The fertility of the older mind
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Re: The fertility of the older mind
#2Education has no age limit.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#3> Or perhaps children are simply less inhibited and aren’t so scared about making mistakes.
Struck a chord there - because I had come to the same conclusion of sorts, about my ability to practice activities in public.
Riding a bicycle is a fairly hard thing to learn and very easy to practice (from my experience), but learning to do that when everyone around is falling off them was much less of a struggle than trying to learn ice skating in my mid thirties, when everyone at the "cheap skate night" is just gliding by with no effort.
There's a certain embarrassment which distracts from the task at hand. And being good at several other things, which are more immediately satisfying to do also factors into the decision to spend time learning something new which you'll never be as good as the ones who started when they were 5.
Right now, I'm struggling to learn enough spanish to converse with my kid & observing language learning first-hand, in third person. The words just come out without any particular boundaries in production - grammar, conjugations, gender, whether it is the right word.
Everything is optional and the only discouraging response is skipping the conversation and trying to ignore it.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#4I am 33, and I have paid a lot of anecdotal attention to what seems to keep my brain fresh, i.e. able to still learn new skills at a rapid clip. Just by way of credentials: I was a successful lawyer for a few years of my 20s (rising to level of federal law clerk), but then taught myself to program and have been working as a professional programmer since shortly before my 30th birthday. Even though I am on the older side of the programmer market, my career has been great, and I've been able to rapidly rise in the ranks. I also know a fair amount about design and business strategy now.
The secret seems to be: Practice. If you want to be able to do new things, you need to always be doing new things. I am always trying to learn something new - mentally and physically. For example, I am very right-side dominant in my body, but I have lately been trying to open more doors with my left hand, throw stuff at the trashcan with it, etc.
Always be doing at least one new thing in your life if you want to be doing new things for the rest of your life. It is OK to fail at a new thing! You just have to admit failure, pat yourself on the back for your courage, take stock of what went right and wrong, then pick a new new thing to do.
Relatedly, I have noticed that some people who I considered much smarter than me as a teenager often no longer appear to be, and I believe it is because they stopped trying to grow new types of skills and thus let their brains stagnate.
It is hard to do unfamiliar things, but so worth it.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#5I am 33, and I have paid a lot of anecdotal attention to what seems to keep my brain fresh, i.e. able to still learn new skills at a rapid clip. Just by way of credentials: I was a successful lawyer for a few years of my 20s (rising to level of federal law clerk), but then taught myself to program and have been working as a professional programmer since shortly before my 30th birthday. Even though I am on the older s…
You're 33, you're not on the 'older side of the programmer market.'
If anyone tells you that, I suggest you take a long hard look at who they actually are.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#6I am 33, and I have paid a lot of anecdotal attention to what seems to keep my brain fresh, i.e. able to still learn new skills at a rapid clip. Just by way of credentials: I was a successful lawyer for a few years of my 20s (rising to level of federal law clerk), but then taught myself to program and have been working as a professional programmer since shortly before my 30th birthday. Even though I am on the older s…
You're 33, you're not on the 'older side of the programmer market.' If anyone tells you that, I suggest you take a long hard look at who they actually are.
When I was a junior programmer at 30, it sure felt like I was on the older side. :)
It's a separate subject, but there is a lot of age bias in the field.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#7Education has no age limit.
Hiring does, though. It's clear that a compliant workforce is considered a greater necessity than a competent one.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#8I am 33, and I have paid a lot of anecdotal attention to what seems to keep my brain fresh, i.e. able to still learn new skills at a rapid clip. Just by way of credentials: I was a successful lawyer for a few years of my 20s (rising to level of federal law clerk), but then taught myself to program and have been working as a professional programmer since shortly before my 30th birthday. Even though I am on the older s…
You're 33, you're not on the 'older side of the programmer market.' If anyone tells you that, I suggest you take a long hard look at who they actually are.
Very true. I work at Fortune xx company and there are literally hundreds of developers in their 50s and early 60s. (ones older just retire). Many of them are head down workers reporting into managers who are 10-15 years younger (who probably don't make any more)
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#9As I get older it gets much much harder to feel stupid at something new when you know what it feels like to be very good at something else. This I feel is the key reason people stop picking up new skills, it feels miserable to be back at a beginner level and so much more satisfying to do something you’re proficient at.
However, if you can recognize this and reset your expectations then you will probably find you have extensive general skills to bring to bear around learning and self discipline. Those skills will make the actual learning process overall much quicker compared to learning your first few major skills, it just might not feel like it.
Re: The fertility of the older mind
#10> Or perhaps children are simply less inhibited and aren’t so scared about making mistakes. Struck a chord there - because I had come to the same conclusion of sorts, about my ability to practice activities in public. Riding a bicycle is a fairly hard thing to learn and very easy to practice (from my experience), but learning to do that when everyone around is falling off them was much less of a struggle than trying…
Learning a language (spoken, not programming) is similar. If you're willing to sound like an idiot with a bad accent, constantly messing up words and parts of speech, it's easy to get immersed. If you're self conscious it's significantly more difficult.