"My personal experience is that I'm sharper at 40 than 20 " I think it is hard to judge oneself objectively, especially a self that is 20 years in the past. I

"My personal experience is that I'm sharper at 40 than 20 " I think it is hard to judge oneself objectively, especially a self that is 20 years in the past. It is better to look at other people. My older colleagues usually seem to take more time to understand stuff. But analyzing this closer, during discussions for example, reveals that they think a lot more while they try to fit the new stuff into what they already know. Young colleagues accept things much faster and want to go on. As a consequence they seem to be less critical and farseeing in average. Also, my smart older colleagues usually have really good and sophisticated solutions to problems. Judging by the degree of sophistication, I am rarely surprised, that it takes them longer to develop solutions.