Study: Old Age Begins at 27 • Hacker News Board

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#31

Post by amichail » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 8:55 PM UTC

russell wrote: post #22

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #5

Lately we're finding good arguments for the idea that people start declining in abilities earlier than we thought. At the same time, there's a lot of work being done on life extension. What happens if we extend life to, say, 150 and what we get is this long, 100-year decline into complete cognitive paralysis? I'm 43 and I don't feel like I'm losing it. In fact, in some ways I feel more cognitively adept than I was at…

Wisdom is what it's called. After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea. OTOH you are probably a better judge of probabilities of success/failure, people's capabilities, and allocation of resources. Lot's of people are significant contributors into their 70's. I dont think living to 150 means being 80 for 80 years. Probably middle age get stretched forever and the decl…

After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea.

For some people, creativity increases with age.

But still, quick thinking and high energy levels are useful. I think it's crucial that we compress schooling as much as possible so people can do something important while they still can.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#32

Post by xiaoma » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 9:02 PM UTC

skalpelis wrote: post #25

ErrantX wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people are talking about the first person to live to 1000 being alive today... so, a 900 year decline? :) I think whilst you have a point you also neglect to factor in that with medical developments extending life we will also end up with developments in mental care/extension.

Aubrey de Grey, not some people.

This guy is a person, too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_kurzweil

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#33

Post by ricmorton » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 9:10 PM UTC

In case anyone is worried about their twenty-something cognitive performance, bear in mind that the refutation of this study will probably not surface in the media; http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-docum...

-An unconcerned twenty-something ;)

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#34

Post by aceofspades19 » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 9:26 PM UTC

amichail wrote: post #31

russell wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wisdom is what it's called. After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea. OTOH you are probably a better judge of probabilities of success/failure, people's capabilities, and allocation of resources. Lot's of people are significant contributors into their 70's. I dont think living to 150 means being 80 for 80 years. Probably middle age get stretched forever and the decl…

After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea. For some people, creativity increases with age. But still, quick thinking and high energy levels are useful. I think it's crucial that we compress schooling as much as possible so people can do something important while they still can.

I find it frustrating that most people spend a quarter of their life just going to school and you essentially can't do anything that useful until you are at least 25 or so

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#35

Post by alecco » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 9:33 PM UTC

Try one of those mind training games for a couple of months and you'll see how lame this kind of study is.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#36

Post by pekka » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 9:50 PM UTC

So true, It is a known fact among the chess players that the ability to calculate ahead peaks at the age of 27.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#37

Post by old-gregg » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 10:29 PM UTC

Maybe...

Let me share my personal experience: when I was 18-21 I struggled with advanced math in college. Now, at 30, when I re-open those books just for fun, everything makes so much sense and some aspects of it are even enjoyable.

I've failed to find a plausible explanation for myself. I haven't done much math (calculus, probability, statistics) since graduation, yet the exact same books are so much easier to read now.

I experienced a similar effect much earlier in my life: I struggled with understanding recursive algorithms when I was 12, but when I came back to them at 16 I laughed at myself - it suddenly seemed so trivial.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#38

Post by furbearntrout » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 11:05 PM UTC

amichail wrote: post #31

russell wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wisdom is what it's called. After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea. OTOH you are probably a better judge of probabilities of success/failure, people's capabilities, and allocation of resources. Lot's of people are significant contributors into their 70's. I dont think living to 150 means being 80 for 80 years. Probably middle age get stretched forever and the decl…

After 40 your reflexes are slower and you are less likely to have your world shattering idea. For some people, creativity increases with age. But still, quick thinking and high energy levels are useful. I think it's crucial that we compress schooling as much as possible so people can do something important while they still can.

i think creativity increases as you have more experiences (plural) to draw inspiration from.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#39

Post by ars » Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 11:45 PM UTC

If the peak is at 22, we are really short changing our children by setting the age of majority at 18.

Re: Study: Old Age Begins at 27

#40

Post by mxcl » Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 12:11 AM UTC

old-gregg wrote: post #37

Maybe... Let me share my personal experience: when I was 18-21 I struggled with advanced math in college. Now, at 30, when I re-open those books just for fun, everything makes so much sense and some aspects of it are even enjoyable. I've failed to find a plausible explanation for myself. I haven't done much math (calculus, probability, statistics) since graduation, yet the exact same books are so much easier to read…

Well honestly, this was a statistical study. Still those of us who are 27 are glad to hear you part anyway! Damn. I don't want to have passed my prime.