Arts and Cultural Engagement 'Linked To Slower Pace of Biological Aging' (theguardian.com) 69
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Singing, painting or visiting a gallery or museum helps people age more slowly, according to the latest study to link taking an active interest in art and culture with improved health. The findings are the first to show that both participating in arts activities and attending events, such as viewing an exhibition, lead to people staying biologically younger. "These results demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level. They provide evidence for arts and cultural engagement to be recognized as a health-promoting behavior in a similar way to exercise," said Prof Daisy Fancourt, the lead author of the research and the head of the social biobehavioral research group at University College London.
However, slower aging does not necessarily mean someone will live longer. The "epigenetic clocks" used in the study to assess biological ageing are predictive of future morbidity and mortality, and previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan, but much more research would be needed to establish potential causal effects on longevity. Those who take part in artistic pursuits the most often slow the pace of their biological aging the most. Under one of the study's methods of assessment, those who did so at least weekly slowed their aging process by 4%, while monthly engagement led to it slowing by 3%.
Similarly, another of the tests showed that those who undertook an arts activity at least once a week were on average a year younger biologically than those who rarely engaged in such pursuits. Those who exercised once a week were only six months younger by that measure. The benefit the arts confer on the pace at which people age is so dramatic that it is comparable to the difference between smokers and those who have given up smoking, the researchers say. The results, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, are based on blood test and survey response data from 3,556 adults taking part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study. It uses blood samples to estimate people's biological age and the pace at which they are ageing.
However, slower aging does not necessarily mean someone will live longer. The "epigenetic clocks" used in the study to assess biological ageing are predictive of future morbidity and mortality, and previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan, but much more research would be needed to establish potential causal effects on longevity. Those who take part in artistic pursuits the most often slow the pace of their biological aging the most. Under one of the study's methods of assessment, those who did so at least weekly slowed their aging process by 4%, while monthly engagement led to it slowing by 3%.
Similarly, another of the tests showed that those who undertook an arts activity at least once a week were on average a year younger biologically than those who rarely engaged in such pursuits. Those who exercised once a week were only six months younger by that measure. The benefit the arts confer on the pace at which people age is so dramatic that it is comparable to the difference between smokers and those who have given up smoking, the researchers say. The results, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, are based on blood test and survey response data from 3,556 adults taking part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study. It uses blood samples to estimate people's biological age and the pace at which they are ageing.
I smell an article about engineering incoming (Score:3)
With Hans Mole as the page image.
*Moleman* (Score:2)
*nt*
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Nah, that's Dunbar's story - live a boring life, feel it lasts forever.
Weird (Score:5, Funny)
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To see them get younger, you should only sing in a museum, while painting.
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Why, didn't your little war bring 'total obliteration' to your enemies, little hasbara bro?
What happened, did you lose and can't "open the strait" on your own?
What a weak bunch of dumb cowards you turned out to be, started a major war with no plan and no way out, and then whine to everyone else to deal with the consequences of your stupidity...
Sad, really, but typical of your wars.
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Really?
How come the oil price is still 45 dollars above the average before the trump little fail?
How come the regime is even more entrenched than before?
How come they're paid for transit through that strait?
How come they still have more than half of their drone and ballistic missiles supplies?
How come they are considering enriching uranium further if their program was "obliterated"?
Reality doesn't really align with your trolling, hasbara bro.
Perhaps you're stupid AF or just lying?
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I sing in choirs and the majority of people are long past retirement age and seem to be relatively alert and mostly quite sprightly. There's clearly a difference in outcome between singing and being sung to...
That makes sense. (Score:5, Interesting)
Cultural engagement and it's "lower" form, escapism, basically represent tribal social engagement and exploration of the unknown/new, you know, the things we previously evolved to be good at. That this sort of activity provides purpose, meaning and connection and thus educes stress totally makes sense.
I personally see and experience an amplified version of this in close embrace social dancing (massive health benefits, scientifically proven) and due to my diploma and experience in performing arts. It basically makes me 15-20 years younger than my peers.
Re:That makes sense. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think it has anything to do with that. As soon as I saw the headline, my mind went "cohort study". And sure enough, yeah, it's a cohort study. Remember that big thing about how wine improves your health, and then it turned out to just be that people who drink wine tend to be wealthier and thus have better health outcomes? And also, the "sick quitter" effect, where people who are in worse health would tend to stop drinking, so you ended up with extra sick people in the non-wine group? Same sort of thing. This study says they're controlling for a wide range of factors, but I'd put money on it just being the same sort of spurious correlations.
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My suspicion (Score:3)
At least some of this will be stress. If you're enjoying something, then you won't be stressed. If you're feeling positive and delighting in what you do, then you won't be stressed in unhealthy ways. This looks similar to the Mozart Effect, which turned out to be that if you liked something, your brain functioned better.
Yes, charging around the stage playing rock music isn't exactly gentle, but it IS extremely good exercise for the heart and the rest of the body. Again, that's going to have positive effects.
(We can ignore Keith Richards in this model, as he's older than the universe and only created it as a place to store his guitars.)
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Self-selection (Score:4, Interesting)
An interesting theory but hiding a demographic detail. Participation in the arts passively and actively is not uniform across all socioeconomic groups but tends to cluster around certain economic and cultural groups. We think one needs early exposure and the resources to become involved -- suggesting perhaps that these folk have a bit more control over their lives leading to lower stress. Have artists and musicians in the family and have seen up close the struggles -- but also the rewards of creating and enjoying the creation of others. Personally, perhaps more exposure as part of the education process might make us all better peoplea. But the question might be which is the tail and which the dog?
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Indeed. People participating in the arts tend to be higher-income, with healthier diets and better access to healthcare.
Also, the causation may go the other way. Healthier people are more likely to get out and go to museums or galleries.
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Turning the link purple to go to the report, then following that link to the actual study [oup.com], you can look at those concerns.
Oddly enough, the post-doc researchers at University College London doing research in behavioral science and psychiatry, published through Oxford University, do indeed answer the questions.
The paper shows is something they noticed and want to investigate further, presented as "the first evidence" not a final conclusion. They started from the UK Household Longitudinal Study data, data
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An interesting theory but hiding a demographic detail. Participation in the arts passively and actively is not uniform across all socioeconomic groups but tends to cluster around certain economic and cultural groups. We think one needs early exposure and the resources to become involved -- suggesting perhaps that these folk have a bit more control over their lives leading to lower stress. Have artists and musicians in the family and have seen up close the struggles -- but also the rewards of creating and enjoying the creation of others. Personally, perhaps more exposure as part of the education process might make us all better peoplea. But the question might be which is the tail and which the dog?
It is a very interesting thesis, and yes, early exposure is important for most people. Tail and the dog indeed. On a personal level, and coming from abject poverty, and having zero control over my life as a child, it would appear that my upbringing should leave me completely uninterested in art, yet my sisters are actively involved in art, my older was a art major, and makes jewelry, and my younger is what would be best described as a music curator, and I myself am a musician, and do photography (much of i
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It's interesting that although the article avoids stating causation, it does use the word "help," which is also an extremely strong statement when the data only shows correlation. Social-economic level, especially relating to income and assets should be the very first obvious factor analyzed. There's a reason that rich people support and participate in the arts more than poor people. Rich people have the spare time, spare money, and often less stress (economic, health, etc.). For example, some high scho
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It's interesting that although the article avoids stating causation, it does use the word "help," which is also an extremely strong statement when the data only shows correlation. Social-economic level, especially relating to income and assets should be the very first obvious factor analyzed.
Especially when people look at everything from socioeconomic level.
There's a reason that rich people support and participate in the arts more than poor people. Rich people have the spare time, spare money, and often less stress (economic, health, etc.).
Definitely will have more spare money.
But do you believe that the wealthy are indolent or something? Many of my peers are in the millionaire class, and they work hard and long. And more than a few are highly stressed.
For example, some high schools require a lot of money (up to $5000 for one school in our area) per season to participating in marching band, and that doesn't even include buying the expensive instrument.
It is fortunate that there are many other forms of art, some that require little more than a sketchpad and pencils. I know what you are talking about a little, as my parents would not get me an instrument when I wanted t
Art or just Stopping to Smell the Roses (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if it really has much to do with "art and culture" as much as just general attitude and a sense of greatfulness.
Taking the time sit an look at painting an appreciate it as beautiful or fascinating or singing and taking the time work at it and make it sound right places one in a frame of mind and we know the many parts of the body are impacted by mental state either directly or indirectly thru hormone responses etc.
My question would be do you get the same benefit if say you make a habit of going for a non-strenuous hike and sitting on log for a while contemplating a unique tree, or an expansive vista, or study a wild flower. Maybe you sit and listen to a brook. Does it even have to be nature what if you sit on a park bench and appreciate the architecture of the surrounding city (though that might be clutre/art again in the way the museum is so lets go with watch some children playing or something instead.
I am not trying to devalue art and culture but simple recognize what those things are is a matter frequently contested. It is therefore difficult say 'cultural appreciation is good for you' beyond well these specific activities in the study seem to help slow aging. I also think a lot of those things are less than accessible to everyone. Certainly a walk in the woods or over the prairie might not be either if you live in an urban center; maybe the art museum is more accessible, or the park bench. For the rural or suburban dweller the outdoors might be the best options, especially if your elderly and dont drive. My point is simply that beautiful and interesting things big and small worth spending some time to stop and consider are actually everywhere and maybe just that act is really the key here.
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Sitting and Looking at Art as a form of appreciation is not really a form of engagement. Engagement means using your brain and actively performing tasks with a goal. That's not true if you're merely enjoying an image, a natural environment or even a movie, passively. It is true if you're an art critic preparing an essay in your head without using an LLM.
There are things that seem like appreciation but are actually engagement. For example, meditation. It isn't sitting still, it is concentrating for the pur
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I don't cut and paste, but I do quote.
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Sitting and Looking at Art as a form of appreciation is not really a form of engagement.
Don't let any of the art or art history profs at the local college hear you say that, they'll probably turn violent!
Sitting and looking might not be an accurate characterization. I also don't think many of the voluntary attendees (Ie people that were not dragged their by parents, a spouse etc) are very likely to just 'sit and look' they are almost certainly "critiquing" and thinking about it, "do i like this", "why did the artist select this media", "what were they trying to say, what have they actually sa
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I've talked to quite a few, I'm still in one piece ;-)
Yes, I agree that voluntary attendees are more likely to actively engage. If they've been lucky enough to learn the process at school or elsewhere, they will know how to proceed.
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See I don't think you need the education to engage. If you want to talk about that engagement with others, compare it other works not immediately present, place it in some social or historical context sure...
Just like you'll probably engage with study the wildflower differently if you have formal training in botany, than if you don't, you can still make personal observation, ask yourself questions especially subjective ones. Any normal person could look at an impressionist work and observe how the image c
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I'm not sure I agree. I've seen lots of people in museums, the vast majority of them walk around, look at a work of art for 10 seconds and move on. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but my point is that they're appreciating it. They look and decide if they like it or not, move to the next one. The kind of deeper questioning you describe is rare I think (and to your credit). It doesn't require an education, but that does make it easier.
Incidentally, the average person today has been exposed to mor
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Reverse causation? (Score:2)
Maybe those people who are in better health, not aging as fast as others, are also more likely to have the energy and interest to go to museums and concerts?
Another study confirming the rich live longer... (Score:1)
In this case, arts is likely to just be another proxy for wealth. Wealthier people are more likely to engage with the arts and have the leisure time required to do so.
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In this case, arts is likely to just be another proxy for wealth. Wealthier people are more likely to engage with the arts and have the leisure time required to do so.
As a person of the class that you hate, I make the time to engage with the arts. And I did it when I was poor too.
Not everything is about your class warfare, comrade.
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You are making unwarranted assumptions. My post has nothing to do with value judgments about wealth. Most people would consider me wealthy if they knew my financial situation and income.
It's simply the case that wealthy people are statistically far more likely to be engaged with the arts. They are also the people who can afford healthcare, gym memberships, and taking time to engage with arts. Yes, people of modest means can and do engage with the arts, but we are talking about averages.
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You are making unwarranted assumptions. My post has nothing to do with value judgments about wealth. Most people would consider me wealthy if they knew my financial situation and income.
It's simply the case that wealthy people are statistically far more likely to be engaged with the arts. They are also the people who can afford healthcare, gym memberships, and taking time to engage with arts. Yes, people of modest means can and do engage with the arts, but we are talking about averages.
Oh - averages, Can you give me those statistics? I get a lot of Artists exposing inequalities between rich and poor from searches. So perhaps rather than talk about statistical averages, and making it a wealthy versus poor battle - and let us face it, all of that reads a whole lot like good old class warfare - we might look into the differences between those people of modest means who are interested in art, and those of modest means who have no interest in art.
In addition, perhaps looking into the differ
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From a government examination
https://www.arts.gov/executive... [arts.gov]
"As has been true historically, education and income are strong predictors of arts participation. In every cohort, in every art form, those with more education and higher incomes participate at higher rates than those with less. "
Here are some demographics for Classical Music concern attendees (they skew wealthier and more highly educated):
https://gitnux.org/classical-m... [gitnux.org]
On pop music, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the poor aren't spendi
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From a government examination
https://www.arts.gov/executive... [arts.gov]
"As has been true historically, education and income are strong predictors of arts participation. In every cohort, in every art form, those with more education and higher incomes participate at higher rates than those with less. "
Here are some demographics for Classical Music concern attendees (they skew wealthier and more highly educated):
https://gitnux.org/classical-m... [gitnux.org]
On pop music, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the poor aren't spending $1,000+ a pop for Taylor Swift concerts.
Maybe you could isolate income as a variable, but it doesn't appear the original study attempted to do that.
Thanks - reading them now.
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From a government examination
https://www.arts.gov/executive... [arts.gov]
"As has been true historically, education and income are strong predictors of arts participation. In every cohort, in every art form, those with more education and higher incomes participate at higher rates than those with less. "
Here are some demographics for Classical Music concern attendees (they skew wealthier and more highly educated):
https://gitnux.org/classical-m... [gitnux.org]
On pop music, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the poor aren't spending $1,000+ a pop for Taylor Swift concerts.
Maybe you could isolate income as a variable, but it doesn't appear the original study attempted to do that.
It is very interesting read - I go to take a number of things out of it, thanks again.
FTS :
37% of classical music listeners in the UK are aged 16-34, debunking the "graying audience" myth
I'm not certain how that jibes with the common meme that Boomers sucked up all the money, and GenZ people are poor.
One-third of classical music fans live in households earning over $100,000 annually
Which is another way of saying two-thirds are living in households making under $100,000 annually
From the other report, I was gobsmacked when they wrote:
Proportionately fewer baby boomers have a
I doubt you can correct for correlation (Score:3)
Yes, you will find streetcleaners who go to the opera, but I doubt you will find one who also eats only fast food in front of the television. When correlation with likely higher impact lifestyle choices such as diet get too high, statistics becomes unable to correct for that.
Wow. People who don't have to work live longer. (Score:2, Insightful)
Just shows that, if you have the money to not work a lot and stress yourself out on the daily, you can afford to enrich your life with those (expensive) things.
Like that stupid study that said that horse owners tend to live longer that ignored that the same 'horse people' have a lot of money for healthcare and leisure time.
Yup, another no-brainer here.
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Just shows that, if you have the money to not work a lot and stress yourself out on the daily, you can afford to enrich your life with those (expensive) things. Like that stupid study that said that horse owners tend to live longer that ignored that the same 'horse people' have a lot of money for healthcare and leisure time. Yup, another no-brainer here.
While it makes for narrative validation to yet again turn people with money into your mortal enemy, do you have a computer? Do you have a cell phone?
Tell me comrade, are you blocked from accessing art sites on them?
Comrade, do not make the mistake of thinking that you need huge amounts of spare time and wealth to appreciate art. You can do it on your digital devices instead of watching reality TV. And museums are all over the place. What is more, you can even make your own art.
But it is easier to
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You obviously don't understand the actual post being made. The more difficult life is to do things like paying your bills, working multiple jobs, and things of that sort, the more stress people will have, which shortens their lives. On the flip side, those who have more leisure time and carry less stress will live longer.
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You obviously don't understand the actual post being made. The more difficult life is to do things like paying your bills, working multiple jobs, and things of that sort, the more stress people will have, which shortens their lives. On the flip side, those who have more leisure time and carry less stress will live longer.
You are invoking a meme. I do have an art minor, so I've seen a lot of artists and people who are interested in art. There are many artists who remain poor to work their craft. They are not stressed about that - it is their choice.
There are wealthy people who are not interested in Art. As well, more than a few who are both artists and wealthy
But can you address how a poor person is kept from accessing art on the internet? Even places like Facebook have a lot of art on them. Not many people are bereft o
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Be that as it may, it really does come down to the wealthy having advantages in the USA that would cause a longer lifespan, and that includes not having access to decent healthcare options(short of emergency services) for those who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum. For many, it ends up being an issue of the culture where many have been raised not to go to a doctor when they are not feeling well due to the economic situation their family was in, or even their parents who were raised not to see
Wait a moment (Score:2)
I mean if people didn't have to work shitty jobs for a living and instead had the time and money to paint (extensively), socialise and visit museums all day; is it simply the lack of stress and greater joy that's prolonging their life rather than the art and culture?
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I mean if people didn't have to work shitty jobs for a living and instead had the time and money to paint (extensively), socialise and visit museums all day; is it simply the lack of stress and greater joy that's prolonging their life rather than the art and culture?
You have an interesting outlook. People with money and apparently a lot of free time, are living in a utopia of stress free living.
Perhaps your outlook and narrative shows where your priorities are. As I noted before to others, are you prevented from accessing the wealth of art on the Internet?
In reality, it isn't that there are reasons to find people with incredible amounts of money to be problematic.
But it also becomes problematic when it becomes an obsession, when all you see is reasons to spread
If you're doing something like that once a week (Score:1)
We know what ages people. It's over work. And it appears that once you get past 32 hours that's qualifies as over work, let alone the 50 or 60 the average American is doing right now. Just a reminder that Americans now work more hours than the Japanese...
Somebody that is putting in 50 or 60 hours a week on top of kids or something isn't going to a museum or even the library. They are lying on the couch exhausted maybe watching TV or maybe even too exhauste
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What if you have a job that you enjoy and involves being creative? Figure out what you enjoy doing and get a job doing that.
Now you'll have to excuse me. Amazon just delivered a 20 ton marble block. And I've got to go and chisel something out of it. A David, perhaps. Or maybe a Trump.
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What if you have a job that you enjoy and involves being creative? Figure out what you enjoy doing and get a job doing that.
Now you'll have to excuse me. Amazon just delivered a 20 ton marble block. And I've got to go and chisel something out of it. A David, perhaps. Or maybe a Trump.
You'd have to get a load of Bull manure for the last one.
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You came to right place! Bull rsilvergun (or I believe he transitioned to a cow instead) produces tons of manure everyday with the tons of Singapore pagpag he eats everyday. The manure might be contaminated with menstrual cup plastic but hey, we all have a spoon of plastic in our brains anyway he says...
This raises an interesting question, when a bull like rsilvergun transition, does its manure become female manure or should we still be allowed to call "bull manure"?
Well done!
The best way to do this (Score:1)
This message ... (Score:2)
Just what we need. Another piece of avant-garde sculpture. Like the one in the lobby of our city hall. That disappeared over one weekend. An investigation led to a building janitor who thought it was construction debris and threw it out.
Money (Score:2)
Maybe, if you have lots of extra cash (Score:2)
I can buy this (Score:2)
Don't tell me... (Score:1)
..eating good food and exercising results in healthier, longer lives too? In other words...Duh.
I would love to believe this . . . (Score:1)
But I call Bullshit. The study may (?) demonstrate correlation, but I see no evidence of causation. So people who like the arts live longer. Somehow not nearly the headline as OP.
OR... And bare with me here... (Score:1)