Cumulative social advantage: Is this the secret to a long, happy and healthy life? | Health and wellness
name: Cumulative social advantage.
age: If it exists, it has always existed.
appearance: Strictly speaking, he looks like everyone else.
everyone? You know – the other people around you.
Oh, please. I see enough of them. Don’t you enjoy the give and take of community interaction? Establishing real human relationships?
Honestly, I just want to be left alone for once. With my stuff. This may sound attractive, but it’s not good for you.
Why not? Cumulative social advantage is the idea that social relationships are the key to a long and healthy life.
What kind of social relationships? Family ties, emotional support networks, religious involvement, and community involvement.
I knew it: You’re trying to get me to volunteer for something. This will be to your cumulative social advantage.
I’m very busy at the moment. according to New studySocial engagement can have a profound impact on epigenetic aging.
What does that mean? It can slow changes at the cellular level that are reliable predictors of disability, disease and early death.
Are you suggesting that social sharing will make me live longer? This has to do with their size, yes.
How could this even work? The hypothesis is that high levels of social interaction reduce your response to stress, and the long-term biological consequences — systemic inflammation, cellular aging — associated with it.
What should I do? Distribute flyers, pick up trash or what? It is difficult to say exactly what type of engagement is most effective. The study rated participants’ responses to statements such as: “I enjoy personal, back-to-back conversations with family members and friends.”
So I just need to lie on the questionnaire. I don’t think it works that way.
Listen: I want to live a long time without having to deal with any annoying people. Is that too much to ask? Maybe it is, yes.
Is there anything else I can do? The study showed that higher education and income levels were also associated with slower epigenetic aging.
So I need to get rich or die trying. These have always been the two main options. And now there is a third goal: to develop a large-scale and fully interactive social network.
It started by turning me away from the idea of longevity. Want to talk about it over coffee?
no. I’ll leave you my number in case you change your mind.
Say: “We are a social species that thrives on connection, not just emotionally, but physically as well.”
Don’t say: “It’s not fair. Why doesn’t closing the curtains and watching TV in bed make you live longer?”