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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?

#111

Post by th0waway »

randcraw wrote: post #86

Amazing. For most of us, your career begins about 22 and ends about 72. So at 50 years, the midpoint would be 47. Yet most of the comments below start with, "I'm 35 and...". Jeez. At 35 you're still just a kid. I'm 57 and I've definitely seen brain changes. At 20 I could learn 80% of new stuff in one pass. That ended by 35, when I had to take and review notes to learn as well. Now at 57, I simply can't remember minut…

48, and can confirm what you are saying - learning new names is tough. Things that I could once learn through osmosis require much repetition to retain.

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

#112

Post by logfromblammo »

ryandrake wrote: post #83

As someone about to turn 40, it's creepy reading comment after comment here and seeing A LOT to agree with. Less lines of code per hour than when I was young: CHECK More productive than when I was young: CHECK Not reinventing wheels anymore: CHECK Recognizing all the wheels I reinvented when I was young thinking I was so clever: CHECK Keeping up with new languages/tools/frameworks: CHECK Skepticism at the people who…

I can't find a single thing to disagree with.

Though my financial position might be worse, due to ill-timed property purchases. Basically, the majority of my net worth was in real estate in 2007. I have had to move multiple times to find sufficiently remunerative work for a small family. So I'm just treading water now. I have been busting my ass for 16 years now, with literally nothing to show for it. Everything I have ever gained has been taken back, by circumstances beyond my control.

So when I see those Baby Boomers, retiring with nice, big nest eggs from working 40 years at the same company, I just start to seethe in rage. They are the ones who started pulling all the ladders up after climbing them.

I don't think it's just software. Everyone born after the Baby Boomers is worse off than their parents were at the same age. That generation just isn't giving the same as they got, because they are such a large economic force, they could get whatever they want. All I can say is that they had better fix up the nursing homes while they still have the power to do so. Gen X and Millennial won't have time to take care of them while still looking for new jobs every 2-5 years.

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

#113

Post by th0waway »

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'…

congratulations on a life well lived. :)

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

#114

Post by PopeOfNope »

ryandrake wrote: post #83

As someone about to turn 40, it's creepy reading comment after comment here and seeing A LOT to agree with. Less lines of code per hour than when I was young: CHECK More productive than when I was young: CHECK Not reinventing wheels anymore: CHECK Recognizing all the wheels I reinvented when I was young thinking I was so clever: CHECK Keeping up with new languages/tools/frameworks: CHECK Skepticism at the people who…

I'm right there with you on every point and I'm only 32.

Job hopping is more difficult, and the quality/appeal of available jobs is no longer what it used to be.

I've been thinking about this lately and I've come to the conclusion that most programming jobs aren't technically challenging to me at this point in my life. As I learn more and get older, I also look for greater challenges to overcome. The best paying jobs in the industry (and in the HN hiring thread) are all about making the same things I made in 2001, just with different technologies.

The above conclusions have forced me to start thinking about what's next. Is it really starting my own business? If I'm going to take the time to learn business development, marketing and sales, is programming really the most lucrative use of my time?

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

#115

Post by phlandis »

m52go wrote: post #14
aerovistae wrote: post #2

"Hack life"...please, just stop with this. Can we coin a new phrase?

"live to the fullest" or maybe just..."live" so often it seems like we're so preoccupied with 'hacking' our lives that we forget to live them at all...

survive

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

#116

Post by robotkilla »

sabarjp wrote: post #102
robotkilla wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The brain is fully developed by age 25 and starts to lose mass from then until death (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19283594 ). Brains of 90 year olds can be just 60% the size of a young adult. Neurons do not repair well and they (or rather, stem cells) aren't programmed to divide after the skull runs out of room. I would not worry, though. The brain is very flexible. If you keep your mathematics sharp, you…

i hate being a human.

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

#117

Post by sharmi »

modoc wrote: post #105
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…

For reference I drink 1-2 cups of tea most days, sometimes none. Have never smoked, drank, or done drugs. For me it's a couple areas I notice: I have a more difficult time remembering names, specific words, etc... I used to be able to do relatively difficult math problems in my head without actually thinking about it. Now I'm likely to use my phone to calculate three digit+ sums. I find it harder to get "in the zone"…

Maybe it's more to lack of exercising those specific skills? My language and math skills were definitely better during college but then i don't use them as much as I used too? This is something I would genuinely like to get an answer for

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

#118

Post by krapp »

sabarjp wrote: post #102
robotkilla wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The brain is fully developed by age 25 and starts to lose mass from then until death (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19283594 ). Brains of 90 year olds can be just 60% the size of a young adult. Neurons do not repair well and they (or rather, stem cells) aren't programmed to divide after the skull runs out of room. I would not worry, though. The brain is very flexible. If you keep your mathematics sharp, you…

Well. Now i'm imagining my brain slowly dissolving like the head on an old beer. That's fun.

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

#119

Post by m52go »

phlandis wrote: post #115
m52go wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"live to the fullest" or maybe just..."live" so often it seems like we're so preoccupied with 'hacking' our lives that we forget to live them at all...

survive

are you just surviving? lighten up...live a little.

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

#120

Post by arisAlexis »

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…

I totally agree that I feel smarter although you cannot tell from a closed loop system. Maybe I am slower but hell I do so many more things better because I know the deadly mistakes I should avoid now. I am also 35.
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