Technology and Third Third Flourishing

Older Adults and Digital Tech: Unexpected Results of an Experiment

Ten years ago, I was speaking at a Laity Lodge retreat on faith and digital technology. There were about 50 people at this retreat. They were quite diverse when it came to age, with some in their late 20s and others in their mid-80s, and everything in between.

So, I thought it would be interesting to do a little experiment on how these folks felt about their use of digital technology. I created a simple anonymous survey, asking people to record their age and rate their experience of tech on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being very negative and 5 very positive. I was guessing that the results would divide according to age, with younger people being more positive about tech and older people being more negative.

I was right about a clear division between the responses of the younger people and the older people. But I got the nature of this division exactly wrong. Strikingly and surprisingly, the older people at the retreat had a much more positive experience of digital tech than the younger people.

Strikingly and surprisingly, the older people at the retreat had a much more positive experience of digital tech than the younger people.

I wondered: What explains this unexpected result? So, after revealing my experiment’s results, I talked with the group about what I had found. What I learned helped me understand what I had not previously realized. For younger adults, there were benefits to digital technology, but many downsides as well, especially concerning work. They were expected to be “always on.” They often needed to work from home, with interruptions for meals and other family times. They were regularly distracted from important activities as they obsessively checked their phones for text messages, emails, and other updates. Yes, the younger folk were glad that they could easily connect with family and friends via tech, but the personal costs were considerable. Hence, their generally negative feeling about digital technology.

The older adults at the retreat were, for the most part, not working full-time, especially not in jobs that carried an “always on” requirement. For them, digital technology was mainly enriching. They liked being able to easily check the news and weather. They appreciated getting driving directions from their phones. But, most of all, the older people at the retreat thought of digital tech primarily as the way they stayed in touch with people they loved: friends, family, and, especially, grandchildren. Many talked about regular FaceTime calls, through which they had a consistent relationship with their grandchildren, even though they lived a long distance from them. A couple of retreatants mentioned being able to see their grandchildren take their first steps because of tech.

As I reflected on my little Laity Lodge experiment, I realized I had much to learn about tech and older adulthood. Many of the assumptions I made, like that older adults aren’t comfortable with digital tech, were clearly wrong.

Older Adults and Digital Tech: Unexpected Results of Recent Research

Fast forward to 2025. In my daily scan of news sources looking for stories on the third third of life, a few days ago I spied an intriguing headline of an article from the New York Times: “How Older People Are Reaping Benefits from New Tech.” It added an equally tantalizing subhead: “Overuse of digital gadgets harms teenagers, research suggests. But ubiquitous technology may be helping older Americans stay sharp.” Now that got my attention!

The damage done by excessive use of digital tech by children and teenagers has been documented by dozens of academic studies, in addition to what we hear from parents and educators, or observe while watching younger people. Based on this experience, we tend to think that the use of digital tech is harmful to people across the age spectrum. It’s common for people to talk about “digital dementia,” the decline of brain function that comes with age, exacerbated by overuse, or even moderate use of digital tech.

But the recent Times article suggests that the digital dementia has it backwards. Though we might assume use of digital tech makes dementia worse for older adults, the Times says,

The opposite appears true. “Among the digital pioneer generation, use of everyday digital technology has been associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia,” said Michael Scullin, a cognitive neuroscientist at Baylor University.

Scullin is one of two neuroscience researchers whose recent research inspired the Times article. Earlier this year, Michael Scullin and Jared Benge (a neuropsychologist at the University of Texas) published an article in Nature Human Behavior entitled, “A Meta-Analysis of Technology Use and Cognitive Aging. They didn’t do a new experiment related to tech and aging. Rather, they drew from the results of 57 academic papers, which, taken together, included 411,430 adults with a median age of 68.7. In the summary of their findings, Scullin and Benge write,

Use of digital technologies was associated with reduced risk of
cognitive impairment . . . and reduced time-dependent rates of cognitive decline. Effects remained significant when accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, health, and cognitive reserve proxies.

Technology engagement was associated with reduced odds of cognitive decline in middle aged and older adults. There was no credible evidence from the longitudinal studies, or the meta-analysis as a whole, for widespread digital “brain drain” or “digital dementia” as a result of general, natural uses of digital technology.

The authors propose several ways that digital engagement might lead to better cognition among other adults. These include “facilitating social connection” and “digital scaffolding,” which allows older adults to function well even with some cognitive decline. But my favorite of their proposals is also the one I hate. Scullin and Benge write, “One possibility is that technology exposures lead to more dynamic cognitive stimulation than analog exposures.” They offer this illustration:

For example, both paper-based crossword puzzles and digital word games involve engaging with cognitively-complex information (the puzzle), but the digital exposure also involves coping with evolving hardware/software interfaces that change appearance and functioning over time, troubleshooting device or internet connectivity issues, and filtering out competing distractions (e.g., text messages, advertisements).

Wait! They’re saying that the things I hate most about digital tech (evolving interfaces, changing appearances, troubleshooting, connectivity, and distractions) may be the very things that are helping my brain stay supple and strong. Could it be that those darned ads that I have to watch before playing Wordle are actually good for me? Go figure!

Overlapping Research Results

Scullin and Benge provide persuasive evidence that engagement with digital technology is good for aging brains. Their survey of 57 academic studies of over 400,000 people was certainly more scientific than my informal poll of 50 people at Laity Lodge. And, at first, there seems to be little overlap in our results. Scullin and Benge show the benefits of digital engagement for aging brains. My “research” found that older adults are especially appreciative of the ways digital tech enhances relationships.

My “research” found that older adults are especially appreciative of the ways digital tech enhances relationships.

Is there a connection between these apparently unrelated findings? Yes, indeed, there is. As you may recall from things I’ve written before, relationships are essential to third third flourishing. That is the conclusion of a decades-long study called the Harvard Study of Adult Development. In his wildly popular TED talk, “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness,” now with over 50,000,000 views, Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard study, summarizes its findings:

So what have we learned? What are the lessons that come from the tens of thousands of pages of information that we’ve generated on these lives? Well, the lessons aren’t about wealth or fame or working harder and harder. The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.

From a different perspective, molecular biologist and neuroscientist John Medina explains that relationships are good for aging brains. In his book, Brain Rules for Aging Well, Medina writes:

Social interactions are like vitamins and minerals for aging brains, with ridiculously powerful implications. Even socializing over the Internet provides benefits. The studies are anchored in the safe harbor of peer-reviewed research (p. 16).

The more social relationships you maintain, the bigger the gray matter volume in specific regions of your frontal lobe. Which means that relationships are to the frontal lobe what milk shakes are to your waistline” (p. 21).

So, both engaging with digital tech and nurturing relationships independently support cognitive health as we get older. But if we use technology to enhance our relationships with others, then we’re getting a double-dose of brain benefit. Ironically, it may be that those times when we’re struggling with our frustrating tech in a Zoom meeting might even be extra helpful to our brains because they require us to think critically and creatively in a way that would not be true in a simple face-to-face conversation. (Of course, there is still much to be gained from more personal interactions.)

Ironically, it may be that those times when we’re struggling with our frustrating tech in a Zoom meeting might even be extra helpful to our brains because they require us to think critically and creatively in a way that would not be true in a simple face-to-face conversation.

An Example of Technology and Third Third Flourishing

Four years ago, I had the privilege of teaching a Sunday School class for older adults at a local church. “The King’s Couriers” class, which had been meeting for decades, now comprised people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. When I showed up to teach for the first time, I was surprised by the technological sophistication of this class. One of the class members, whom I’ll call Mary, made sure I was properly “miked up” and aware that my teaching would be streamed live to a national internet audience. I was impressed!

I asked Mary who she was and how she got into this particular way of serving. She explained that she was a long-time member of The King’s Couriers and was now 92 years old. During the COVID pandemic, the class couldn’t meet, of course. But even when meeting together was possible, many class members were reticent to show up because of their age-related vulnerability to COVID. So Mary decided to help, even though she had little experience with digital technology. Nevertheless, she learned all about digital streaming, including the best platforms, equipment, and so forth. She figured out how to get everything set up, something she did each week. She reached out to all members of the class, including those who had moved far away. Mary made sure all class sessions were streamed to her audience. But she also invited people to gather online before class for a time of community sharing. People who had previously been disconnected from lifelong friends were now able to renew their friendships as well as participate in class, all because of Mary and digital tech.

When Mary talked about this, she radiated with excitement and purpose. I thought to myself, “She is about as far from a digital native as someone can be. But she has learned. She has become an expert. And she loves what she’s doing here.” Back then, I knew the relational dimension of her service would be helpful to her. Now, given the research of Scullin and Benge, I realize that something else was happening as well. In learning all about digital streaming and becoming a master of technology, Mary was also helping her 92-year-old brain stay resilient and robust.

Conclusion

Certainly, not all engagement with technology is helpful to our aging brains. For example, a British study from last year found that excessive television watching by older adults actually contributes to dementia. Moreover, a study from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health found that adding hours of television watching to one’s day led to poorer health, while replacing TV with physical exercise improved health. It seems that passive consumption of technological experiences is not helpful to us. But when we are actively engaged with digital tech, our brains stretch and grow. Plus, if we use tech to develop and enjoy relationships with others, we get added benefits from our tech engagement.

Of course, much more could be said about this subject, and much more research is needed. But, given what we know now, those of us in the third third of life will contribute to our flourishing if we use digital tech in energetic, creative, and even demanding ways. So, the next time you need to figure out why the sound in your computer headphones isn’t working right, don’t fret. By troubleshooting this pesky issue, you may actually be fortifying your brain and contributing to your flourishing in the third third of life.