I have received many emails from readers who have seen the New York Times columnist David Brooks’s recent request for elders’ life lessons – and felt it struck a very familiar chord. He’s created something he calls “The Life Report,” in which he asks people 70 and older to “report on your life so far, an evaluation of what you did well, of what you did not so well and what you learned along the way.”

Sound familiar? It certainly does to all of you who know about the 6-year long Cornell Legacy Project. In the Legacy Project, we collected and analyzed lessons for living from over 1200 people, using actual social science methods like random-sample surveys and in-depth interviews. And of course there’s the book on the project 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. Unlike Mr. Brooks, our approach is more systematic and scientific, carefully synthesizing the elders’ lessons for living. But there’s room for all approaches in this important area.

At the Legacy Project, we’re thrilled that Mr. Brooks has embraced the idea that drives the Legacy Project: The need to help the younger generation profit from the accumulated life wisdom of older people. The more people who take the idea of the Legacy Project and promote sharing of advice from our elders, the better!