211–220 of 292 posts
As a telecommuter, I wonder if I can slow my cognitive decline by retiring? I will need to avoid falling into the old solitary habits. And wear pants.
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As a man in my mid twenties, should I ask my doctor to check if I have glucose hypometabolism?
What would you be able to do with this information?
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Yes and no. Your statement is true about under-the-hood stuff, but false about user interfaces. Your phone interface is not like Windows 95, still less like a green screen terminal talking to a mainframe.
LOL. Downvoted? I think most people browsing HackerNews will not be freaked out by minor UI changes 30 years from now. Even a 3 year old child can figure out how to use an iPad.
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Except that if you retire early you can still "work". It's just that you can work on whatever you want, not just on what someone will pay you for.
But is it work if no one is willing to pay for it? I would consider that to be hobby.
Building some software prototypes for ideas I have, that I count as a hobby. Reading all the books I do, however more time I spend on it than some work activities, I still think of as a hobby.
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Some of us see work as the meaning of life. Traveling and doing things just for the experience alone seems kind of meaningless. Great for vacation, but not great for long term goals. Perhaps if you're at a dead end job, then work might feel meaningless, I agree.
Work is the way you contribute back into society. Going to work and doing my job is my way of knowing that I'm giving back into the system that allows me and my family to live. I find it far more fulfilling than anything else. Hobbies I hate. By definition I'm an amateur and I don't perform well. At my job, I get to exercise the skills I'm best at. I can't do any old job though. I have to be able to trace at least a…
Doing it as a hobby just means that you don't do it for money, not that you aren't good at it. For example often your hobbies overlap with your work. I program games as a hobby and program/design extremely performance sensitive things at my job, they overlap quite a lot.
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I don't understand how so many people can anchor their lives to work. If you do that, when you retire, you've lost your meaning of life. I have a list of things a mile long that I just can't get to because 40 hours a week is already spoken for. Early retirement speeds cognitive decline? Maybe if you sit on the beach and/or watch TV all day long, but that sounds kind of miserable if done for more than a few weeks.
Well, most people I see did have other plans before they retired, but when finally retired and having no one to force them to do anything, they actually do nothing. The hobbies they complained they had no time for, the charities they wanted to work for, etc all quite rapidly vanish. Smart people with high profile jobs who end up watching tv and doing the odd sudoku puzzle. New generations might be different (although…
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Brain volume by age: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316307676/figure/fi... Various forms of intelligence by age: https://miro.medium.com/max/1038/1*ccb0bgIqgebwJWTdMGMXXQ.pn... If this correlation isn't causation, then I'm not sure what is.
The chart of intelligence vs age is terrifying in a sense, I'm amazed it's so clear. When I was in my 20s working on my phd, it's true I was learning a lot more new things. If I pursue a new phd at age 60, I wonder if it would push my ability up. Nothing I use in my day to day job was hardly invented 30 years ago, I've had to learn everything. I think most people not in fast changing engineering fields don't get that…
Before I started, I was pretty concerned about whether I would be able to do this even. Most of my peers are in their 20s and 30s, though it was surprising to me when I started this program that I am not the oldest candidate and there are a couple of us in the higher age ranges. Anyway, I had wondered if I would be able to keep up with the youngsters. In fact, I don't think it has been an issue at all. I think that I am performing at least at as high of or possibly a higher level today than during my first run at graduate education.
I think there are certain factors that I, as an older, more settled, less let's-start-living-life(!) person have as an advantage over my young peers. Many of them still focus a lot of time on socializing, whereas I have my spouse and kids and old friends whom I don't have to see every weekend (the old friends--I see my spouse and kids every day). My younger colleagues do a lot of dumb things still, ones that I sure did also when I was that age and have gotten out of my system.
I would say that there were certain advantages to doing graduate work when I was young, and certain advantages now. I find it impossible to say which is better, but it is at least no worse now than then.
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Some of us see work as the meaning of life. Traveling and doing things just for the experience alone seems kind of meaningless. Great for vacation, but not great for long term goals. Perhaps if you're at a dead end job, then work might feel meaningless, I agree.
To the people downvoting this: why is this an unreasonable perspective? The commenter isn't advocating one way or another, only pointing out that there are people that exist who are content with work as their self-perceived life meaning. I can absolutely see how this can be true for people in the sciences. There are many academics who devote their entire career - and often their life - to finding the answer to extrem…
However, my perspective has evolved somewhat, or changed might be the better word.
Just because something is productive and rewarded by society doesn't mean it can't be addictive. And just because something is rewarding and meaningful doesn't mean you're fully enjoying your life as the present. It can be easy to get caught up in always working for the future as life passes you by.
A life algorithm that's always focused on improving future moments, but that never takes the time to enjoy them when future arrives and they become present moments… it's almost like some sort of tragic Greek myth.
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I don't mean to be rude, but your living grandfather is very fortunate. Your deceased grandfather lived an average lifespan for someone in most of the developed world. I don't know ... a great deal about the background of your anecdote, but I would hesitate to overextrapolate, though. Sometimes the lack of activity is the manifestation of the underlying health issue that contributes to mortality.
Its definitely anecdata. My surviving Grandfather has lost two wives (both active as he was) to cancer, so his life style alone does not confer longevity. That does not mean the will to live is not real, and those without out it fade much faster.
It motivated him to completely alter his diet when the doctor said so, take up physical therapy when the doctor said so, and all manner of other healthy life choices that most people just wouldn’t bother with so late in life.
Good reason to live is a massive part of making choices that keep you living.