thenewgreen: The takeaway from the study is a happy one: There’s no single “smartest” age—people of different ages are best at different things. While in your 50s your memory might start failing you, your days of enjoying a brobdingnagian lexicon are still ahead.
well, this is a well timed read for me. I must say, many of us old-timers spend a good amount of time and energy coaching the next generation on Hubski and off of hubski. But where are the 70 and 80 year old hubskiers to coach is old timers? I was at one of my closest friends 40th surprise birthday party recently and I told a story about how my wife recently asked me, "what would you like to do for your 40th birthday?" My response, "I'm only 37!" -But even at 37, I can't help but think that certain attributes were once sharper, that said the things that I actually care about the most are only getting better. I truly believe that I'm making the best art of my life and I look forward to sharing it here once it's done. I'm an ever better partner to my wife and I'm an ever better parent. Am I better at math? Well, it would be hard to be worse. Is my memory worse? Without a doubt.
I think more than anything, Hubski keeps me young. As Henry Ford famously said, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."