Looking young is being young
We usually think that our minds control our bodies. Therefore, we assume that when we are sad, we cry. But there actually is a famous psychological theory of emotion that suggests that first there are physiological events, such as the urge to cry, and only then do our minds realize that we are sad.
Sounds like the wrong sequence? Wait a moment.
The above example was made up by the author of this article. The psychologist who came up with the theory of emotion I refer to gave another example: assume we are in the wilderness and are confronted by a bear. Two things will happen. We will be afraid, and we will run away (or physically prepare to run away).
Common perception is that we are afraid first, and because we are afraid, we run away, or physically prepare to do so. Our blood pressure rises, and a whole host of other reactions in the sympathetic nervous system kick in.
But is it really that we are first afraid, and because we are afraid, our bodies prepare to run away, and then run away?
According to the James-Lange theory of emotion, named after the early American psychologist William James and the Danish physician Carl Lange, who formulated the same theory independently, we first run away (or experience physiological arousal), and we then feel afraid because we run away.
It sounds odd, but be aware of the following: the reaction of running away is evolutionarily much older than the complex emotion of fear.
Do cats or chickens have emotions when they run away from a dog?
Do fish have emotions when they try to escape the jaws of a shark?
Do cockroaches have emotions when they try to hide in narrow openings as soon as a light is turned on?
Most people would still attribute emotions of fear to cats and chickens. But to cockroaches?
If our emotions are more recent in evolution than our behavior, it makes sense to assume that they only accompany a behavior, not cause it.
But whether we side with the James-Lange view or oppose it, one aspect that the above contemplation brings to our attention is the likely high interaction between our physical and mental states.
This is why I want to draw attention to the fact that our health, too, may depend, to a certain degree, on how healthy our environment assumes us to be, and how healthy we consider ourselves when we look into a mirror or reflect on ourselves.
Now, how healthy we are assumed to be will greatly depend on how young we look. And making us look younger is precisely what can be achieved through cosmetic surgery.
But this is not yet the whole story. There is also a strong reverse influence. When we look into a mirror, we feel as we would consider appropriate for the way we look.
Specifically, when we look ill, it won’t take long for us to feel ill. And when we look older, we tend to die sooner.
But it’s not only what we see when we look into the mirror. We are also what other people think we are. Each of us is equipped with a huge invisible antenna with which we receive all the signals of how our environment judges us. And each of us reacts by modeling ourselves in accordance with the perceptions other people have of us.
Isn’t it interesting?
A plastic surgeon may have little awareness of the fact that by doing a facelift, they might indirectly contribute to a person’s overall well-being, which can support immune function and heart health.
Why?
Because when people assume we are healthier (because we appear younger), our bodies can react by functioning as healthier, younger physiological systems.
The pathway of this mechanism is the interaction of the nervous system with the immune system. The immune system, when functioning optimally, is incredibly powerful, as documented in reports of spontaneous remission.
Some people can achieve this through self-hypnosis (of which meditation is a subset). But self-hypnosis doesn’t work for everybody, as it involves a strong talent to imagine oneself as something other than reality suggests.
It’s not really my cup of tea.
I prefer to be in my 50s, with everybody in my environment believing I am in my 30s, because I look like a guy in his 30s.
But reverting one’s look to that of a person in their 30s, unfortunately, isn’t enough to be considered in one's 30s.
It is also necessary to engineer one’s life circumstances in a manner so that all people in one’s personal environment assume that, indeed, one’s age is in the 30s.
To achieve this, a high degree of mobility is essential. One can’t really be with long-term family members or old friends.
If they know that one’s age is in the 50s, not in the 30s, their corresponding perception will radiate, and the fine antennas of a person in their 50s, even when they look in their 30s, will soon catch these signals and modify their own self-perception to conform with the perceptions their human environment has of them.
I don’t mean that a person cannot have friends and family, and, of course, a spouse. But if they are in their 50s and want the full health benefit of being considered to be in their 30s, friends and family should all be rather recent acquisitions.
As outlined above, there is more to reaping the full benefit of cosmetic surgery than just looking younger. People really have to assume that, indeed, one is younger.
The engineering of a person’s social environment is beyond what is covered on this domain.
But for the successful engineering of one’s social environment, enough cosmetic surgery to make a person look 20 or more years younger is an important prerequisite.