Dr. Ellen Langer

I feel like this is a trick question.

Well, it is, though, because one plus one isn't always two.

That if you are adding one wad of chewing gum plus one wad of chewing gum, one plus one is one.

If you add one pile of laundry plus one pile of laundry, one plus one is one.

You had one cloud plus one cloud, one plus one is one.

In the real world, one plus one probably doesn't equal two as or more often as it does.

So now look at the difference.

Somebody, it's unlikely, but after we finish, somebody comes over to you and says, how much is one plus one?

you're not going to mindlessly say two.

You're going to pay some attention to the context, and then you're going to answer more mindfully and say, it could be, and then you can say it could be one, it could be two.

Interesting.

It's all context.

Exactly.

Everything changes.

And our minds tend to hold things still.

We think we know.

We want to know because we think that gives us control.

But since things are changing, you don't want your mind to hold it still while in fact it's changing because then you're giving up control that you otherwise would have.

Yeah, well, the reason I want to use the term chronic, just because it's a little startling, because we only think of chronic illness.

But people tend to assume that as you get older, you're going to fall apart.