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The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

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141–150 of 194 posts

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm 80 and feel about 40. I'm a little slower, that's all. Sometimes, I'll be walking past a shop window and say, "Who's that old dude?"

That is pretty neat. How is coding at 80? I’m in late 40s and I’m hoping coding is something that can stick with you, I’ve read it definitely can.

It's a lot of fun. I'm back to my old interest - small systems programming on the bare metal. I did Nand2Tetris several years ago, and now I'm following the work of people like Tunney and DeVault as they bootstrap de novo. 100rabbits is also fascinating.

I'm working on an electronics program for the local makerspace - some combination of ham radio topics, microcontrollers and sensors - trying to figure out some good projects that can pull those fields together and get the younger crowd to realize they are carrying four microwave radios and a supercomputer in their pockets and that they ought to be interested in rf electronics.

Trying to get the makerspace off of Google Docs, Photoshop, Twitter, and other proprietary software and onto FOSS hardware and software is really an uphill battle. It's so convenient.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#143

I've felt about 22 for decades. Probably until my mid forties, I felt I was only about 19. That leads quite often to the situation where you are looking in shock at some elderly, bald person in the mirror while thinking "Who's that old bastard?". Or the sudden realisation "My God! I'm only two and a bit years off 80!" As the article says, there's a difference between the age you feel you are 'in your head' and the ag…

What does it mean to "feel about 22"? I don't feel like any particular age. I know what my age is, from subtracting my date of birth from the current date, and I don't see how it could be anything else. Edit: I suppose I feel now much the same as when I was actually 22, but all that suggests is that there isn't any "age feeling".

About to turn 40 here, for context. In my early 20s I worked with a fellow who was 60 yo. Something I'll never forget was when he told me, while in a relatively introspective conversation during down time at work, that he doesn't recognize who he is when he looks in the mirror. Internally, as he said, he felt the same as he always did. Now, granted, this was a 4-times divorced, 5 times married ex-hippie and proud ex-80s coke-head fully bald man exhibiting light tremors, so there may have been other issues involved, but as I cross the threshold of another decade, can't help but think of what he said.

Much like you, I don't feel much of a change, but I also feel very lucky because of that. Not sure if I'm aging well or if I'm accepting aging well, but then again I'm only turning 40. If I'm lucky enough, there'll be a ton more to lament in the future.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#144
post #53

What's news, pussycat. If we talk about how I feel, I think I'll be forever 30; that was around the time in my life when I had the most friends, experienced the most, traveled the most and had the most fun. But then, last year I turned 50, and the realization that I have a lot more behind me than ahead is a thought that lives rent free in my mind now.

"the realization that I have a lot more behind me than ahead is a thought that lives rent free in my head now" That's a limitation you placed on yourself. At 55 I divorced a lead weight and started investigating opportunities. At 67 I am doing more and accomplishing more of my own dreams than I ever have. Don't ever underestimate yourself or your options, no matter what your age.

I guess it's never too late to divorce a lead weight. All in all, I'm happy for you.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#145
post #113
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general (nothing against Kotlin) I think it probably has to do with the prospect of having to fiddle about and work late with new tech for the same outcome as what you would have gotten with the tried and true tech. At the end of the day, I want to spend my time with my friends and family and not burning the midnight hours on work tasks that could have been avoided.

In my personal experience working with Kotlin saves you half the time on typing alone.

Typing code is probably less than 5% of my daily time as a SWE.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#146
post #32

I've felt about 22 for decades. Probably until my mid forties, I felt I was only about 19. That leads quite often to the situation where you are looking in shock at some elderly, bald person in the mirror while thinking "Who's that old bastard?". Or the sudden realisation "My God! I'm only two and a bit years off 80!" As the article says, there's a difference between the age you feel you are 'in your head' and the ag…

Jukebox the Ghost in 2012, In my lungs I still feel young But my body won't play along I'm thinking this must not be where we Belong. Alan Kay was talking somewhere, but I don't have the link, about how a lot of his success in his youth had to do with the research community around him, and I think he was asked a question about how that sort of thing changes as you grow older... He replied that the combination of grow…

Having ADHD, I definitely feel more like your older colleagues now compared to how I felt in my early 20s before I'd burnt myself out just trying to do regular tasks efficiently. I'm interested in learning anything novel under two conditions, which are that results are potentially better in some way, and that the study time is paid for. If a new project arbitrarily wanted me to learn Kotlin in my personal time out of enthusiasm for code, I'd probably tell the team lead they should find someone else. I just absolutely don't give the slightest fucking shit about the company I work for, don't consider the work I do to be necessarily broadly important (outside the scope of delivering customer value) and don't anticipate I ever will. Code is just code, it does what it does, and if the outcome doesn't produce anything different or feel better to use or give me more of my time back, there's no point. But hey, I've only been employed for like half my adult life so far, so companies have never really shown that they have my back.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#147

Feels weird reading of all these same experiences. Since my childhood I always felt older than I was. Any body got a similar experience?

Yeah for a few years I thought I was actually +2 older than I was. This started to happen after some major life events that threw everything I knew into question. Since that happened I've found it difficult (or boring) to relate to people who are younger than me. Most of my friends are older.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#148

Curious how old other formerly closeted queer folks feel (particularly those who came out as adults). I have felt 30 since I hit puberty. I imagine it's from being hyper vigilant about policing my own behavior and body language.

I think you're on to something with the expanded self-consciousness that comes with always monitoring your own behavior/body language at the onset of puberty. I think there are other situations where a young person would also develop this kind of hyper vigilance. For me it's always made me feel older than my peers like you say.

Re: The gap between how old you are and how old you think you are

#150
post #66

I still feel like the upstart who barely knows what he is doing. The only difference is the people around me. I used to be surrounded by people I looked up to, who seemed to know everything. But now everyone around me has become mysteriously less and less competent and they're acting like I am the established authority, which just shows how little they must know!

I don't get this TBH. I work with younger coworkers and I recognize them falling for similar traps I did years/decade ago. I don't see my coworkers getting less competent, I'm just aware that I did way more stupid shit than they did and have the benefit of experience.

He’s making a joke about (I think) about the imperceptible passage of time and his evolving place in the world / workplace
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