When I re-started my PhD studies, I had the ambition for
astronomy and space sciences. The plan was working on
Pattern Recognition techniques applied on astronomy. After consulting with my professor
Bulent Sankur, and also realizing that the field is not a very fertile ground for pattern recognition, I started looking for a new research field.
It was again the idea of
Bulent Sankur that human age related studies may be a good idea to start. At first it didn't appeal me very much; not just because of the ironic situation that the "
aging studies" would be held by the oldest PhD student in the neighborhood, but mainly because it was not as striking as
astronomy.
I slept on the idea for a time. And one day, I watched "
Smokey and the Bandit" and "
Smokey and the Bandit II" (on the same night) again after 20 years. The second film was shot 4 years after the first one. While watching the films, I observed the eventual aging process of the actors and actresses. Might it be an interesting field?
Burt Reynolds and Sally Field from the movie Smokey and the Bandit
At that night, after watching two films together, in my dream I saw
Burt Reynolds and
Sally Field and some other characters from the movie. I saw their faces changing with passing time, and again becoming younger, and then becoming old again. The last image from my dream was again the youthful face of
Sally Field.
In the morning, I decided on two things:
- The time passes too fast, so appreciate it genuinely (regardless of how old you are)
- I would study on aging