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I think people get dumber as they age. I feel like I'm probably dumber than me 10 years ago. No one wants to admit it, but I sense it in myself and I think I ca

by asdff 7mo ago

I think people get dumber as they age. I feel like I'm probably dumber than me 10 years ago. No one wants to admit it, but I sense it in myself and I think I can see it in other people. I feel like peak brain is probably like 22 years old if we are being honest. Yeah you might still be doing dumb kid stuff but you are at the age where you just have this energizer bunny inside. You can just go to the library and churn multiple all day and night sessions. Sleep in one day and perfectly recovered. I "know" more now but I'm definitely slower than when I was younger. Would be great if we didn't spend so much time faffing in school on stupid stuff and got into our strides in our career maybe 5-10 years earlier. When I think about my first research job, that could have probably been done in middle school vs undergrad. Wasn't really any more challenging than when I worked part time in a restaurant in terms of the tasks. I probably could have been working on some thesis under an advisor for my hs years instead of being stretched thin over the boilerplate curriculum. And then I probably could enter the workforce at 18 and have enough to get up to speed on the job pretty fast. By 22 I'd be in management right at the peak of my mental faculties and skill buildup.

NegativeK 7mo ago
I certainly thought I was smarter when I was younger.
- asdff 7mo ago
  Are you saying you haven't felt increased mental fatigue and "slowness" while aging? What is your secret? Certain supplements? Blood boy?
  - skdhfkdjfhsjk 7mo ago
    [flagged]
krunck 7mo ago
> I feel like peak brain is probably like 22 years old Ah, but peak wisdom? Much later.
- asdff 7mo ago
  Only because we don't allow ourselves to get serious until we hit like 25 years old imo, and only barely then. Imagine a 22 year old raised among Shaolin monks. Probably would be the wisest person you will ever meet.
  - rhines 7mo ago
    I'm not sure. There's value from teachings, but there's a certain type of wisdom that only comes from lived experience. Kind of like in software development - a new grad can read Designing Data Intensive Systems and memorize all the answers for "design Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/etc." interview questions, but someone who actually built a platform with millions of users is going to have a different level of understanding. In my life, I can say that no amount of learning from others prepared me for what I learned about myself during my first relationship.
    - asdff 7mo ago
      All the more reason to start earlier, so you have more lived experience on the job by your mental peak at 22. Instead your lived experience is playing Halo or something like that by that point. Or wasting time flipping burgers. Wish I could have dumped all the hours I did in restaurant work in highschool into research. The door was shut though until I got into undergrad even though I was a hard worker and could have picked it up then. A lot of parallels between food service and lab work, I learned after the fact.
      - rhines 7mo ago
        Ah if you look at it from the perspective of doing research or other deep intellectual work by 22, I can see your point. Certainly if that is the peak of human mental capability (not something I can argue for or against but I'll take it as true) you ideally would pursue a focused education up to that point that allows you to dive deep into a challenging problem. IMO this is different from wisdom however, and in fact pursuing the variety of experiences and interactions with others that you need to build wisdom will distract from the focus on your research subject.
leptons 7mo ago
So you don't think wisdom is a thing that people acquire as they age? I can tell you from experience that 22 year old people are generally lacking in wisdom. A few of them have a little bit, but overall 22 year olds are just as stupid as teenagers. Most people don't have much wisdom by age 22. They do have plenty of hubris though. If we're speaking about mental capabilities, there's nothing that I could do at 22 that I can't do now being over 50. If anything my wisdom gained from experience makes me more valuable and capable now. Everything you learn makes you stronger, and 22 year olds have not learned much by age 22.
- asdff 7mo ago
  I think wisdom is pretty unevenly learned and its not a guarantee 32 or 42 year olds or 82 year olds have it either. See our well aged POTUS. Either way you don't need wisdom to start working. So many of the "best" minds in various fields started working in that field at like 16, maybe dropped out of college and dug right in. Their initial intellect or specific circumstances allowed them to skip the normal path but really I think a lot of people would have a lot more success if more were allowed to start on real work earlier, and weren't being held back by process like this. Again, just kind of sucks that you finally hit your stride in your career right as you feel your body and faculties declining with age. I don't think we get senile as soon as people notice you are definitely senile. I think it is a constant slide.
  - leptons 7mo ago
    It seems like you think you have it all figured out, but you don't. >So many of the "best" minds in various fields started working in that field at like 16, Name them. Also, child prodigies exist but that doesn't mean the rest of us are dummies. You'd also be hard-pressed to find a child prodigy or someone like that as you suggest that is "at the top of their field" that doesn't think someone else is better than they are. There is no real "at the top of their field" in anything. The only thing that I can detect that has diminished in my old age is my patience for pointless internet interactions like this one. I have better things to do. Goodbye.
    - 7mo ago
Henchman21 7mo ago
[dead]

by asdff 7mo ago

NegativeK 7mo ago

I certainly thought I was smarter when I was younger.

asdff 7mo ago
Are you saying you haven't felt increased mental fatigue and "slowness" while aging? What is your secret? Certain supplements? Blood boy?
- skdhfkdjfhsjk 7mo ago
  [flagged]

krunck 7mo ago

> I feel like peak brain is probably like 22 years old Ah, but peak wisdom? Much later.

asdff 7mo ago
Only because we don't allow ourselves to get serious until we hit like 25 years old imo, and only barely then. Imagine a 22 year old raised among Shaolin monks. Probably would be the wisest person you will ever meet.
- rhines 7mo ago
  I'm not sure. There's value from teachings, but there's a certain type of wisdom that only comes from lived experience. Kind of like in software development - a new grad can read Designing Data Intensive Systems and memorize all the answers for "design Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/etc." interview questions, but someone who actually built a platform with millions of users is going to have a different level of understanding. In my life, I can say that no amount of learning from others prepared me for what I learned about myself during my first relationship.
  - asdff 7mo ago
    All the more reason to start earlier, so you have more lived experience on the job by your mental peak at 22. Instead your lived experience is playing Halo or something like that by that point. Or wasting time flipping burgers. Wish I could have dumped all the hours I did in restaurant work in highschool into research. The door was shut though until I got into undergrad even though I was a hard worker and could have picked it up then. A lot of parallels between food service and lab work, I learned after the fact.
    - rhines 7mo ago
      Ah if you look at it from the perspective of doing research or other deep intellectual work by 22, I can see your point. Certainly if that is the peak of human mental capability (not something I can argue for or against but I'll take it as true) you ideally would pursue a focused education up to that point that allows you to dive deep into a challenging problem. IMO this is different from wisdom however, and in fact pursuing the variety of experiences and interactions with others that you need to build wisdom will distract from the focus on your research subject.

leptons 7mo ago

So you don't think wisdom is a thing that people acquire as they age? I can tell you from experience that 22 year old people are generally lacking in wisdom. A few of them have a little bit, but overall 22 year olds are just as stupid as teenagers. Most people don't have much wisdom by age 22. They do have plenty of hubris though. If we're speaking about mental capabilities, there's nothing that I could do at 22 that I can't do now being over 50. If anything my wisdom gained from experience makes me more valuable and capable now. Everything you learn makes you stronger, and 22 year olds have not learned much by age 22.

asdff 7mo ago
I think wisdom is pretty unevenly learned and its not a guarantee 32 or 42 year olds or 82 year olds have it either. See our well aged POTUS. Either way you don't need wisdom to start working. So many of the "best" minds in various fields started working in that field at like 16, maybe dropped out of college and dug right in. Their initial intellect or specific circumstances allowed them to skip the normal path but really I think a lot of people would have a lot more success if more were allowed to start on real work earlier, and weren't being held back by process like this. Again, just kind of sucks that you finally hit your stride in your career right as you feel your body and faculties declining with age. I don't think we get senile as soon as people notice you are definitely senile. I think it is a constant slide.
- leptons 7mo ago
  It seems like you think you have it all figured out, but you don't. >So many of the "best" minds in various fields started working in that field at like 16, Name them. Also, child prodigies exist but that doesn't mean the rest of us are dummies. You'd also be hard-pressed to find a child prodigy or someone like that as you suggest that is "at the top of their field" that doesn't think someone else is better than they are. There is no real "at the top of their field" in anything. The only thing that I can detect that has diminished in my old age is my patience for pointless internet interactions like this one. I have better things to do. Goodbye.
  - 7mo ago

Henchman21 7mo ago

[dead]