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Germany

Cosmetic Surgery For People Who Are Just Plain Old

Silicone breasts at 80? No problem! In Europe and the U.S., the cosmetic industry is actively courting a new clientele: the bona fide 'elderly,' who have plenty of time and money to spend on face lifts and tummy tucks and a final pursui

Marie Dové

Normally, when plastic surgery gets media attention it's when a 12-year-old has a nose job, or a teenager gets breast implants. But the idea that the cosmetic industry is targeting a younger population is misleading. On the contrary: the industry's fight for new clients is taking place at the other end of the age spectrum. And not only that -- according to the latest figures, those opting for surgery are getting older and older, in the U.S. but also in Europe.

Meet 83-year-old Marie Kolstad of Orange County, California. This grandmother of 12, and great-grandmother of 13, made headlines recently for being possibly the oldest woman to receive breast implants. She certainly isn't shy when it comes to showing off her new cleavage to the tabloid press.

On the day she was operated on, one of Kolstad's daughters told her the operation would kill her. That didn't stop Kolstad from going ahead, something she certainly doesn't regret: she says life with her new $5,000 breasts is better than ever. She has been touring the TV talk show circuit, explaining that before the operation her "two girls' had lost volume but that they were now back in top shape.

Marie Kolstad's case may seem a little over the, er, top, but it nevertheless reflects the latest trend in plastic surgery. If traditional surgery patients in their 30s and 40s are trying to forestall aging, this new group aims to recover their youth. In the U.S., over-65s now account for 8% of the clientele at plastic surgery clinics. The American Society for Plastic Surgery's 2010 statistics indicate that nearly 700,000 operations were performed by plastic surgeons in the U.S. on patients over 65. Aging baby boomers clearly have the time and money to polish up their golden years.

Facelifts for her and tummy tucks for him

The same trend is also emerging in Europe. In Germany, for example, 7.4% of those who go under a plastic surgeon's knife are over 60, according to the German Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (DGÄPC). For women over 60 the most frequent operations are facelifts, surgery to tighten the skin around eyes, and wrinkle injections. Tummy tucks and eyelid surgery are the most prevalent among men.

On the German website www.senioren-ratgeber.de, one of the country's most renowned plastic surgeons, Count Joachim von Finckenstein, imparts the following information: "In principle, the health risks of plastic surgery to older patients are no greater than for younger patients." However, he cautions, the older the patient the longer it will take for post-operative wounds to heal. But surgery at an older age also has its advantages: "With facelifts it's better to be older because the scars are usually invisible."

Whether we share this optimism – or not – the fact remains that over the coming years plastic surgeons are going to see the number of older patients rise significantly thanks to baby boomers, which is to say those born between 1946 and 1964. These "new" seniors are like Marie Kolstad: for them, old age is not a hindrance, and their outlook on beauty and aging will be gladly supported by the plastic surgery industry.

A note concerning breast operations among older women: most do not choose the route taken by Kolstad, opting instead to have their "girls' -- which often become larger and heavier with age – made smaller.

Read the original article in German in Tages Anzeiger

Photo - Cosmeticare screenshot

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Future

AI Is Good For Education — And Bad For Teachers Who Teach Like Machines

Despite fears of AI upending the education and the teaching profession, artificial education will be an extremely valuable tool to free up teachers from rote exercises to focus on the uniquely humanistic part of learning.

Journalism teacher and his students in University of Barcelona.

Journalism students at the Blanquerna University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

© Sergi Reboredo via ZUMA press
Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ - Early in 2023, Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates included teaching among the professions most threatened by Artificial Intelligence (AI), arguing that a robot could, in principle, instruct as well as any school-teacher. While Gates is an undoubted expert in his field, one wonders how much he knows about teaching.

As an avowed believer in using technology to improve student results, Gates has argued for teachers to use more tech in classrooms, and to cut class sizes. But schools and countries that have followed his advice, pumping money into technology at school, or students who completed secondary schooling with the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have not attained the superlative results expected of the Gates recipe.

Thankfully, he had enough sense to add some nuance to his views, instead suggesting changes to teacher training that he believes could improve school results.

I agree with his view that AI can be a big and positive contributor to schooling. Certainly, technological changes prompt unease and today, something tremendous must be afoot if a leading AI developer, Geoffrey Hinton, has warned of its threat to people and society.

But this isn't the first innovation to upset people. Over 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Socrates wondered, in the Platonic dialogue Phaedrus, whether reading and writing wouldn't curb people's ability to reflect and remember. Writing might lead them to despise memory, he observed. In the 18th and 19th centuries, English craftsmen feared the machines of the Industrial Revolution would destroy their professions, producing lesser-quality items faster, and cheaper.

Their fears were not entirely unfounded, but it did not happen quite as they predicted. Many jobs disappeared, but others emerged and the majority of jobs evolved. Machines caused a fundamental restructuring of labor at the time, and today, AI will likely do the same with the modern workplace.

Many predicted that television, computers and online teaching would replace teachers, which has yet to happen. In recent decades, teachers have banned students from using calculators to do sums, insisting on teaching arithmetic the old way. It is the same dry and mechanical approach to teaching which now wants to keep AI out of the classroom.

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