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Comment by grendelt | Hacker News Reader

I'm into ham radio which, as a hobby, skews to an older demographic. Does just having a stimulating hobby actually slow decline? Most of the fun of ham radio is learning - it never stops, there's always something else to discover. I'd guess that it's the learning, searching, and connections you make that provide the benefits. Unless being in nature is a requirement, but then you have plenty of retirees that go RVing - do they experience the same benefits? I doubt that's as intellectually stimulating as birding or radio. Maybe.

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Yes of course, anything the requires skills you don't otherwise use. In particular continuous learning is very helpful.

The challenge however is, is it that those who engage in such hobbies have decline slowed. Or are they able to engage in those hobbies due to not declining.

It's not possible to answer clearly without some randomisation and control which is basically impossible.

Still, it's reasonable inference that hobbies and work maintain cognitive capabilities.

Maybe by comparing the comparative cognitive of twins, one of whom has a hobby and the other doesn’t?

It'll definitely be a nice data point.

It seems also just enough to say supporting people to have a hobby if they're at risk of dementia and don't have one is important to meeting their social and health needs.

I might be being too cynical. I wonder if there is some funding arguments, I.e. if it's for their health and insurer may fund it.

If it's for their social/cultural and general wellbeing it might be out of their remit somewhat.

> > The challenge however is, is it that those who engage in such hobbies have decline slowed. Or are they able to engage in those hobbies due to not declining.

> Maybe by comparing the comparative cognitive of twins, one of whom has a hobby and the other doesn’t?

I don't see how that would help in this case?

I think going out into nature adds more physical factors (ham radio and video games are both physically pretty passive hobbies) and more sensory input, which gut feeling says are overall better.

But generally speaking, hobbies are good. That said, I wonder why video games don't seem to be more popular as post-retirement hobbies.

Ham radio does have a lot of outdoor activities. Parks on the Air, Summits on the Air, and to some extent, field day. Some people just operate from their car, others do full day hikes to the spot they setup at.

I do a 5 day trip in the alpine for SOTA every year. Getting to 6+ point summits in BC is tough to do.

You can also enjoy ham radio outdoors through SOTA (Summits On The Air). Going on a long hike while carrying 10 kg of radio equipment, setting up your station at the summit, and making contacts with other operators is a physically demanding but incredibly rewarding activity.

> I wonder why video games don't seem to be more popular as post-retirement hobbies.

I think it's a generational thing. Video games were fully entrenched as part of culture starting late gen x/early millennial. I expect to see elder gaming being a thing in the years to come.

We’re nearly there a lot of my gaming crew are older then me, some now 60 with no signs of ever stopping playing. Will be interesting if that makes a difference when we are 75+

Video games that would involve that level of sensory engagement also generally require a level of hand-eye coordination that’s tough to achieve at that age, or at least that’s my completely uneducated guess.

Also, speaking as someone approaching retirement age, sensory overload isn’t particularly enjoyable.

I think some hobbies tap into innate abilities more than others. And those tend to show more perceptible and immediate progress and so are more likely to become a regular habit. As a human you already have a facility for recognising things in nature, it is how humans can find food and detect threats. Where as other abilities (like playing a violin) are far less innate.

For someone that knows nothing about ham radios can you give me a taste for what you mean by requires continuous learning from a naive perspective? It seems like any other radio technology that has not changed in decades.

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