# Hey golden years dopers did you get any smarter between 40 and 60+ years old or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843 "2004-04-30T13:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/1 "2004-04-30T13:22:29Z")
I’m 45 and just wondering if there’s any additional wisdom coming my way before I need to be spoon fed or toe tagged. Do you get any smarter or wiser between 40 and 60 years old or not? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/2 "2004-04-30T13:41:30Z")
Not nearly as smart as I got when I turned 15! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/3 "2004-04-30T13:44:41Z")
it may not be “wisdom” in the classical sense, but i tend to think you get a whole lot more perspective. in some cases, the two can be interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/4 "2004-04-30T13:59:50Z")
Actually, the older I get the stupider I recognize myself as being. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/5 "2004-04-30T14:03:33Z")
Well, I am getting more bitterly realistic, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/6 "2004-04-30T14:21:38Z")
More computer smarts. And more accepting of reality. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/7 "2004-04-30T14:49:41Z")
I agree with the idea that your perspective changes, and think that helps with the “wisdom” category. After turning 50, I found that other people’s opinions (especially of me) didn’t seem to matter as much anymore. I decided I didn’t have to continually prove myself to others anymore. My career became much more satisfying because I truly wanted to do other things than devote myself to my employer 60+ hours a week. That meant that I was no longer striving for promotions and putting unnecessary pressures on myself. Life, in general, became much more pleasant. I think I became much more “human” after 50. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/8 "2004-04-30T16:18:23Z")
> [@OldBroad](#): > > I agree with the idea that your perspective changes, and think that helps with the “wisdom” category. After turning 50, I found that other people’s opinions (especially of me) didn’t seem to matter as much anymore. \ Life, in general, became much more pleasant. I think I became much more “human” after 50. Preach it, Sistuh! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/9 "2004-04-30T17:45:34Z")
> [@OldBroad](#): > > I agree with the idea that your perspective changes, and think that helps with the “wisdom” category. After turning 50, I found that other people’s opinions (especially of me) didn’t seem to matter as much anymore. I decided I didn’t have to continually prove myself to others anymore. My career became much more satisfying because I truly wanted to do other things than devote myself to my employer 60+ hours a week. That meant that I was no longer striving for promotions and putting unnecessary pressures on myself. Life, in general, became much more pleasant. I think I became much more “human” after 50. Bravo! I hope I’m like this when I get to be around that age. (33 now.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/10 "2004-04-30T17:59:27Z")
I wait on retail customers for much of my day(coin and jewelry biz). Quite often, the customer is around 50-70. And they are so stupid, I wonder what they were like when they were 20-40. And I’ve come to the conclusion that they were stupid when they were young, and are stupid now and will be stupid when they die. People, such as all of the bright posters here 😃 , who are inquisitive and interested in ideas and learning, will just get smarter every day until they die. The biggest problem you’ll have is it takes more time to scan the obits as you get older. Oh, and the print in books and papers gets smaller all the time. Wait! What was the question again??? ---
**Author:** ![ponderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@ponderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponderer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/11 "2004-04-30T18:31:29Z")
I would have to say, yes, wisdom does come with age… after having made decisions/choices a number of times you get a handle on which ones gave desirable results and which ones didn’t… that is if you are able to learn from your mistakes… 48 now, definitely wiser than when I was 28. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/12 "2004-04-30T22:37:25Z")
I am also 45, and I believe I’m significantly wiser than I was at 40. Just a feeling I have. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/13 "2004-04-30T23:15:38Z")
I no longer worry about what others think, nor do I worry about dressing for success–now I dress to suit myself. I don’t know if I am any smarter, but I am more realistic and much more accepting of who and what I am. I think I am a lot more accepting of others, too. Marcie says I have become better looking since my hair turned completely gray. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/14 "2004-04-30T23:34:38Z")
Definitely dottier. Can’t see anything. Can’t hear anything. Worst of all? Can’t _remember_ anything. What was the question again, dear? ---
**Author:** ![Pelleas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Pelleas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelleas)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/15 "2004-05-01T01:13:29Z")
I’m not sure about getting any smarter but I hope I have learned a few things from my experiences. Of course, I’m still a long way from having all the answers but I have more now that I did 20 or 30 (or more) years ago. As others have mentioned I am not as concerned with making a good impression now. I now do things that please me rather than try to please someone else. ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/16 "2004-05-02T07:17:32Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m 45 and just wondering if there’s any additional wisdom coming my way before I need to be spoon fed or toe tagged. Do you get any smarter or wiser between 40 and 60 years old or not? Depends on what and how you feed your brain. What? You didn’t know that your brain needed brainfood? 🆒 Like others, I agree with **OldBroad**. This phenomenon is usually more noticeable in women than in men, as most women (I won’t say “used to be,” as it’s sheer PC) are conditioned to be neither aggressive nor assertive. However, as my mother died about the time I hit puberty, it was before I had quite gotten the message. It was therefore surprising to me that I really did begin to care less about what others thought after I turned 50. Of course, it also helped me greatly that one of my best friends threw a big party for me to help me get through it; I had been getting more and more fearful. But back to the OP’s question: I think that so long as you keep mentally active, you don’t need to be afraid (OTOH, there’s early onset Alzheimers, but I think there’s some evidence of genetic influences there). Researchers claim that such minor things as doing crosswords and playing cards will help to stave off Alzheimers, etc. (yes, there are still other forms of “senile dementia”). I wouldn’t risk that. Since I went on disability, I probably read _at least_ twice as much as I did before, and more of it is non-fiction; I have lots more time, and sometimes it’s the only thing that will distract me from “breakthrough” chronic pain (and I’m under the care of a very good specialist, but ya can’t use enough to kill **all** the pain without risking addiction, to which I say, “no, thanks.”). **Warning: TMI that may sound like boasting** My brain has suffered three insults in my lifetime. I had a fever of 106F with delirium when I was 5. It wiped out my knowledge of how to read (King James Bible) and how to write (cursive), along with giving me a minor hearing deficit and a very slight asynchronous neurological deficit in facial nerves on the left side (that’s all the stuff I know about, though my parents were grateful that I survived, and seemed mostly unchanged). Then I suffered two closed head injuries in my 20s (both auto accident related, and no, I wasn’t driving), which reduced my memory from near eidetic to still excellent (but I really miss being able to “rerun the video in my head”), and gave me an intermittent flaw in retrieving just the right word often enough to be thoroughly annoying. Despite that first neurological insult, I made Nat’l Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist in h.s. (GPA too erratic to make finalist; I never got emotional help with my mother’s speedy demise (and highly traumatic it was - from ovarian cancer) until I was past 40). Nearly half my lifetime after the two closed head injuries (the year I turned 50), I took the GRE. I don’t remember the individual scores on the three parts, but the total was 2080; my performance on the math had plummeted (I didn’t find time to study up), but my performance on the “reasoning” had gone up enough to almost make the difference. I was working as support staff in a social sciences department of a large university at the time. I asked around among the faculty. Several of the brighter ones told me they hadn’t done that well on it in their twenties. But one of my student employees then told me about his friend who had scored a perfect 2400. :o Of course, the achiever was in his 20s, and from India. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/17 "2004-05-02T07:33:12Z")
Yes. At fifty, I’m smart enough to know how much I don’t know. Yet. The hard drive is wonky, so I don’t store as much B.S. on it anymore. I have perfected the gentle smile, and all knowing grandmotherly attitude. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/18 "2004-05-02T13:02:58Z")
I’m just coming to the end of Gravity’s Rainbow by Pynchon,and boy are my eyes and brain tired. True,I learned some new words (who woulda thinkded that PHTHISIC means wasted away or tubercular looking,and isn’t pronounced with the PHTH sound as in phenolphthalein,but with a hard T.TISIC!) But Pynchon is no respecter of linear narrative and I constantly find myself wondering how certain characters got where they are and what the fuck they are talking about. No,I’m not in the wrong thread. I just have the feeling that it’s not all Pynchon’s fault,and maybe he didn’t write that masterpiece (that’s what I think it is) with the goal of making my brain overload,sending me off to an institute for the very,very disturbed. No,I think it’s at least half me.I think 20 or 30 years ago I would have retained a lot more,making the book easier (not easy) going.And I’ll look up many words; think AHA,I’ve got you now,and run into one of those words in a day or two and realize I don’t have the foggiest what it means. It’s demoralizing. Maybe I’m wiser. It’s hard to say,when I can’t remember what I used to be stupid about. I’m not sure if that’s meant to be humorous or not. Wasn’t it Homer Simpson’s contention that there’s only so much information you can jam into your head and if you excede that,It’ll just push out old information? Sometimes I think that’s true. But by the time I finish this book,It’ll probably push that thought out along with millions of other things,some trivial,some not. This board keeps pushing stuff into my head. I don’t remember a lot of it. But every once in a while something like the UNDERPANTS thread comes along,and I’m fully satisfied to sit and laugh like the senile idiot I expect to become any minute. Ain’t (what’s that thingy?) grand?::5 minutes go by; 10 :: Oh yeah,LIFE! Ain’t life grand? ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-golden-years-dopers-did-you-get-any-smarter-between-40-and-60-years-old-or-not/242843/19 "2004-05-02T14:24:52Z")
From the vantage point of 32 years old, I can attest that, although it’s not an intelligence issue, your 50s/60s/70s are surely marked by the strange phenomenon in which you will go from saying, for example, “I’m going to Blockbuster to get a video” to “I’m going out to **the** Blockbuster to get a video”. Dunno why. 🙂