SINGAPORE: Hong Kong YouTuber Torres Pit was conducting a survey in Singapore, asking citizens how much they earn per month when he came across a 78-year-old woman working in a “Singapore stock exchange-listed company” as an “office worker.”
She revealed that she has worked for the same company for 50 years, and her number one tip for surviving the corporate world is, “Learn as much as you can and read a lot. You need to keep abreast with the market trend.”
She also said that she didn’t find anything difficult about working in an office.
“Do you wake up every morning and you’re excited to go to work?” Torris asked.
“Yes, why not?” she responded.
Another staff member from Torris’ team also chimed in on the conversation and noted that the woman “seemed so happy and not stressed,” prompting her to ask what the woman’s secret was.
“We need to be positive with life, with everything. If we find difficulty, we must think positive. There should be a way,” the woman said.
Nearing the end of the interview, Torres looked into the camera and addressed his viewers, saying, “78 and still researching into the AI and know the market. What’s your excuse?”
The old woman then said at the end, “You learn by reading books!”
“Read books!” echoed Torres.
In the comments section, a netizen praised the old woman for her unwavering dedication to learning new things.
“Kudos to the 78 years-old for still being active and still learning at 78!! Really no excuse for us to stop learning,” the netizen said.
“My goodness!!! 78 years old acts like mid 60s with a clear mind and strong body. Amazing,” another added.
Never too old to learn new things
Most elderly people find it difficult and challenging to learn new things, but it’s not because they’re “too old”. It’s just that they consciously or subconsciously decide to stop learning.
Once they make this choice, they form a habit, so their learning ability gradually weakens, like an unused muscle.
It could also be that they’re tired of learning and “just want to chill out,” or they may think they’ve already learned everything they need to. Some even make the excuse that “they cannot learn anymore because of their old age.”
In addition, their lack of confidence and anxiety about their performance also make it harder for them to focus on learning.
Older people are actually just as sharp as younger ones
A Rotman Research Institute study refuted the misconception that older people are incapable of learning new things.
In their research, they found that the brains of older people can still learn “new tricks” and have visual- and short-term memories that are just as sharp as those of young adults.
Interestingly, older folks also use different brain regions than younger adults.
In another study, participants aged 58 to 86 completed 3 to 5 new classes over a 3-month period.
After one month and a half, they discovered that the participants had increased their mental capacity to a level comparable to those 30 years younger.
Also, as an individual gets older, there are some things that they can do better than people of younger age, such as inductive reasoning, visual-spatial skills, verbal abilities, and basic maths.