noticed howdifferentlythey were treatedfrom her. “I
basically had doctors and therapists coming in and
workingwith meallday long, andtheywould sortof
waveatSadie,theladyinthenextbed,onthewayout
andsay,‘Keepupthegoodwork,hon!’”Themessage
was:This youngwoman’s lifehad possibilities.Theirs
didn’t.
“It was this experience that led me to study aging,”
Carstensensaid.Butshedidn’tknowatthetimethatit
would. “I was not on a trajectory to end up being a
professoratStanfordbyanymeansatthatpointinmy
life.”Her father,however,realizedhowboredshewas
lyingthereand took theopportunityto enrollher in a
course at a local college. He went to all the lectures,
audiotapedthem,and brought thecassettestoher. She
endeduptakingherfirstcollegecourseinahospital,ona
women’s orthopedics ward.
What wasthatfirst class, by theway? Introduction to
Psychology.Lyingthereonthatward,shefoundshewas
livingthrough thephenomena she wasstudying.Right
fromthestart,shecouldseewhattheexpertsweregetting
right and what they were getting wrong.
Fifteen years later, when she was a scholar, the
experience ledher to formulatea hypothesis: howwe
seektospendourtimemaydependonhowmuchtimewe
perceive ourselves to have. When you are young and
healthy, youbelieveyouwilllive forever.Youdo not
worryaboutlosingany ofyourcapabilities.Peopletell
you“theworldisyouroyster,”“theskyisthelimit,”and
so on. And you are willing to delay gratification—to
investyears,forexample,ingainingskillsandresources