I really the part where he spoke about the two parts shaping elders' roles in societies; their practicality and usefulness, and the cultural values of that society. Personally, I sort of dispute this because I feel that practicality and usefulness, shape the cultural values of a society. Most values and beliefs are products of techniques that are successful.  In the book, Ishmael, Daniel Quinn talks about the 'takers and the leavers'. I feel like in traditional societies, leavers, elders' roles in societies were based on need, there was no choice. In modern societies, takers, there is no need for elders to have roles, nor is there a need for them to not have roles. Societies have sovereignty over the value of elders in their societies. Some value them high, some value the low, but unlike any other time in history, it is by choice. 

The Elderly Rights Law was passed due to France having the highest suicide rate in Europe amongst pensioners. Assumably because of neglect from family members. In addition, 6 months prior to the bill being passed, 15,000 mostly elderly people died in a heatwave.

In Ancient Rome, living a long life was so rare that elders were considered very wise, treated with great respect, and seen as role models

In Ancient Egypt, living to 110 years was considered the reward for a balanced and virtuous life so sons were expected to care for their elders. In addition, some of the effects of aging, which we consider gross, were customary and part of the cleansing process.

Ancient China:

Although elders were treated with reverence and respect, some effects of aging, for example, hearing loss, were thought to be diseases. A quality life was one that lasted long and was without 'disease'.

I was very interested in the part about death. I thought it was very intriguing how some elderly voluntarily die because of most people in the US try everything they can t live. This made me wonder if the people who voluntarily went out on impossible voyages believed in a higher power or if they just thought that death was inevitable and they should do it sooner rather than later.

This made me also think about all the elders who have passed away in my lifetime. I've noticed a pattern that once they all reached a certain age they were ready to die. It always scares me to think about but I haven't yet experienced the full life that they had.

• In New Guinea, people look up to elders for guidance, for example, there was this one woman who was the only living person that survived a devastating typhoon and they relied on her to teach them all she knew about survival. 
• The Huaorani people who reside in Ecuador believe that elderly shamans (mengatoi) have magical powers like shapeshifting.
• In America, we tend to let or elders to run our country whether it's in the Whitehouse or the supreme court.

I found the section about death to be the most interesting. how each culture approaches the end of their lives is all different but with the same end result. shows how we can all be similar and different at the same time.

I take away that Elders are being accepted into community as functioning humans who still have much to contribute even if they cannot do so physically

Hawai'ian elders are revered for their skills in making leis. In the US and many western societies, elders hold high ranking positions in government due to their vast knowledge. Some cultures believe them to have special powers such as transformation but that doesn't really seem to be legit

i found that what words describe the elderly was the most interesting because i did not know what Kiswahili meant and how it represents a sign of respect.

A lot of senior citizens were committing suicide as well as a fatal heatwave that killed many of the elderly.

grandmothers in Hawaii are believed to have special knowledge and skill at making ornate leis and feather accessories. Huaoranians think that shamans, called mengatoi have the ability to turn into Jaguars. Western societies use the experience and knowledge from the Elders to guide and lead their community.

• Which segment did you find most interesting and why?
  What special foods can the elderly eat. I found this interesting because the things they they think at least to me sounded crazy. I do not believe when you eat something at a young age it will have crazy affects on yourself.
• Which event(s) led to the passing of an Elderly Rights Law (Article 207 of the Civil Code) in France? What do you you take away from this?
  One of them was a high increase in suicide rates in elderly in France and also the heat wave which killed some elderly. I take away from this that the elderly are lonely and need to be taken care of just incase something like the heat wave happens.
• What are highly specialized skills and knowledge that come from old age? Give examples from at least 3 different cultures.
  Hawaiian grandmothers are thought to have special knowledge and skill at making ornate leis and feather accessories. Huaorani people think that shamans can turn into Jaguars. Western societies use the experience from the elders to guide the society.

Both while reading these articles and when visiting Mt. Pleasant Home, it became clear that a lack of purpose and feeling of importance was detrimental to both the mental and physical health of the elderly. Many disregard the elderly solely due to their age and their own bias towards age, without considering the many important experiences and skills an elderly person might have. Also, more often than not the interests and passions of the elderly are not cared about, as many are passionate about certain things but do not have the resources to continue with their passions. By not being able to do what they love and are passionate about, it decreases their sense of self-confidence, and greatly impacts their mental health. The experience of the elderly right now is not one that produces physically and mentally healthy people.

While at Mt. Pleasant Home and interviewing some of the residents there, the passions of the elderly were highlighted. Alice told me of her love of learning learn, her want to take classes, and her passion for teaching and advising young people. Al reminisced of his times as an entertainer and musician speaking of the "good old days" where he played the guitar and piano, and also sang. Both fondly remembered times in their life where they were able to pursue their passions, and greatly wish they were still able to. It is unfortunate that in our society today, we don't do as much to care for the mental health of the elderly and assist them in pursuing their passions.

To be honest I couldn't understand where the author was going with this chapter. The chapter was about the creative process but then he went right into dinosaurs. His writing briefly skimmed over all his thoughts so I was confused throughout the reading. But to make him look good Ill say that he was trying to portray the correct way to explain the creative process not to doing what you are supposed to do. I'm wondering if you guys (the coaches) were trying to show how your mind works as you age and if so I hope I stay sane for a while before I go crazy.

After reading this I really do not have a clear understanding of what it was about but I do have few specific take aways. In the first section the author talked about visualizing goals and very quickly he switched to a converstion with Michale Crichton about dinosaurs. I think this was a test to show how crazy old people can be when they tell stories and do anything else./

The way Wilson describes the creative process is very similar to the way many inventions have come about. It has a very interesting contrast to Nuvu's process. He proposes to start from the end, the final product, while at Nuvu we start with a prompt and are told our first idea is rarely the best. But he also might be proposing the opposite, "There is an imagined ending, and usually an imagined beginning, and a selection of bits and pieces that might fit in between" pg 74. The ending could refer to the solving of the problem, not the product. The bits and pieces could represent changes in the idea as information is obtained and prototypes are made, and the beginning could refer to the original idea, what you think the project will be.

Honestly, the author is pretty annoying. He sort of reminds me of neo-liberal. Anyway, as for his observations, I found them interesting, especially the way he connects the sci-fi concepts of Jurrasic Park stuff he's encountered in real life. I think that sci-fi is really important in this world. Sci-fi can bring attention to a lot of issues that may occur in the future. 

Sci-fi can also tackle some serious morality problems. As CRISPR tech develops, we will have a large genre of books about the morality of topics cloning and genetic modification.  Overall I think it's important to dream big.

But the author is a really annoying neo-liberal imo