Older people show significant cognitive benefits from learning, provided they have the opportunity to do so
I’ve always suspected that a good part of the reason for what people call a slowing of the brain in people from their 40s to 50s onwards could be understimulation. Once you’re settled into a full-time job that pays the bills, and a routine of looking after the home and kids, there’s little time or money left for education or travel or going to concerts or the theatre other new experiences. It can get to be pretty much the same thing every day, for years and years.
And it’s odd how society puts value on learning when you’re younger, but there comes a point where you’re just expected to stop learning (except things directly related to your job) and do the same thing every day. Learning for older people isn’t valued, probably because in a capitalist society it’s all about economically tangible return on investment. The benefits to the person, or the benefits to the happiness of society as a whole, are not reckoned into the calculation.
Although you may not have as much money when you’re younger, if you’re only supporting yourself you do have more time. It’s a challenge to keep oneself mentally refreshed when life becomes very routine and pretty tightly constrained.
Having ADHD usually sucks, but at least I don’t ever have to worry about not learning, because it’s my brain’s absolute favorite thing.
Mine too, but there’s only so much time in a day.
Sometimes not for long, because there is something better to learn! And here we go again…
I think you make valid points.
We appear to live in substantially different worlds. I’m in my mid-40s, and there’s zero chance I will ever have a home to look after, a full-time job leaves me with no money to do anything, and I have no idea how people afford kids on top of rents that go up faster than wages.
What you’re describing was sold to me as the social contract Western countries operate off of. Nothing about it is true in the U.S.
Although you may not have as much money when you’re younger, if you’re only supporting yourself you do have more time.
I have lost purchasing power every year since 2003. My lifestyle was far closer to how one’s 40s are supposed to go than my actual 40s. I don’t know anyone who’s taking it easy and enjoying the fruits of working their asses off early in their career, and no one has retirement savings.
I have ADHD, all I can do is learn new skills lol, I just can never utilize them cuz I get bored of it once I’ve learned the surface level stuff :/
I wonder if this plays into people in cognitive demanding careers showing less mental deterioration compared to the average population. If you have to keep up to date on the job, then you are forced to learn beyond when others stop.