Photo: Jamie Street, Unsplash
Are Old Sayings About Aging Minds The Truth, Or Just Lazy Myths?:
In 2007, Mark Zuckerberg famously said that young people are just smarter than older people.
Not only was he wrong about experience, depth, & pattern recognition; but he also kinda “forgot” The Bell Curve.
But that’s okay. Because SV tech-bro strivers drank the Kool-Aid anyway.
And not to lend even a mote of credence to a guy like Zuck,
But “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” has been a saying forever.
So is it true? Do older people just get hidebound & turn into “Old Fools”?
Or is that take just a lazy smear-campaign of a situation that can actually be improved?
A team of German researchers decided to find out…
The Short Answer:
- A lot of recent “thought leaders” have been over-indexing on youth as virtue for reasoning and output.
- The pre-Zuck paradigm for experience & output valued both sides, with a slight bias toward experience.
- A Heidelberg team gathered 165 subjects from 19-78 to test if older minds could change.
- The work was 2 hour sessions per week for 8 weeks with homework, notes, and checkins after.
- Results were tested 2 different ways 5 times across the program out to 14 months.
- All subjects reported better social-engagement and emotional regulation even at the final test.
- Extraversion increased with only a slight taper toward the end.
- Word-association-type testing showed some variability in results.
- For some reason, that type (IAT, -also controversial) suggested emotional-stability improved less, for its 1/2 of the results.
- Older subjects made just as much progress as the younger ones; and just as quickly.
- The older subjects even out-worked the younger ones in-terms of materials, checkins, milestones, and engagement.
- However, the younger ones may have had busier schedules.
- All subjects were highly-motivated, signed up voluntarily, and even paid admission fees.
- So the results for the general population may be a little less robust.
- The program focused on 6 different topics: Stress, Resilience, Emotions, Interpersonal, Social Dynamics, and Boundaries.
- The tools used to train & improve subjects are called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
- There are at least 8 different ways an older mind might be wrongfully considered slow or stubborn.
- These include: Quality Control, Error-Forecasting, Resistance to Fads, Energy Conservation, Strategic Intuition, Unlearning, Deep Work, and Invisible Speed.
- Hopefully we can return to the earlier paradigm, where everyone is valued and hybrid-teams are actually stronger.
- Just as age is no guarantee of stubbornness, youth is also no guarantee of a 140 IQ.
Read on to find out the details…
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Youth Uber Alles, Or Old Dogs & New Tricks?:
So before Mark did his “thought leader” thing that was echo-chambered by other tech-bros, we had a better model.
The older guys were revered as knowing everything, but maybe had more friction learning the newer stuff and taking immediate action.
And the younger guys were revered as people who had tons of energy, but not always the best idea how to direct it in sophisticated ways.
BUT, that nagging advice about dogs & tricks has been around for a long time…
The Heidelberg Team Puts A Bounty On The Cult Of Zuck:
So to settle the dispute, researchers from Heidelberg gathered 165 adults for 8 weeks of work.
The subject ages were 19-78 and they participated in 2-hour sessions/wk in groups of 5-12.
They’d then do later exercises on their own, take some notes, and then check-in with a partner afterward.
By the end, the 5 sets of 2 test-results showed all subjects reported better social-engagement and emotional regulation.
-Regardless of age.
The 78 year-olds did just as well as the 20 year-olds.
Old dog. New tricks!
Impressive Progress With Stable Results, Even After A Year:
These results proved stable over the course of more than a year.
Even though everyone self-selected into the program and paid admission fees,
They all made progress at the same rate.
Except the older subjects even out-worked the younger ones across all metrics of materials, milestones, and engagement.
But to be fair, the younger subjects may have had more chaotic and packed schedules.
Since all of these subjects were really motivated, progress might not be similar in the general population,
Even though the potential still remains.
Here’s How The Study Program Modules Went:
The first four weeks were classes & homework dedicated to:
1) Stress Management
2) Resilience
3) Emotional Regulation
The second four weeks were similarly-structured. But the topics were:
4) Interpersonal Skills
5) Social Dynamics
6) Setting Boundaries
The two ways these were taught were by:
Mindfulness-based stress-reduction and ACT, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
Combating Limiting-Beliefs, Anxiety, And Stress With MBSR & ACT:
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is the practice of widening the gap between a stressful stimulus and our typical or even automatic reaction.
This space gives us time to consider things in a more zoomed-out way, and less of a judgmental and volatile reaction.
“Respond instead of React.” is the way it’s sometimes framed.
The other technique that was used, (ACT) is a bit similar.
It emphasizes:
- Your thoughts are different from your identity.
- Not all thoughts are true.
- Unpleasant thoughts are all part of having a noisy brain, so accept that they will happen.
- Focusing on the Present.
- Identifying themes that are worthwhile to you, ie: Values.
- And then Commitment on Actions in your life that support or align with those values.
Given all that, it’s main-focus still seems to be on action.
Here Are A Few Limiting-Beliefs And Intrusive-Thoughts This Could Fix:
For example, here are a few things that MBSR and ACT could help someone new to a program of study get past:
What Anxiety or Resistance says vs. The MBSR/ACT reframe:
- “I’m too old to learn this social complication.”
“I’m noticing an anxious thought about age. My value is Connection. I will try one ‘new trick’ today.” - “This person is driving me crazy!”
“I feel an immediate frustration/defense/anger-reaction in my body. I will increase the time & thought gap before I respond.” - “I will look stupid if I sit around trying to be mindful.”
“I am noticing a fear of judgment. I will watch that thought float by like a leaf on a stream and focus on my breath anyway.” - “I don’t have the special brain-type required for strong boundaries.”
“Boundaries aren’t advanced-Calculus; they are logic and self-respect. I can have the same as any average person.” - “I can’t do X because I’m too old/young/inexperienced/stupid/different, etc.”
“Everybody has to start somewhere. I value Learning so I will try baby-steps like any beginner would.”
A Few Of The Main Features & Misconceptions About Older Minds:
With that said, here are a few reasons people over the age of 30 may get mistakenly called slower or less-intelligent by Zuck’s Cult Of Youth:
- Quality Control. Mature thinkers slow-down for accuracy because they’ve learned “the cost of errors”.
- Intuitive-Troubleshooting. Experienced people’s slower responses often involve a pattern-matching “pre-mortem” that avoids pitfalls others might miss.
- Humanity’s Energy Conservation. Reluctance to adopt a “new” method is often an optimized trade-off for a brain already running very well on an existing base.
- The “Fad Recognition” Filter. To a newbie, every trend is a revolution. To a veteran, most trends are just remixes. This is often mistaken for “fear of change.”
- Resistance as a Function of Competence. Younger employees will often follow a flawed directive without question. Experienced pros get labeled “inflexible” because they can see a bad strategy early.
- The Cost of Unlearning. It is easier to write on a blank slate than to overwrite a complete book. The cautious friction behind that can get mislabeled as, “Stubbornness”.
- Contextual Synthesis over Brute Force. Younger brains excel at speed, simplicity, and volume. Older brains excel at finding how one piece fits into a larger puzzle. This can get mislabeled as, “Slow”.
- “Invisible Work”. When a veteran solves a major problem in three days via insight, it looks “easy.” But the result can get undervalued as management might only understand 80-hour workweeks!
A Return To The Earlier Paradigm Is Probably Healthy For All Of Us:
So hopefully with things like those in-mind, we might return to the old paradigm.
Where each contributor gets valued for the unique tools & perspectives they bring.
-Instead of you know, getting defamed by slapdash ideologues and their cult-followers one way or another.
That way, we can bring the benefits of The Beginner’s Mind, the possibility for new approaches & innovations, and the near-psychic perspective of pattern-matching intuitive experience all together.
Hopefully, we can all encourage each other to see that change is not impossible. It just needs the right growing-environment, like fussy plants in a greenhouse.
Everybody Contributes, But Youth Is Still No Guarantee Of A 140 IQ:
Because youth is still no guarantee of a 100+ IQ or A Big5 Openness score over 50, no matter what % of total fluid-intelligence is there.
And age is no guarantee of cynicism, glaciality in motion, or outright mulishness.
Let’s all try to remember both the good and bad sides of the old Buddhist saying on The Beginner’s Mind:
“In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities. But in the mind of the expert, there are few.” -Shunryu Suzuki
If we can balance that tension to make speed & novelty work together with wisdom & insight, then all sides get to celebrate good outcomes.
End-Of-Article BONUS!:
That old saying about dogs and tricks?
It’s shepherding-advice. About actual dogs. From 1523.
Soooo,… maybe a little bit of a stretch to apply to human-beings, after all.
References & Links:
• Source: U.Heidelberg
• More Coverage: BBC, Fertility Of The Older Mind
• Source Study: Nature.Comm.Psy – Personality intervention affects emotional stability and extraversion similarly in older and younger adults
