Do people get smarter as they age?

[Wildtree]

Smarter? Depends, but generally yes.

Before you scream, what what? hold your horses..
Smart and Intellect are not the same thing.
Intelligence is a given. We get that with birth.
Smartness is earned. It is the result of learning.

Now, to repeat the question.
Do people get smarter as they get older?
Generally yes, but that requires the person to put some efforts into it.
If you abandon brain work, if you abandon thinking (which some older people tend to do), then you surrender it.
And you might end up dumber than you were when you were still more active.

[The Casualty]

As you get older you get more opportunities to grow from experience. Does everyone take those opportunities? No.

[Afrospinach]

As near as I can tell, I'm slower witted.

I think they have a name for this, like type one and type two thinking.

Type one will quickly have all the wrong answers to these questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZal6R895VM

more about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-aCSFD3xro
AFAIK it is not related to intelligence.

OT: No, people do not get smarter. What they can do is improve their quality of thinking. I am afraid intelligent people have a life long advantage and I have never seen a study that indicates otherwise.

[Khadgar]

Depends how old.

[Deleted]

Young people "know", older people "believe".


Its not like when you are young, you do not know that smoking, drinking, drunk driving, reckless behaviour/risk taking, unprotected sex and mirad of other things arent bad. You know they are bad. Even logically you know its bad. But you dont "believe", this is the kind of stuff that happens to others, not you, you are special!


When you are laying in the hospital due to poor life choices, or working some dead end job that pays you in peanuts, then you come to terms with your own life and mortality and ask yourself the question "is this what i expected my life to be!?" then your ass starts believing.


So to answer your question: Yes. There is no substitute for experience. No amount of memorizing books to then regurditate at your exam to be evaluated by teachers and professors who are increasingly detached from the job market can make you smarter than when you are older.

[Rudkobing]

Children are inherently stupid. They don't even know how to use the 3 shells.

[zenkai]

Over the years, I've heard quite a few people use their age as an argument in support of their claims. "I am twice as old as you, I know better!", "You have very little experience; live 20 years more, and then you will get it", etc. I've never seen it as a valid reasoning. Here is my theory on how people's minds develop as they age.

During childhood/teens people form their vision on how the world around them works. That vision naturally comes with strong confirmation biases. As people live more and more, those confirmation biases convince them in that their vision of the world is right. As such, they do not really get smarter or more knowledgeable; they, instead, become less open-minded to the points of view that disagree with theirs, less objective, less fair. Sure, they might become more skilled in their profession or certain life areas - but overall they do not become smarter. As such, their opinion isn't any better than an opinion of a young person.

Do you agree with it? Do you think the young should always listen to the old due to the experience and knowledge of the latter, or that they should give the priority of their own ideas, even if they are not backed by years of experience and observation?

I think open minded people who like to learn do, while other people just get set in their ways and refuse to change.

[Spl4sh3r]

I would agree with some that Intellegence doesn't go up as you age, however you do get more Wisdom as you age because of experience. Unless you drink some type of Potion of Intellegence

A side note, Intellegence is hard to show at a young age though and some aren't showing it even though they have it.

[Deleted]

Depends. In my own country's politics it seems that a stalinist remains a stalinist, no matter what. They just get more bitter with age when the revolution that was supposed to make them dictators never came. Even those who have been forced to admit that socialism and the USSR failed have just found another idiocy to follow, from radical feminism to islamophilia, with the same old totalitarian motives.

...point being, some people do get wiser and smarter with age, while others don't.

[Baracuda]

No creo que sea porque tienene una mentalidad cerrada. Para mi la actitud de la juventud actual se explica por la falta de experiencia con contacto de la realidad. Solo es necesario mostrarles un ejemplo de la vida real y exponerles a estas situaciones para que entiendan el otro lado de la moneda este teoricamente mal.

I do not think it's because they have a closed mind . For me the attitude of today's youth is explained by the lack of experience of contact with reality . You only need to show an example of real life and expose them to these situations to understand the other side of the coin, even though that side of the coin could be academically wrong.
Shitty google translation.

Actually it's a pretty good google translation but obviously learning English would be great if you're going to post on an English forum. If you can't learn through education try playing games in English or watching English tv-shows with spanish subtitles. Not on topic but yeah

The answer has already been given but people keep becoming more intelligent/smart (though smart is a pretty broad term) until sometime in their 20s and after that they just gain more wisdom/knowledge.

[Krille]

You learn more. You get "smarter". But your brains capacity to take in information shouldn't change drastically. So you basically get smarter by experiencing new things. If you work at the same job for 40 years clicking a button you'll probably get dumber by time.

[Lodreh]

OP, how old are you? I ask only because when you make strong, valid points people don't say that to you... maybe they were just trying to spare your feelings.

[Ashiyo]

Older people tend to say that their way is better, there is a survival instinct built in here. If a journy through life works by following X ways of living then hold onto it and pass it on to the next generation. This is why there is always the phrases like " it was better when i was young / growing up ". As you grow past the age of fully developing your brain closly after the age of 30 hits. Which is where the personality and world viewes start being hardwiered, it gets harder to change current viewes. Id say in rough generalization. It is not how old you are, it is what you have spend the time you have lived doing. Have used the brain for thinking outside the box, is your belif system to follow the herd? ect.

Easier said, your experience in the time you have lived thus far.

[Orange Joe]

Over the years, I've heard quite a few people use their age as an argument in support of their claims. "I am twice as old as you, I know better!", "You have very little experience; live 20 years more, and then you will get it", etc. I've never seen it as a valid reasoning. Here is my theory on how people's minds develop as they age.

During childhood/teens people form their vision on how the world around them works. That vision naturally comes with strong confirmation biases. As people live more and more, those confirmation biases convince them in that their vision of the world is right. As such, they do not really get smarter or more knowledgeable; they, instead, become less open-minded to the points of view that disagree with theirs, less objective, less fair. Sure, they might become more skilled in their profession or certain life areas - but overall they do not become smarter. As such, their opinion isn't any better than an opinion of a young person.

Do you agree with it? Do you think the young should always listen to the old due to the experience and knowledge of the latter, or that they should give the priority of their own ideas, even if they are not backed by years of experience and observation?

I think wiser is a better word.

[Zogarth]

Well, they tend to have more experience with life and hence more wisdom. I don't think you get more intelligent as you age past a certain point, but you have more knowledge to draw from, so you should logically be able to make better choices.

[shadowmouse]

Bad spammer! Bad necro-ing spammer who needs to be whacked before the links work.

[Deleted]

It's true that as you get older, your brain's processing speed begins to slow, and your memory may occasionally short out, says Margaret Gatz, PhD, professor of psychology, gerontology, and preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. But researchers have recently made some surprising discoveries about what's really happening in our heads as we age: "We are identifying ways in which older minds hold their own against younger ones and even surpass them," Gatz says.

Read more: the estella apartment for rent

Cognitive capabilities, much like physical ones, have a peak.

[Draco-Onis]

Cognitive capabilities, much like physical ones, have a peak.

And just like physical peaks most people never come close to reaching it so there is plenty of room for the young and the old.

[Kokolums]

Yes because:

1. As people get older, their hormones calm down and they less obsessed with sex, which allows them to make better decisions.
2. As people get older, they become more invested in the world. They start a career path, get married, have kids, get a mortgage, and take on responsibilities in general. This GREATLY encourages people to make smarter life decisions. An 18 year old with no responsibilities can be stupid with less consequences.

[Sky High]

as a general rule no, unless you're the kind of person who seeks out knowledge and experiences I don't think getting older makes you smarter/wiser.