Shine OnAmazing video shows human lifespan from 0 to 100
How do you represent 100 years of human life in just over two minutes?
That's a puzzle Dutch filmmaker Jeroen Wolf set out to solve using two key tools: a Panasonic video camera and a boatload of persistence.
Wolf began his "100" project last October with a brilliantly simple idea. He would stop people on the streets of Amsterdam and ask them to state their age in front of the camera.
For most of the ages, Wolf had no problem coaxing a wide variety of people to reveal their birth years, often with a smile. His challenge came in the form of extremes: both very young and very old.
Also see: 'Happiness' gene works only for women, scientists find
"The young because of sensitivity around filming or photographing children and the very old because they don't get out of the house much," he writes on his Vimeo page.
To solve the latter problem, Wolf began canvassing care homes around the Netherlands. All went well until he edged closer to the finish line.
"I had particular problems finding a 99-year-old," he continues. "And when I finally did find one, she refused to state her age. She simply denied being 99 years old!"
Four months later, Wolf managed to capture that elusive 99-year-old on film and complete his remarkable project.
The chronological trajectory of human experience expressed in the faces of his subjects as they age makes it impossible not to marvel at the process of human life.
Also see: Disrupting your biological clock can make you fat: study
So in celebration of biology, here are some interesting tidbits about aging.
A number of studies claim humans actually get happier as they get older. While there will always be the dependable crotchety old man standby in every group, a 2008 Gallup poll reveals that American seniors showed higher levels of contentment than their younger counterparts. Much of that, they believe, can be attributed to the fact that life's difficult "curveballs" tend to slow down after age 50.
There's no stopping that aging train. The World Health Organization reports that the proportion of the world's population over 60 years of age will double between 2000 to 2050. That means by the middle of this century, the number of folks eligible for a senior's discount at the movie theatre will jump from 605 million to 2 billion — or roughly 22 per cent overall.
Negative emotions can shorten your lifespan. Research involving people who were abused, lost a parent, or experienced any other trauma as a child led to premature inflammation and cell aging, thus speeding up the aging process overall.
It's never too late. While folks who practice healthy habits from an early age are likelier to enjoy better health as they age, the WHO provides some solace for late bloomers. So even if you've puffed away for decades, the risk of premature death plummets by 50 per cent if a smoker puts away their cigarettes between the ages of 60 and 75.
High-tech seniors. It's well documented that seniors who maintain a wide social circle enjoy higher levels of overall well-being. According to a study by senior care and services provider Revera and Leger Marketing, 88 per cent of their seniors aged 75-plus are sending emails and connecting to the web at least once a day.
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