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Does old age influence fun?

Fun is a concept that can be judged in a singular and objective manner, as it is, in most cases, a subjective concept in which its definition changes based on each person. This leads to some people liking activities and thinking they are fun when others hate to even think of them. These definitions and concepts of fun are often derived from certain cultures and age differences, as there may be different existing trends that different people follow and thus have varying concepts of fun. However, even with its subjective traits, fun still depends on age. This point of view is proven by scientific and psychological research, and the cause of this may be changes to lifestyle as well as declining cognitive functions that limit the amount of fun people experience.[1] In this essay, I will explore the reasons behind this phenomenon and argue why people tend to have less “fun” as they age, especially among the elderly population.

As people age, the cognitive system of the brain starts to fail.[1] The cognitive system includes sending messages inside of the body using nerves.[2] In the process of sending chemicals from the nervous system to other cells in the body, there are different kinds of neurotransmitters that act as the messengers in the brain.[1] These neurotransmitters also have a crucial role in creating emotions. Emotions are essential for humans, as it guides their actions and helps them make important decisions. However, there are other emotions that make people feel good as well. These emotions are often joy, gratitude, or fun. Neurotransmitters such as Dopamine are responsible for triggering these kinds of emotions.[3] Dopamine is created by a two-step process conducted by amino acids inside the body. Decrease in the amount of dopamine can lead to consequences such as depression, anxiety, or even ADHD.[3] Moreover, aging reduces white matter inside your nervous system as well.[4] The white matter is what takes care of the neural signals inside of the brain. This chemical is important, as, without white matter, the ability to communicate between different brain regions will be severely impaired. This can cause people to take longer to process information in the brain as well.[5] If the ability to process information and messages is impaired, it will be harder for people to make fun out of activities that others think are fun. All in all, as people age, they lose the speed and quantity of dopamine production, which leads to less fun and more depression. This shows how chemically, the people have less fun as they get older. 

Moreover, as people get older, their physical abilities start to fail, and their bodies become weaker, less muscular, and healthier due to the muscle loss that is a symptom of aging, also called sarcopenia. According to a survey conducted by The Mirror, a portion of adults(30%) theoretically  make their fun out of physical activities, such as sports or going to the gym. However, due to the lack of energy or ability in these people’s bodies because of sarcopenia, these people who often pursued using their body for joy would no longer be able to do this. Moreover, due to this, their range of having fun will shrink as they age, making the amount of fun they can get. Moreover, lack of physical activities and exercise in their lives will make their bodies more obese and overweight, as more eating and less movement often leads to people gaining weight rapidly, as energy that is inputted into the body from the food will be stored and layered inside of the body while the person does not actually use it.  The society in the status quo is currently very judgemental towards minorities. Thus, people may judge these overweight people, and this is also proven through studies, and this phenomenon is often called “fat-stigma”. “Fat Stigma” can lead to risk of mental issues or reduced social participation, which results in less enjoyment in social life as well.[6] Social exclusion and segregation can be harmful to one’s joy and happiness, as these kinds of negative influences go against the fundamental human need for belonging, self esteem, and connection.[7] To elaborate on this social participation issue, as people start to become “elderly”, 60s~70s, their lives become less social, and more “alone”. Most elderly people become alone due to the death of their spouses, or separation from their families. Most of these elders’ children have their own children(92% precisely), which leads to these elders’ children leaving them for financial and family issues. Others may actually enjoy solitary life. However, elders living alone may not be able to have much fun, as they do not get much public updates in their lives, without any close being living with them. Moreover, they will not be able to follow the trend/newest information, which may result in segregation or discrimination against them in society. Consistent segregation against these elders can create generalization against elderly people, causing miserable and solitary lives for these people.

The imagination or thinking ways of elders may also impact the amount of fun they have in their lives. Children or relatively young people are a lot more creative and think in a wider retrospect.[8] However, on the other hand, people who are aged have a smaller range of thinking and imagination, as they know most facts firmly, and have painful experiences from the true, harsh society.[9] Moreover, an experiment that was conducted on a grown man and a child, judging who was more creative. According to the results of the test, the young kid showed more unique solutions and more creative ways rather than the old adult. This proves that young adolescents are more creative than old adults. Moreover, a reason for this could be due to decline in cognitive functions in the brain as well as neurodegenerative changes; older people have less creativity. To elaborate, the prefrontal cortex, which takes a big role in the cognitive and creative part of the brain, undergoes neurodegenerative changes as time passes. [10] Moreover, some people who are old have a chance to get dementia, which can impair cognitive functions that initiate creative abilities. Also, shifts in priorities and some experiences that these people underwent through their lives impacts their creativity as well. Since these people start to focus and lean more on economics and politics as they age more, they think in a fixated way rather than creative and fun ones. Moreover, these old people have experience of the society and the effects of each action they take. Thus, these people will have more ownership over their actions and be careful every move they take. 

Thus, as these mental imaginations or creativity becomes a start to happiness and fun, the older people get, they will feel a smaller amount of joy compared to when they were young. Creativity is deeply linked with the brain’s reward system, as creative activities produce dopamine in one’s brain, which makes a person have fun and feel joy. Moreover, being creative makes our brains go into a “flow-state”, which is a mental zone of deep focus and immersion, which leads to a more enjoyable life for people.[11] All in all, the limitation of creativity and thinking capacity of aged adults leads to a life with less enjoyment and fun due to less capacities to feel joy and fun.

The amount of fun elderly people feel may be lower than younger people due to their stick to comfortable and familiar actions. While younger children and young adults may try new things and take risks, elderly people usually prefer more familiar and comfortable experiences, as their bodies are weaker and as people they have more experience in the world. According to the World Health Organization(WHO), after a person goes over the age of 30, their muscle mass decreases by 3-8 percent every decade. Since these elderly people know the world better and know what can lead to a bad situation, they have a high chance of living in a certain pattern or routine, which will lead to a boring life without much special events from time to time. Moreover, according to a study published in Psychological Science, risk-taking behavior decreases gradually due to existent risks that may have potential negative effects on them. Moreover, after the age of 65, people’s lifestyles start to become flatter and more consistent, thus not being much dynamic but more boring and eventless. This can impact their lives both in a mental and physical way. If these lifestyles are flat and eventless, peoples’ cognitive systems will decline and will become weaker; thus creating less chance for these people to have fun. Moreover, these kinds of lifestyles will cause feelings of isolation and loneliness to people, which may cause social anxiety and in the end a more depressing life. [12]  Also, according to HeathLine, having a very isolated and boring life can sometimes cause death due to boredom leading to unhealthy behavior and increased stress. This kind of death is also known as solitary death, where old people die from social isolation. Solitary death rates are very high, as 1 out of a 100 deaths are caused by social isolation and chronic illnesses.[13]

However, when people are young, they have a more abstract style of life, in which they can act in many different ways to satisfy themselves as well as learn. Through these special experiences, people feel fun as well as begin to start a new interest. For instance, famed football athlete Christiano Ronaldo found that football was very fun and he had a passion for football. Thus, nowadays, he is one of the best known football players around the world. Moreover, these joyful experiences can also lead to development in the brain as well.[14] According to Harvard Medical School, joyful and fun experiences can improve neuroplasticity, which can enhance the memory and cognitive function, the part that creates dopamine which creates fun. Moreover, it gives a certain twist to the same kind of lifestyle, and, scientifically, a twist inside a repetitional life gives a certain special fun to a person’s life and everyday lifestyle.  

However, old people feeling more bored than the young may not always be the case, as younger people often have more laboring and busy schedules, making them not have significant time in order to have fun.[15] On the other hand, old people, since most are already in retirement, have more peaceful and idle schedules, allowing them to have time focusing on doing activities that give fulfillment and joy to them. For instance, only 5% of people over the age of 80 still work. Also, Older people can maintain a healthy lifestyle and cognitive system that can help them have fun even with their old age. For instance, elderly people can pursue new passions as well as consistently exercise to maintain a steady and healthy life. Moreover, there are certain educational supportive programs that are focused on digital literacy, health & wellness, and social connection, which may help elderly people sink back into society and find a chance for a new and replenished life.[16] Moreover, another reason that younger people may have less fun than old people is because of certain issues regarding increased responsibilities in life. While older people mostly have all-grown children, younger people have to take responsibility in assisting their own parents as well as their own family(with or without children). Also, finance may also become a factor that makes older people have more opportunities to have fun than the young. Young people are in a stage of life in which they have to labor and work for their own living, and they start with not that much. However, since old people worked longer on average than younger people on average, they may have more financial freedom, and, as money can bring opportunities, older people can have more opportunities to experience joy than younger ones on a financial level.

However, although there maybe some existing factors that say older people have more fun than the young, I still believe this is untrue due to the fact that even if people do unlimited amounts of activities that create joy and fulfillment in them, what is important to have fun is actually the neurotransmitter called Dopamine that is present in the cognitive system of the brain. Like I mentioned before, as people age, their cognitive functions also start to fail as well, causing even very stimulating activities to have a mild impact on them. On the other hand, younger people still have fully developed/developing cognitive systems, which can help them have fun even with relatively less-joyful events. 

Having fun is indeed a subjective term, and it can not be fully defined as a solid concept. However, what can be scientifically proven is the fact that the amount of activities people are capable of shrinks as they fold into their 60s and 70s.[17] Due to the limit of activities they can do for fun, the amount of fun they will feel will also decrease. Moreover, the cognitive functions of people as they age also start to lack, thus leading to less amounts of fun people can feel as they age. Although there are some factors that may show that older people often have more fun, scientifically, younger people have more fun than older people. All in all, aging does impact the amount of fun people have due to physical, social, and mental changes.

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