Dr. Ellen Langer

Now, then we have people like us, more you, your age, that are inhibited.

What does inhibited mean?

You know the rules.

You're supposed to do this.

You're not supposed to do that.

And you comply.

Then hopefully, hopefully,

you get to a certain point where you say, who cares?

Now, that behavior of the who cares, the old person, may resemble the young person.

And it's a mistake to think of that person as behaving childishly.

So they're not uninhibited, the way the child is.

They're disinhibited.

Yeah.

But the point here, the larger point that I'm making is that when you see somebody behaving in a way where you're

taking them to task, diminishing them, it may actually be that they're more evolved than you are, rather than less.

So another example, you see somebody drop a cane, and so the miserable person doesn't go over and help.

Then the next level two person runs over and helps.

But there's also a level three, better, where that person watches and sees because the person who dropped their cane is going to feel better if he or she can pick it up by themselves.

And you don't want to deny them that.

And so you don't give help that's not really needed.