Ask A Genius 680: Being Spry
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/01/13
[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do you feel physically at your age? Do you feel spry?
Rick Rosner: Yeah, I’m 61 and two-thirds years old and, unsurprisingly, I deal with various aches. I often wake up with back pain, which seems to be a constant, albeit minor, discomfort. My age shows in some ways, like taking longer to pee, which is common for guys my age. Right now, I’m dealing with a planter wart, so I’ve had to attach a bunion pad to my foot to alleviate the pain when walking. Despite these issues, I exercise a lot, although not as intensively as your 14-hour workdays. My workout routine is spread throughout the day, starting around one in the afternoon and sometimes continuing until three in the morning. I maintain good posture and am quite light, weighing around 140 to 142 pounds at a height of 5’10” or 5’10 ½”. So yes, I would say I’m still quite springy. I’ve noticed that my physical behavior lacks a certain gravitas. I tend to move about with a bounce, which might appear a bit like the comedian Martin Short.
Jacobsen: So, are you suggesting that your spryness and lack of gravitas are due to not being overweight?
Rosner: That could be a factor. There’s a certain lightness or lack of seriousness to my demeanor. While I might take myself seriously at heart, I prefer not to project that seriousness outwardly. Being relatively small in stature definitely contributes to this. It also helps in my profession, where being a bit of a goofball is part of the job. Reflecting on my stepdad, who was a respected businessman in downtown Boulder, he wasn’t what you’d call spry. He was more traditional, always in a suit and never engaging in activities that wouldn’t fit that attire. He enjoyed sports but wasn’t actively involved in playing them. My biological father, on the other hand, was slightly more athletic but still had that relaxed belly typical of not maintaining tight stomach muscles. He was a bit more lighthearted and smaller in stature than my stepdad.
The previous generation had a different approach to exercise. For women, exercise might have been following workout shows on TV, but it wasn’t as widespread or intense as it is now. Aerobics didn’t catch on with my mom’s generation; she was probably a bit too old for the Jane Fonda workout era. When I was employed, the nature of my work involved being more of a clown than anything serious. This, combined with long periods of unemployment, has influenced my physicality.
Considering America’s current fitness levels, I think there’s a connection between physical health and cognitive function. I recall a book by a doctor who used PET scans to show how unhealthy lifestyles, like metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and high cholesterol, dim the brain’s activity. After improving their health, people’s brains appeared more active in scans. Though the author seemed a bit unorthodox, the scans were telling. Observing people in L.A. traffic pre-Covid, it was apparent that poor health often correlated with a zoned-out appearance. So, America’s obesity issue might also be contributing to a decline in overall intelligence.
[Recording End]
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