Upon gaining preliminary knowledge of it through this reading, I feel Dr. Terman’s longevity study is the Milgram Obedience Study or Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment of health psychology. What I mean is, the importance of it, the knowledge gained from it, and the subsequent studies that have emerged from the data and measures used are pertinent to the field and to the overall well-being of humans. I agree with the general theme of the introduction and the first chapter: personalities, work/careers, and our family/social lives have as great a, if not a greater, effect on health and longevity than do diet and exercise alone.
We can only develop inferences and correlations from health studies (sometimes stronger than others). This reality has a tendency to hinder people’s trust of claims of positive personality leading to longer, healthier, happier lives. What I appreciated about the intro and chapter one (and I anticipate for the rest of the book) was that the author did not discount this distrust and the correlation; instead it was highlighted so the reader is informed not to take anything as 100 percent valid and true.
I look forward to seeing the variability and similarities between individuals from like and different backgrounds and habits. Some what of a “health buff” myself, I am curious to see what patterns or categories I may fall under, and what predictions I can possibly make of my own trajectory.
I agree with your second paragraph on how we can only develop correlations from these health studies, and more importantly we have to remember that everyone does differ due to different levels of education, genetics, and environment. I appreciated how the authors discussed the idea of “individual pathways” so we would keep that in mind as readers. I think I am most excited for seeing these variabilities and similarities from various individuals experiences. It will be exciting to see how we can maybe alter our own lives!
Robo, I think I am with you 100% on your entire response. I think the knowledge gained from this will be extensive. I think it is human nature to want to know how long we live, so I agree with looking forward to seeing what categories I will fall, in as well. I wonder if the work we are doing with Brincks, will positively effect our longevity of life. However, I do question if these individual pathways are so important, why do we harp on a clean diet and regularly exercising, if they do not play as big of a role as we think.