larry Bell, told me: “The real reason for the exhibit is because the whole baby boom generation is approaching this stage of life.”
About members of that generation he says: “There is an aspect of denial.. They say ‘I’m just the same person I always was.’ If I myself had not been working on this program, I would have torn up the AARP invitation, and told them to contact me in fifteen years.”
More than forty distinct stations in the exhibit halls, most of them interactive, deliver in-formation about aging. These stops are grouped into four main theme areas that provide the exhibit’s structure.
The first section is called Body and poses the question – “What happens to our bodies as we age?” Among the exhibits that I visited, one comparing the aging of identical twins stands out in memory. Photos showed graphically the difference in appearance caused by life style practices such as smoking, sun exposure, and diet. One woman looked many years older and less healthy than her sister.
In the second section, called Mind, the question is similar to the first. “What happens to our minds as we age?” The old assumption that brain cells grow fewer in number with aging is shown to be wrong. Also Alzheimer’s is shown not to be a normal part of growing older but rather a disease. Differences between learning abilities of older and younger people are shown and games, puzzles, and tests enable visitors to exercise their brain power.
The third topic is Society. “How does society deal with aging?” This section features computerized images of celebrities such as Walter Cronkite and Maya Angelou. Visitors can interview them and ask them about their experiences of growing older. A series of photo essays carries the message that maintaining social relationships helps people to age well. Another set of videos, these produced by children, shows them in conversation with their grandparents.
Finally, the fourth area focuses on longevity. “How long can we live?,” it asks. No one yet knows the answer to this question but many scientists are trying to find out. The exhibits here explore the two main factors that determine aging – genetic inheritance and lifestyle. Visitors will look in on research efforts such as caloric restriction with animals and see how scientists manipulate genetic material. Bar graphs show the varying longevity averages among various ethnic groups in this country.
As this century progresses, this latter question of longevity is bound to grow in interest. Dr. Butler, in a talk at the press conference before the official opening of the exhibit, recalled that the average age of Americans at the time of the Boston Tea Party was thirty-five. The conclusion he drew, as he compared then and now, is worth pondering. “What was once the privilege of the few,” he said, “has become the destiny of the many.”
The museum has planned many other services and events in connection with this exhibit. For example, in June and July there will be lunchtime lectures given by local and national experts on longevity and health.
Further information is available at (617) 723-2500 or at the museum’s web site: http://www.mos.org.
Richard Griffin