Speculating: Children are more receptive to novel ways of thinking because you need to invest in that kind of thing for a while to achieve effective cognition.

Speculating: Children are more receptive to novel ways of thinking because you need to invest in that kind of thing for a while to achieve effective cognition. Once you're closer to death, it's more productive to use what you've got than to invest in further creative problem-solving skills. Recently, life expectancies have increased radically. Evolution optimized us to mature into cognitive equilibrium fast enough to reproduce. Evolution has yet to adapt to these new conditions, in which it's optimal to keep shaking up your brain for longer than it used to be.