There's also an argument to be made about bias - the younger you are the less you 'know,' which can lead to more experimentation and creative solutions to probl

There's also an argument to be made about bias - the younger you are the less you 'know,' which can lead to more experimentation and creative solutions to problems. There's also the 'hunger' argument that dovetails with yours - are younger people just more incented to 'prove' themselves? (since, as you imply, most older people realize a supportive family makes them happier than a well-regarded publication does) An interesting question to address is 'Is the status quo just fine? Will any solutions to this just make more academics die as virgins or can we actually improve the output of older academics?' (cue: a joke about Newton)