Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s • Hacker News Board

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#11

Post by judk » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 5:56 PM UTC

danso wrote: post #8

I'd like to see this data evaluated across different time frames. Maybe prodigy was more pronounced at a young age in the past century because people, well, became full adults and died at earlier ages? Now that in today's Western democracies, we've essentially delayed adulthood to at least the mid-20s, marriage until the 30s, and retirement into the 70s...this time delay, plus the fact that the discoveries we make no…

Dying between 15 and 40 was almost never statistic-perturbingly common in human societies that were stable enough to support anyone doing creative work that survived to be noticed later.

Most variation in average lifespan is explained by infant mortality and life estension of the elderly.

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#12

Post by rgbrenner » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:01 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #4

A distinction I read somewhere, that I think is useful, is that people tend to be either primarily conceptualist in their thinking, or they are empiricists who learn from experience. Conceptualists have their big breakthroughs before the age of 35, and empiricists have their big breakthroughs after 35. In conceptual fields, such as math and physics, the big breakthroughs happen young. Werner Heisenberg was 27 when he…

Which the article also mentions:

"What's more, people who excel in abstract fields, like art or physics, tend to be younger than those who win prizes in fields that require more context, like history or medicine. Another 1977 study found that physics Nobel winners were 36 on average when they did their prize-winning work, while chemists were 39 and medical doctors were 41."

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#13

Post by snyk00 » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:18 PM UTC

I don't understand what's the big news here. It's pretty obvious if you also think that by your late 30's you have a lot of experience on your shoulders, and you can use that to plan what's ahead.

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#14

Post by sitkack » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:20 PM UTC

judk wrote: post #11

danso wrote: post #8

I'd like to see this data evaluated across different time frames. Maybe prodigy was more pronounced at a young age in the past century because people, well, became full adults and died at earlier ages? Now that in today's Western democracies, we've essentially delayed adulthood to at least the mid-20s, marriage until the 30s, and retirement into the 70s...this time delay, plus the fact that the discoveries we make no…

Dying between 15 and 40 was almost never statistic-perturbingly common in human societies that were stable enough to support anyone doing creative work that survived to be noticed later. Most variation in average lifespan is explained by infant mortality and life estension of the elderly.

Flaw Of The Averages.

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#15

Post by mjehanzeb » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:33 PM UTC

Innovation can happen at any age. The only key is to keep yourself active, focused and relevant. Even though Steve Jobs got success in his 20s but he mentioned that last 10 years of his life was most productive and creatively satisfying.

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#16

Post by dhfjgkrgjg » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:39 PM UTC

Who would have thought? That in your late thirties, you have gained experience, knowledge, contacts, maybe even a degree of financial support, all of which lend towards the formation of breakthrough ideas. Now, where is my prize?

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#17

Post by oscargrouch » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:42 PM UTC

jupiterjaz wrote: post #3

I just finished Marvel Comics: the untold story by Sean Howe. One thing I was really surprised to learn was that Stan Lee was in his 40's and had already been a comicbook editor for 20 years before he co-created all the famous Marvel heroes like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and The Hulk.

What about Bukowski, that was working in a post office, til 49 years old, when he dropped out to start his first novel ?!

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#18

Post by shubb » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:49 PM UTC

noname123 wrote: post #7

callmeed wrote: post #2

As a twenty-eighteen year old, this article made my Sunday.

As a 27 year old, I can't help but wonder how much of the article was written to be aimed at the older millennial/Reddit crowd's insecurity of aging. But I welcome the prognosis and look forward to my days as a 37 year old still pwning young noobs in Dota2/League/CoD/2K.

My thought is that if the achievements of a 40 year old took 20 years to accumulate, then they must have been working at something for 20 years.

That sort of achievement is one that is earned, rather than coming from luck. Which means it is the sort of success one can emulate, but only if we have the personality and determination to put the work in.

The 22 year old that got bought out by yahoo for 1bn probably did nothing other start-up founders didn't. There is little that can be learned from him, except to throw the dice more often.

The 44 year old who slowly built a property portfolio by living cheap and seizing opportunities (cheap mortgages, cheap properties) that come around only every decade or so, simply by playing the game so long... I could copy his example, but then I wouldn't be able to buy nice things with that money, or use it as startup runway. I'd have to make sure I was always in a stable (boring?) job to support the credit rating needed for several mortgages.

So the difference between the two kinds of success is important, and we can learn from the second. But if what we learn is that you can spend your life buying success, is that cost too much?

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#19

Post by poolpool » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 6:57 PM UTC

dhfjgkrgjg wrote: post #16

Who would have thought? That in your late thirties, you have gained experience, knowledge, contacts, maybe even a degree of financial support, all of which lend towards the formation of breakthrough ideas. Now, where is my prize?

Its common sense that universal health care and higher taxes for everyone is a great idea. Depending on who you ask its also common sense that universal health care is a ridiculous concept and no one wants to pay for other people's hospital visits.

Re: Big Breakthroughs Come in Your Late 30s

#20

Post by thewarrior » Sun, Feb 16, 2014, 7:01 PM UTC

Here's an interesting exception : The poet Rimbaud wrote all of his poetry before the age of 20 and is considered to be one of the greatest poets of all time.