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Personally speaking, the biggest specter for time anxiety is age-related cognitive decline. Unfortunately it happens much earlier than most people think. Especi

Personally speaking, the biggest specter for time anxiety is age-related cognitive decline. Unfortunately it happens much earlier than most people think. Especially with regards to both creativity and fluid intelligence. Tech entrepreneurs are disproportionately clustered at 20-34. The probability of making a major scientific discovery starts declining at 40. Poets peak in their early 40s, and novelists not much longer after that. Mathematicians and physicists may on average peak as early as their late 20s. Anyway as someone in their mid-30s, who would still like to accomplish a lot more than what I have so far, this has been bothering me a lot lately. I'm happy to hear any perspective that others have here. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-peak-professional-decline/590650/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-pe...

endorphone 7y ago
"Tech entrepreneurs are disproportionately clustered at 20-34. The probability of making a major scientific discovery starts declining at 40. Poets peak in their early 40s, and novelists not much longer after that. Mathematicians and physicists may on average peak as early as their late 20s." None of these are indicative of cognitive decline (especially tech entrepreneurs, which as an aside it is a myth that it is dominated by the young -- https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-successful-startup-founder-is-45 https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-succes...). As people have a family, have responsibilities, etc, the drive to excel in a broader sense declines. Impressing the community, making a name, etc, just has far less of a motivating effect. You could say the same thing from a "career" perspective if your role is as a salaryman under someone else: the drive to spend your life for someone else's gain diminishes.
hyko 7y ago
Don’t despair, cognitive decline is real but likely not the cause of this distribution: http://barabasi.com/f/825.pdf http://barabasi.com/f/825.pdf The harder you work, the greater the chance of success, at any age. And remember: not all cognitive functions decline with age.
thesausageking 7y ago
> Tech entrepreneurs are disproportionately clustered at 20-34. Do you have a source for this? The article you linked to quotes one 2014 HBR article and then walks it back, saying, "all studies in this area have found that the majority of successful start-ups have founders under age 50". And there was also this more recent HBR article "The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45": https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-successful-startup-founder-is-45 https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-succes...
- hathawsh 7y ago
  Very interesting article. It even says that founders between the ages of 50 and 60 are significantly more likely to succeed at creating "extreme startup success": https://hbr.org/resources/images/article_assets/2018/07/W180621_AZOULAY_OLDERENTREPRENEURS-1.png https://hbr.org/resources/images/article_assets/2018/07/W180... "... it appears that advancing age is a powerful feature, not a bug, for starting the most successful firms."
Geee 7y ago
I think that every generation is shaped by their environment when they grow up. That's why those who grew up within a certain timespan of technological innovation are more likely to be good at it. The distribution will change as those people get older. The people who are born today will probably be good at something else. I guess they would feel that 'tech' is boring because it's something that was invented by old guys. Also, the age distributions aren't caused by mental decline, but rather opportunity decline. Younger folks have more free time and opportunity to try something risky. People tend to settle down at some point in their lives.

endorphone 7y ago

"Tech entrepreneurs are disproportionately clustered at 20-34. The probability of making a major scientific discovery starts declining at 40. Poets peak in their early 40s, and novelists not much longer after that. Mathematicians and physicists may on average peak as early as their late 20s." None of these are indicative of cognitive decline (especially tech entrepreneurs, which as an aside it is a myth that it is dominated by the young -- https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-successful-startup-founder-is-45 https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-succes...). As people have a family, have responsibilities, etc, the drive to excel in a broader sense declines. Impressing the community, making a name, etc, just has far less of a motivating effect. You could say the same thing from a "career" perspective if your role is as a salaryman under someone else: the drive to spend your life for someone else's gain diminishes.

hyko 7y ago

Don’t despair, cognitive decline is real but likely not the cause of this distribution: http://barabasi.com/f/825.pdf http://barabasi.com/f/825.pdf The harder you work, the greater the chance of success, at any age. And remember: not all cognitive functions decline with age.

thesausageking 7y ago

> Tech entrepreneurs are disproportionately clustered at 20-34. Do you have a source for this? The article you linked to quotes one 2014 HBR article and then walks it back, saying, "all studies in this area have found that the majority of successful start-ups have founders under age 50". And there was also this more recent HBR article "The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45": https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-successful-startup-founder-is-45 https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-succes...

hathawsh 7y ago
Very interesting article. It even says that founders between the ages of 50 and 60 are significantly more likely to succeed at creating "extreme startup success": https://hbr.org/resources/images/article_assets/2018/07/W180621_AZOULAY_OLDERENTREPRENEURS-1.png https://hbr.org/resources/images/article_assets/2018/07/W180... "... it appears that advancing age is a powerful feature, not a bug, for starting the most successful firms."

Geee 7y ago

I think that every generation is shaped by their environment when they grow up. That's why those who grew up within a certain timespan of technological innovation are more likely to be good at it. The distribution will change as those people get older. The people who are born today will probably be good at something else. I guess they would feel that 'tech' is boring because it's something that was invented by old guys. Also, the age distributions aren't caused by mental decline, but rather opportunity decline. Younger folks have more free time and opportunity to try something risky. People tend to settle down at some point in their lives.