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Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

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Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#411

Post by incanus77 »

tablatom wrote: post #81
jb1991 wrote: post #17

I don't know you personally but I doubt cognitive decline has anything to do with this. As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities, beyond just the work we are doing. All of that is input to the brain and requires energy in response. The brain is not infinite. I often feel as you do, but then I have periods where I am as light and agile in my productivity as 20 years ago, maybe even more so…

I'll second this. Based on my own experience (I'm 50) it's all about energy levels. When my energy is high, I can code like I did two decades ago. Probably better. I guess the difference is that in your twenties, energy is almost for free. As you get older, you've got to be smarter about it - all the usual things - diet, exercise, avoiding stress... Not that I'm good about those things - I do OK but not great. Someti…

> Based on my own experience (I'm 50) it's all about energy levels. When my energy is high, I can code like I did two decades ago. Probably better. I guess the difference is that in your twenties, energy is almost for free. As you get older, you've got to be smarter about it - all the usual things - diet, exercise, avoiding stress...

This is an amazing insight. I’m almost 46 and feel like I’m at the top of my game, programming-wise, but also, I’m probably at my healthiest. And that’s worked-for health, not the kind that comes for free in your 20s (generally). And I think about and pay attention to energy levels during the day, and just know when I’m toast for the day and time is better spent elsewhere. I take a brief afternoon nap before coffee most days. I pay attention to when my mind is receptive to new information. I let some things bubble away in my subconscious and sometimes make new insights on walks, in the shower, or while making coffee.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#412

Post by Existenceblinks »

jb1991 wrote: post #222
dr_dshiv wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. Do you think we will ever get a pill to replace exercise?

Exercise is a source of enjoyment, why would you want to replace that?

Yeah, nothing is going to replace eyes, ears, memory muscle experience. Imagine something would replace table tennis sensing experience?

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#413

Post by sowbug »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #134
jb1991 wrote: post #17

I don't know you personally but I doubt cognitive decline has anything to do with this. As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities, beyond just the work we are doing. All of that is input to the brain and requires energy in response. The brain is not infinite. I often feel as you do, but then I have periods where I am as light and agile in my productivity as 20 years ago, maybe even more so…

> As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities As somebody who far away from 40, how is one supposed to "look forward" to getting older given this likelihood?

Everyone says "I'm not as quick as I was when I was younger, but I have more experience."

But that's a very sad kind of survivor bias. You were born with your quickness, but you have to earn the experience. Not everyone ends up middle-aged with useful experience. You hear only from the ones who do. And nobody has a time machine.

So look forward to reaping the benefit of experience, but let that be a warning that experience doesn't happen for free. Use your youth to acquire as many lifelong skills as possible. Use those skills in challenging ways to develop judgment. Use your skills and judgment to develop meaningful relationships with people who have chosen similar strategies.

Being able to offer solid skills, judgment, and relationships, rather than the ability to work consecutive 18-hour days, is what you'll have to look forward to.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#414

Post by Spiwux »

If it helps anything, I'm 30 which is supposed to be peak cognitive ability. During some days / weeks I have that exact feeling. I think it's a mixture of cognitive bias (you probably don't remember all the "easy" things you struggled with 10 years ago) and that it's completely natural to have periodic ups and downs in your cognitive abilities. On some weeks I'm just not feeling it.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#415

Post by issa »

anaisbetts wrote: post #405
issa wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our metabolism doesn't change in the technical sense, but in the popular sense of the word "metabolism" people absolutely slow down. At 20, missing a night's sleep wasn't even that big a deal. At 50 it is essentially impossible. I don't know what the underlying mechanisms are, but that's what people mean when they (incorrectly, it seems) say "metabolism".

Sleep quality pretty steadily declines with age - your 8 hours of sleep simply count for less than it used to, and you're actually consistently operating on decreased sleep

And that's even without factoring in children!

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#416

Post by malux85 »

mfer wrote: post #407
tablatom wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll second this. Based on my own experience (I'm 50) it's all about energy levels. When my energy is high, I can code like I did two decades ago. Probably better. I guess the difference is that in your twenties, energy is almost for free. As you get older, you've got to be smarter about it - all the usual things - diet, exercise, avoiding stress... Not that I'm good about those things - I do OK but not great. Someti…

Diet and physical activity play a huge role in mental clarity and energy level. The diet part of that we're only beginning to really understand in the last 10-15 years after some research breakthroughs in looking at our gut. Western diets (e.g. the standard american diet... what we actually eat) is fairly bad for our health which impacts our abilities. I would recommend folks look into the Blue Zones. Where people li…

Me too, I'm 37, and I did a radical diet change -- No sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no gluten. Only meat and vegetables and fish and some fruit.

After a year of this I've dropped 20kg, and my mental clarity is back where it was when I was early 20's.

I think it was mostly the no sugar that did it.

Exercise too - I walk 2-5 km a day

Oh and cutting down what I eat too -- I only have 1 meal a day, and a smoothie in the afternoon

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#417

Post by goodgrief99 »

38 years old here. For me it depends on the work type. If I need to rewrite someone's API, I will struggle because the code is written by someone and his logic not obvious fir me. If I would write the same logic from scratch by myself, it will be much easier.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#418

Post by cultofmetatron »

threadweaver34 wrote: post #370
cultofmetatron wrote: post #223

38 here, I've definitely noticed a bit of a decline in overall power a year ago. Have you looked into what you're eating and doing for exercise? You definitely cant power through brainfog with caffeine anymore. try the following to get yourself back on track 1. first meal of the day should be a filet of fatty fish like salmon with skin. if you can't afford this, use a high quality fish oil pill like nordic naturals.…

> 3. cut out all sugar outside of whole unprocessed fruit. (juice doesn't count) Juice might as well be soda when it comes to sugar.

I agree,

in retrospect i realize that paren could be read two ways. to be clear, I want to iterate that juice doesn't count as an unprocessed fruit.

Avoid juice like the plague!

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#419

Post by alfon »

jb1991 wrote: post #17

I don't know you personally but I doubt cognitive decline has anything to do with this. As we age, we usually end up with more and more life responsibilities, beyond just the work we are doing. All of that is input to the brain and requires energy in response. The brain is not infinite. I often feel as you do, but then I have periods where I am as light and agile in my productivity as 20 years ago, maybe even more so…

For someone who has been forced to try countless substances / diet regimens / health strategies due to a pervasive chronic disease, I beg to differ. There's so many things that you can personally do that will alter your cognitive abilities, sometimes to an incredible extent. The tricky bit is that there is indeed no silver bullet, and what works for someone might do nothing or create harm for another. So in my opinion, understanding that there are alternatives to resignation is really the critical component.

Re: Ask HN: I'm 40 and feel my mental ability declining. Programming seems harder.

#420

Post by Aeolun »

bqmjjx0kac wrote: post #190
Aeolun wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just don't completly ignore your genetics and biology and be open that they might speak-up and have a say too. They may have a say, but ultimately you can only try to deal with the cards you’ve been dealt. At least I wouldn’t just accept that I’m genetically predisposed to misery with no way out.

Just be mindful that the flip side of this perspective is to blame sick people for their condition.

Ah, yeah, that would suck. I guess it’s really only something you should apply to your own condition, never someone elses.
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