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Comment by civicsquid | Hacker News Reader

I might suggest adding (a sense of) purpose in there as well. From what I've seen, it becomes hard for senior citizens because they feel like they've lost their usefulness.

Even with the three other things you mentioned, not feeling like a contributor to society must be really hard.

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Honestly, this is one of the many things that makes me feel incredibly lucky that I have the interest in computing that I do. Not only has it led me down a supremely well-timed and lucky career path, but I also have a no-impact hobby that I can look forward to continuing into my old age.

Might have to get a niece or nephew to crawl behind a desk to plug in the odd dongle, I suppose. Whippersnappers.

As a sad anecdote, my father was a systems engineer for most of his career, deeply into all things technical. He's 86 now, however, and while he has plenty of family around, his friends have all passed and he no longer has the brainpower to do technical things that he used to enjoy. But his mind is sharp enough to know what he's missing. He talks somewhat regularly about how useless he feels. I've got no good answers.

Get him into VR. My parents are a bit younger (~70) but they are amazed at the valve index and the experiences that it provides. They use it more than me.

If you're able to could you interview him on video about the work he used to do?

I would find those videos fascinating. You might be able to set up an AMA-style thing where people ask questions about what he did, how he did it, why things were done in that way.

Do you have anything similar to U3A where he is? It's a nice way to meet other people and keep your brain ticking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Third_Age

That is an interesting suggestion. Something tells me if I could get him to start talking about the internals of an AS/400, he'd never stop. I hope.

I will look into U3A and similar options locally, thanks for the idea!

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