5 ms·

How to Avoid Being Boring at 60

9 points by herbertl 3y ago

animal531 3y ago
This is a problem for introverts from the age of forever. There are a ton of interesting facts and new things to learn etc. on the internet, but those don't interest your average person. If you talk to for example a family member it's a case of this person had a new baby, that child is doing this now, uncle so and so did this and that...but you can't really reciprocate because they're not interested in the amazing time you had punching people off of cliffs in Baldur's Gate 3.
- dr_kiszonka 3y ago
  > "...but you can't really reciprocate because they're not interested in the amazing time you had punching people off of cliffs in Baldur's Gate 3." Haha, so true! Or that you have learned about monad transformers and they are awesome, or really anything that is relatively niche.
adhesive_wombat 3y ago
My in-laws watch so much TV, it's stultifying. I start getting antsy from lack of brain engagement if I have to spend too long sitting there. Build a model, read a book, write a book (or write a Wikipedia article, or a wikibook chapter if you don't like Wikipedia admins: everyone has something they know that they could add and the best way to learn anything is to write about it), take photos, anything that gets the brain moving! Of course it's easy for me to say because to me, a computer with a compiler or interpreter and a web browser represents a bigger, more expansive, more interesting and exciting logical challenge than every crossword, sudoku or puzzle book ever written.
tonyedgecombe 3y ago
Judging by my family the best thing you can do as you age is to stop talking about your ailments.
freddealmeida 3y ago
please be boring.
mikhailfranco 3y ago
Of course, one way to avoid it is not to make it there: I love 60th birthdays I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by. - Douglas Adams (died aged 49) Pack it all in. You don't know how long you have. Douglas is now lying in Highgate Cemetery, near to Malcolm McLaren, Karl Marx, George Michael (d. 53), Michael Faraday and Alexander Litvinenko (d. 44) - maybe don't take your tea near that one :)
cafard 3y ago
There is an element of whimsy in most of what he lists, and whimsy can easily be boring.
atticora 3y ago
Having recently become a sexagenarian I have managed to fully solve this problem by completely running out of fucks to give, and they don't seem to be filling up again. I have proof: I have switched from belts to suspenders. Old age is liberating.
- weregiraffe 3y ago
  I've switched to sweatpants at the age of 30. Check and mate, old man.
- bradknowles 3y ago
  I've been wearing belts and suspenders since I was in my thirties.
Finnucane 3y ago
If you're writing articles about it for the Wall Street Journal, you're still pretty boring. (I'm not 60, but I can see it from here.)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
haspoken 3y ago
https://archive.is/RgDWk https://archive.is/RgDWk

9 points by herbertl 3y ago

This is a problem for introverts from the age of forever. There are a ton of interesting facts and new things to learn etc. on the internet, but those don't interest your average person. If you talk to for example a family member it's a case of this person had a new baby, that child is doing this now, uncle so and so did this and that...but you can't really reciprocate because they're not interested in the amazing time you had punching people off of cliffs in Baldur's Gate 3.

dr_kiszonka 3y ago
> "...but you can't really reciprocate because they're not interested in the amazing time you had punching people off of cliffs in Baldur's Gate 3." Haha, so true! Or that you have learned about monad transformers and they are awesome, or really anything that is relatively niche.

adhesive_wombat 3y ago

My in-laws watch so much TV, it's stultifying. I start getting antsy from lack of brain engagement if I have to spend too long sitting there. Build a model, read a book, write a book (or write a Wikipedia article, or a wikibook chapter if you don't like Wikipedia admins: everyone has something they know that they could add and the best way to learn anything is to write about it), take photos, anything that gets the brain moving! Of course it's easy for me to say because to me, a computer with a compiler or interpreter and a web browser represents a bigger, more expansive, more interesting and exciting logical challenge than every crossword, sudoku or puzzle book ever written.

tonyedgecombe 3y ago

Judging by my family the best thing you can do as you age is to stop talking about your ailments.

freddealmeida 3y ago

please be boring.

mikhailfranco 3y ago

Of course, one way to avoid it is not to make it there: I love 60th birthdays I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by. - Douglas Adams (died aged 49) Pack it all in. You don't know how long you have. Douglas is now lying in Highgate Cemetery, near to Malcolm McLaren, Karl Marx, George Michael (d. 53), Michael Faraday and Alexander Litvinenko (d. 44) - maybe don't take your tea near that one :)

cafard 3y ago

There is an element of whimsy in most of what he lists, and whimsy can easily be boring.

atticora 3y ago

Having recently become a sexagenarian I have managed to fully solve this problem by completely running out of fucks to give, and they don't seem to be filling up again. I have proof: I have switched from belts to suspenders. Old age is liberating.

weregiraffe 3y ago
I've switched to sweatpants at the age of 30. Check and mate, old man.
bradknowles 3y ago
I've been wearing belts and suspenders since I was in my thirties.

Finnucane 3y ago

If you're writing articles about it for the Wall Street Journal, you're still pretty boring. (I'm not 60, but I can see it from here.)

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

haspoken 3y ago

https://archive.is/RgDWk https://archive.is/RgDWk