# If you didn't know your own age how old would you think you are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593 "2017-11-03T13:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/21 "2017-11-04T00:23:57Z")
1. Three times over, almost, but 21. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/22 "2017-11-04T00:43:41Z")
I actually don’t know my age. In order to know you would have to remember what age you were last year, and add a year. Just never kept up with that. I mean I could figure it out because I know my birth year. But, have never considered it a major concern. But, when I look in a mirror, it is scary. So, I must be old. But, don’t feel it. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/23 "2017-11-04T08:52:14Z")
I’m soon to be 50 but if I woke up with amnesia I would probably assume I was around 40. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/24 "2017-11-04T14:51:41Z")
Kids on the bus get up to give me a seat, so I would have to assume I am 80. Which is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/25 "2017-11-04T15:36:10Z")
I remember 70’s colors and 80s music so that establishes a minimum. I also remember how long I’ve been at my industry job and I remember that I didn’t take unusually long to graduate college nor to find a job in IT, so that establishes a maximum. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/26 "2017-11-04T15:49:48Z")
Interesting question. I’d say maybe 42, when I’m actually 47. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/27 "2017-11-04T17:15:51Z")
Or, as Satchel Paige said it, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” I’m 25 and I’m sticking to it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/28 "2017-11-04T17:20:50Z")
Interesting. The near-unanimous response is, “Feel younger than actual age.” I wonder if this is the universal human norm? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/29 "2017-11-04T20:10:00Z")
I was 14 for 50 years. Then 16 for a couple. But then I start counting the summers and the snowstorms and realize that couldn’t be right. I will say, early in the summer of 2002 I looked at the lineup for concerts at Red Rocks, and I thought I might have actually entered a time warp. Crosby Stills and Hash?\* Deep Purple? Earth, Wind and Fire? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? I have been having “who is that old lady in the mirror?” moments for at least 15 years. Maybe longer…I forget. I have grown used to her in my own mirror. She gave me a bit of a start in the full length mirror in dance class for awhile but I’m used to her there now, too. But she’ll occasionally startle me at the mall or in other unfamiliar mirrors. - And Young. Whatever “vitamins” he was taking I wanted some. PS I think that inside every old person is the younger person they were, or at least inside most of them. There was a time I did not realize this, but I realize it now. That’s how old I am. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/30 "2017-11-04T20:38:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ditto this on both counts. > > My 69th birthday is in a couple of weeks. I’m always told that I look much younger. But today I got my height measured at the doctor, and I’ve shrunk two inches! I’ve been 5’6" for forever; today I was 5’4"! EEK! I don’t mind telling people my age, but I’m going to start lying about my height. :rolleyes: I have long felt that as we age, we aren’t really overweight, just undertall:D I guess you have proof. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/31 "2017-11-04T21:11:49Z")
I’m 60, but still have all of my hair, and it’s still dark. Looking in a mirror, I’d guess mid to late 40s. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/32 "2017-11-04T21:17:07Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I was 14 for 50 years. Then 16 for a couple. But then I start counting the summers and the snowstorms and realize that couldn’t be right. > > I will say, early in the summer of 2002 I looked at the lineup for concerts at Red Rocks, and I thought I might have actually entered a time warp. Crosby Stills and Hash?\* Deep Purple? Earth, Wind and Fire? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? > > I have been having “who is that old lady in the mirror?” moments for at least 15 years. Maybe longer…I forget. I have grown used to her in my own mirror. She gave me a bit of a start in the full length mirror in dance class for awhile but I’m used to her there now, too. But she’ll occasionally startle me at the mall or in other unfamiliar mirrors. > > - And Young. Whatever “vitamins” he was taking I wanted some. > > PS I think that inside every old person is the younger person they were, or at least inside most of them. There was a time I did not realize this, but I realize it now. That’s how old I am. If you want to feel even older, there just was a rock fest in July in L.A. and New York with the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Journey, Earth Wind & Fire, and Steely Dan (minus Walter Becker). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593/33 "2017-11-05T00:54:06Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If you want to feel even older, there just was a rock fest in July in L.A. and New York with the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Journey, Earth Wind & Fire, and Steely Dan (minus Walter Becker). I was at a GWAR concert (don’t ask) when they announced a coming act for fans of the oldies -------------- Iron Maiden. :smack: And this was like 20 years ago. :smack: :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-didnt-know-your-own-age-how-old-would-you-think-you-are/800593.md?page=1)