I can entirely agree on that experience. I got into machine tools, and in looking for pieces and accessories on craigslist, I ran into someone who's become quit

I can entirely agree on that experience. I got into machine tools, and in looking for pieces and accessories on craigslist, I ran into someone who's become quite a mentor to me. He rebuilds crashed CNC machines, serious ones worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The skills he taught me for free, just because I was interested, are shared by maybe, maybe ten thousand people in the world. That kind of friendliness is hard to come by in anybody, but I definitely see it more in the older generations (I'm 27, he's in his very early 60's). As a sibling comment points out, I think some of that is the maturity that comes with age -- someone over 50 just doesn't have any interest in competing with a 25 year old on a hobby, or at least they have a much lower average interest in that competition. But some of it is just that at 25 you don't have enough time invested in a hobby or a pastime to have a whole lot to contribute to someone just getting into it. You also haven't spent years looking for other members of your weird, niche community. For a good, easily accessible example of this, stop by your local HAM radio club and talk to the definitely-older-than-your-average-startup-employee guys there about what it takes to get licensed and how many young people are getting into the hobby...