Counterclockwise: Mindful Health And The Power Of Possibility (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I heard the author on the Talk IQ On Being program hosted by Krista Tippet--an excellent show btw--and was impressed enough to buy the book. Before I go further I must say I have a PhD in sociology and was a professor for 30+ years Unfortunately I was disappointed, perhaps due to my professional back ground. Her ideas have been around for a long time and include role theory, labelling, stereotyping, and self fulfulling prophecy. All concepts taught in introductory sociology. The research is old some going back into the 1970s. The focus of the book is on the elderly and how preconceived notions of what some one over a specific age acts and thinks. Well duh. Ask anyone over 50 and they can tell you how they are labeled. The book is directed toward caregivers and is meant to call attention to how they think of older people and how they treat them. There is little to no space directed toward how to actually move counterclockwise to your stereotypes. I was hoping for information on how an older person her/himself can move, think, act counterclockwise, but no. The book gets redundant and boring. A sound idea that wants discussion and exploration but this is not the book. This is timely since we do have an aging population that is quite different from past genrrstions--healthier, more physically fit, much more active for years longer, and better educated. There is no doubt that this wave of older Americans are going to raise the bar on what older means. Counterclockwise speaks to stereotypes that no longer fit at all and misses the mark. I was curious to know more about the "counterclockwise" experiment Langer ran -- bringing elderly men together, prompting them to act like it was still the 50s, and then finding that their physical health improved after the experiment. So that was interesting, yes, and Langer cites all kinds of interesting psychological studies. But I can't help but wonder why the social psychologists don't seem to be in conversation with the critical theorists, cultural studies folks, or feminists. All explore this terrain of "possibility," variability and social construction, but with more nuance and with more attention paid to power and epistemology and things. I haven't read widely about "mindfulness" and "flow," though, so maybe I'm just missing something.
What do You think about Counterclockwise: Mindful Health And The Power Of Possibility (2009)?
What if all you knew about aging wasn't correct? Question your assumptions!
—Mary
A research-based study of how mindfulness can improve health and aging.
—Naomie1993
Research heavy BUT written in an easy to read fashion.
—Zaibaa
