Can our elders serve as “experts” on how to live our lives?
To answer this question, Dr. Karl Pillemer, gerontologist and Professor of Human Development at Cornell University, decided to seek advice on how to live from the oldest Americans.
In the
Cornell Legacy Project, he surveyed over 1200 elders, asking them for their most important lessons for living – on topics like marriage, career, parenting, aging, regrets, happiness, and overcoming loss. In this talk, he highlights some of the key findings from the project, focusing on practical advice from the wisest Americans for living a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life.
Speaker:
Karl A. Pillemer, Ph.D. is the Hazel E. Reed professor of Human Development at Cornell University and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. An internationally renowned gerontologist, his research examines how people develop and change throughout their lives. He has authored five books and over 150 scientific publications, and speaks throughout the world on aging-related issues. In a decade-long set of studies, Dr. Pillemer decided to find out what older people know about life that the rest of us don't. This project led to the bestselling book:
30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. His second book, which focused on elder wisdom about love and committed relationships, is
30 Lessons for Loving: Advice from the Wisest Americans on Love, Relationships, and Marriage. Dr. Pillemer is the creator of Building a Community Together, a project that brings youth and older adults together for discussions of life wisdom.