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Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#71

Post by GFischer »

robotkilla wrote: post #65
modoc wrote: post #32

I'm 35 and overall am feeling at the top of my game. I don't envy the 20 years olds or feel lost. I've learned so much, not just technically but around user and enterprise needs, inter-personal skills, and about myself since I was 18-20 that I absolutely feel better suited for success. I've started eating right and working out, which has helped both body and mind, and I've developed task and time management technique…

> my mind might not be 100% as quick as it was when i was 20 care to elaborate? I'm 34 and I keep hearing that my mind is supposed to slow down but it hasn't yet. I drink 2 cups of coffee a day, don't smoke cigs, am not overweight, try to go for a walk for 30 minutes minimum each day, go to sleep by 9ish and am up by 3 or 4am. I also watch very little TV, read regularly and push myself to learn new stuff on a near co…

I'm 34 as well, and I'm amazed at some of the things my 20 year old self was able to solve (mostly math and physics related stuff). There's a belief (apparently not yet backed by research) that math skills degrade after 35, as this article discusses and tries to disprove:

http://www.massey.ac.nz/~rmclachl/overthehill.html

However, I don't think it's slowing me down, I'm still capable of learning and producing, and I've learned lots of stuff to "work smarter". I do believe I'm doing myself a disservice by not keeping in shape, and that might be part of my perception of having less energy (but not less enthusiasm).

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#72

Post by jleader »

bsenftner wrote: post #34
pcmaffey wrote: post #16

40 year olds today were the first generation to grow up with computers. 10 years ago, 40 year olds were "old" in computer parlance. The myth of the 20 year old hacker will go away over time, as more and more people grow up immersed in technology (and thus possess the necessary skillset). I would even go so far as to say that our culture's preoccupation with youth presents an opportunity for disruptive ideas/startups,…

Actually, that would be people in their early 50's. Born in '64, started programming in '77.

My father was a mathematician. In graduate school, he didn't do quite as well as expected on his oral exams. As a result, afterward one of his committee members talked to him about possible career alternatives to mathematics. This professor told him "You could go into computing, but you wouldn't really be getting in on the ground floor." This was in the mid-1950s.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#73

Post by GnarfGnarf »

pcmaffey wrote: post #16

40 year olds today were the first generation to grow up with computers. 10 years ago, 40 year olds were "old" in computer parlance. The myth of the 20 year old hacker will go away over time, as more and more people grow up immersed in technology (and thus possess the necessary skillset). I would even go so far as to say that our culture's preoccupation with youth presents an opportunity for disruptive ideas/startups,…

40 year olds are not the first generation. I'm 66, started writing FORTRAN on a CDC 3100 in 1965. 16K memory (that's 16,384), Punched cards, mag tape. Was a blast.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#74

Post by ilaksh »

I'm 37. I have been dreaming up the next big thing for 30+ years. That includes today and yesterday. Your question implies that 20 year olds have fresher ideas than myself. This is absolutely false.

Ageism is a real problem, just like racism and classism.

"Get more years out of it.. or .. feel lost..", what does that mean? Your question is ageist.

I was never really part of any culture since I generally don't integrate socially.

After a certain age, your brain chemistry or neural balance or something changes so that you have a much clearer worldview. Maybe just from thinking over and studying basic things for so long. On the other hand, I do feel that I can incorporate new information into my worldview easier than most people, including kids.

As far as 'hacking life', I think there is a limit to what exercise and diet and other 'hacks' can do for aging. Certainly of course some drugs can increase performance for both old and young. Whether there are downsides to those drugs I am not sure. However, I do believe that comprehensive approaches like SENS (as opposed to popular quick-fix ideas) to attacking root causes of aging will probably eventually yield strong results.

As far as technology selection, most younger people are actually using an outdated frame of reference that they adopted from either a few years prior when they picked up a particular technology, or from older developers that they copy on the basis of authority.

The trick to understanding and embracing the leading edge and inventing the next thing is not being young. It is having good comprehension of technology, being open, not deferring to authority or sunk costs, and being willing and able to rebuild your foundations when premises fall.

The other trick to being the next big thing is popularity (which is often quite disconnected from novelty), and for that it helps to be young and pretty, but older people can win the social network popularity contests and are good promoters also.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#75

Post by [deleted] »

codingdave wrote: post #47

Honestly, I feel like I've outgrown the whole "dreaming up the next big thing." I know my dreams. I am already following them. I feel like the younger folk tend to re-invent ideas that have come and gone, and don't do enough research to see what has come before. They spin their wheels figuring out things that us older folk already know. Sure, they do it with newer toolkits than I know, and that is why I keep up on HN…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#76

Post by robotkilla »

GFischer wrote: post #71
robotkilla wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my mind might not be 100% as quick as it was when i was 20 care to elaborate? I'm 34 and I keep hearing that my mind is supposed to slow down but it hasn't yet. I drink 2 cups of coffee a day, don't smoke cigs, am not overweight, try to go for a walk for 30 minutes minimum each day, go to sleep by 9ish and am up by 3 or 4am. I also watch very little TV, read regularly and push myself to learn new stuff on a near co…

I'm 34 as well, and I'm amazed at some of the things my 20 year old self was able to solve (mostly math and physics related stuff). There's a belief (apparently not yet backed by research) that math skills degrade after 35, as this article discusses and tries to disprove: http://www.massey.ac.nz/~rmclachl/overthehill.html However, I don't think it's slowing me down, I'm still capable of learning and producing, and I'…

Very interesting and also terrifying - i'm trying to shift into the indie game space so hearing that my math may get worse than it already is terrifies me. I have a really hard time believing that comprehension of math would decrease with age though. It seems to me that instead people typically stop using it after a certain age and thus their skills deteriorate.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#77

Post by pnut »

mud_dauber wrote: post #68

Being 55 in Austin can be a real downer if you let it. I missed the last two bubbles thanks to being in the semiconductor business. The good news: I avoided most of the insanity. A nest egg, a paid-off house (no mortgage for 6 years), my wife & dogs, my health, and the ability to occasionally travel for pleasure. We put away ~25% of our earnings every month. I go to the gym 4-5 times per week and sweat my ass off. I'…

in Austin, you sweat your ass off checking the mail!

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#78

Post by ak39 »

sago wrote: post #46

I can't write code nearly as fast as I used to. I am much better at writing less code, though. And though it took a while (too long), I've figured out that it's the code you don't write that makes you great. So I'm much more skilled and competent as a 40 yo than I was as a precocious 20 year old. The biggest change has been values though. My values and my criteria for success are different now than they were when I f…

  I am much better at writing less code, though.
In other words, your thinking is organised.

Organisation is a skill you learn through experience. No other way. You can attempt to teach a newcomer about the virtues of refactoring (basically tidying up the kitchen after you've baked your masterpiece) but I can assure you, the mind at early stages of doing new things is less interested in tidying up the process than it is about seeing the exciting outcome.

That's by nature.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#79

Post by pmelendez »

Nursie wrote: post #24

Generally I wrinkle slightly more each year, moan about my joints seizing up and grow more cynical. On a more serious note I am becoming better at what I do because I understand much more of pretty much everything in far greater depth than I used to. And while I perhaps don't have the stamina or raw LoC output ability of a 21 year old any more, I can usually achieve tasks much faster because I know what I'm doing and…

This... I have the same observation and coincidentially we have the same age :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with getting older?

#80

Post by fokinsean »

mud_dauber wrote: post #68

Being 55 in Austin can be a real downer if you let it. I missed the last two bubbles thanks to being in the semiconductor business. The good news: I avoided most of the insanity. A nest egg, a paid-off house (no mortgage for 6 years), my wife & dogs, my health, and the ability to occasionally travel for pleasure. We put away ~25% of our earnings every month. I go to the gym 4-5 times per week and sweat my ass off. I'…

I'm jealous of you having a paid off house in Austin right now as I'm sure your property value has risen significantly in the last few years.

I just graduated UT with a CS and got a nice job, but now is the time to buy a house and unfortunately that probably isn't going to happen for a little while.

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