My $0.02/anecdote: Before I became a software engineer, I was a math supplementary instructor at a community college in my hometown. I love teaching, talking a

My $0.02/anecdote: Before I became a software engineer, I was a math supplementary instructor at a community college in my hometown. I love teaching, talking about and thinking about math. Some of my favorite students were the older students that already had preconceived notions about their abilities with math, what things meant or how things fit together. I discovered those things they brought with them were great vehicles for bending my explanations in such a way that they could understand them. Eventually this occurred often enough you work a lot of that into how you talk about the subject, and I feel this made me a better/more effective teacher, more often, than I had been before. Onto the subject, in my new job, one of the other engineers I work closely with is what I would consider non-trivially younger than me. (I'm in my late 20s) It set me back a smidge to learn that when I did. But in the time I've been here, and that isn't very long, I've learned an incredible amount from him. I found and this article only confirms that closing yourself off from even a little only hurts the self and is very narrow minded. Good stuff can come from anywhere.