Response to "How to Live to be 100" TED Talk

I watched a few different TED Talks this week, but the one that stuck out to me the most was “How to Live to be 100” by Dan Buettner. In this video, he looks at areas of the world where life expectancy is the longest, and examines what kind of lifestyle they live and the kind of food they eat, compared to how we live here in the US. One of the main differences I saw is that the people have more health oriented eating habits. They eat smaller portion sizes and stop when full, while the American lifestyle is about instant gratification, which includes fast food and very little exercise. While I wasn’t surprised to hear that the majority of the people in these other areas consumed a mostly plant-based diet, I was intrigued to see that the common denominator in all of these places is their community mindedness. They prioritize relationships with the people around them and take time to enjoy each other’s company. In a few of the studies, the population mostly consisted of religious, church-going people that took a day out of each week to fellowship, worship and enjoy nature. It makes you wonder how much our every-day, stress filled lives deplete our health. I also found it interesting that most of the people do not exercise, at least not in the way that we think of it. Instead of trying to make time for working out, they incorporate it in everything they do, whether it be harvesting crops or cooking. They do not enable laziness by trying to make their lives more convenient. In all of these places, the people seem to value hard work, and most importantly, each other.

          After watching this, I had to question what we can do to have a less-stressful lifestyle in our current society. It seems as though the whole of American life is aimed at climbing the ladder to achieve a higher social status and more wealth, which according to Dan’s study, is not conducive to a long life. My goal is now to develop better relationships with family and friends, and pursue healthier physical, mental and spiritual health.

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