I feel like a big part of why you behave that way more than other people is just that you’re more energetic and curious.
It’s also interesting that your version of neotony doesn’t include a bunch of the irresponsible or immature aspects of youth. I suspect that even when you were young you seemed pretty crotchety in a bunch of ways.
Happy birthday. Agreed. I never understood hwhy to so many people, "growing up" means you have to abandon childish pleasures. Sure, you can ADD ON more "adult" pleasures, like alcohol. But hwhy can't you drink and slide? lol!
On my 50th birthday, over two decades ago, an acquaintance told me, "It's OK, 50 is the new 30." A long time friend nearby responded, "In Rodger's case, 50 is the new 12."
If "to everything there is a season," the seasons of one's life may be called upon according to the occasion. Indulging in joy and wonder reminiscent of youth is more rewarding, and certainly more socially permissible, when one has actually achieved something as an adult. The famous picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out wouldn't register the same if he weren't already renowned as a genius. Never forsake the gift of playful genius, Bryan!
BTW & FYI, lift tickets at Mammoth Mountain are free for skiers 80 or older. (I'm getting a knee replaced now so I'm ready in a few years.)
Yeah I don’t find that compelling. I’m very similar to Bryan in how he describes himself in this post. However, a good majority of my peers don’t share my curiosity and glee for learning, playing, and living life and none of us have real jobs. There is one exception, though. One of my friends has a chess teaching business, and he’s even more neotonous than I am. I really don’t think it’s job dependent
I love this attitude, this approach to life. I'm 82 and retired from my econ-prof job, but definitely far from being retired. Most people don't believe me when I tell them my age. I love having fun, and much of it is what many people might describe as "juvenile or puerile".
Don't most people grow up because of the pressures of earning a livelihood? The number of happy childhood friends who now lament becoming a "corporate slave" are too many
Happy 55th! Your embrace of neoteny is inspiring—choosing fun, adventure, and curiosity over the conventional path of aging. Life is meant to be lived with enthusiasm, and your energy is contagious.
I would suggest at the margin you should be a bit more careful and will still be following a relative path of neoteny and not one of monotony ! And Happy B day...
"But the thought of retirement repulses me. I love dreaming up new projects, and I don’t like to sit still for more than two hours."
Actually, retirement gives you the opportunity to dream up and pursue as many new projects of your own as suits your fancy and your personal capacity without having the grind of being tied down by your employer's projects.
The notion that additional leisure time necessarily means additional idleness is nonsense. Indeed, the main challenge I've discovered with retirement is that you can add so many more personal projects to your "to do" list that you just don't have time for them all, so you have to learn to prioritize them and to pace yourself.
I suspect that people who do turn into slothful, bored couch potatoes in their retirement years do so because their *ability* to dream up engaging new projects is seriously impaired. If you've spent your entire life just being a passive spectator when you weren't doing your employer's bidding, taking away the employer isn't suddenly going to make you more curious about the world, passionate about nurturing your abilities, or more extroverted in your engagements with others.
On the other hand, if you've always been a self-starting dreamer and doer (which for many people is in spite of what their jobs have demand of them), you'll do just fine in retirement. If you have been fortunate enough to be in a job where you've had a lot of control over your work (which is typically the case for college professors), you might not notice much of a change at all. Indeed, many retired professors just keep working on their favorite research projects as emeriti professors.
I once had the responsibility for reporting faculty employment statistics for various national surveys on behalf of the University of California system, and I managed to break the automated data intake system of one of the surveys. The survey had only allocated two digits for its age field, but the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego had a professor emeritus who was still employed part time in a marine research project at the age of 100. Once I confirmed that UCSD really did have a working centenarian, the survey had to modify the specifications for its age field (which is kind of a big deal in the world of database programming).
I suppose one could argue that as a paid part-time employee he wasn't technically retired, but he had obviously shed all the annoying tasks that professors are normally saddled with many decades earlier and was simply pursuing his dreams. It's not like anyone really had to demand anything of him, or that he really needed a small salary (a pittance compared to his pension) in order to keep working.
Happy Birthday! And may there be many more!
Happy birthday!
I feel like a big part of why you behave that way more than other people is just that you’re more energetic and curious.
It’s also interesting that your version of neotony doesn’t include a bunch of the irresponsible or immature aspects of youth. I suspect that even when you were young you seemed pretty crotchety in a bunch of ways.
Happy birthday! I feel the same. I wonder if it's a Gen X thing.
Happy birthday. Agreed. I never understood hwhy to so many people, "growing up" means you have to abandon childish pleasures. Sure, you can ADD ON more "adult" pleasures, like alcohol. But hwhy can't you drink and slide? lol!
On my 50th birthday, over two decades ago, an acquaintance told me, "It's OK, 50 is the new 30." A long time friend nearby responded, "In Rodger's case, 50 is the new 12."
If "to everything there is a season," the seasons of one's life may be called upon according to the occasion. Indulging in joy and wonder reminiscent of youth is more rewarding, and certainly more socially permissible, when one has actually achieved something as an adult. The famous picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out wouldn't register the same if he weren't already renowned as a genius. Never forsake the gift of playful genius, Bryan!
BTW & FYI, lift tickets at Mammoth Mountain are free for skiers 80 or older. (I'm getting a knee replaced now so I'm ready in a few years.)
"Dr. [William] Robertson used frequently to say, that in Mr. Hume’s gaiety
there was something which approached to infantine; and that he had found the same
thing so often exemplified in the circle of his other friends, that he was almost
disposed to consider it as characteristical of genius."
— Dugald Stewart, 1802
Happy birthday, Bryan!
It's different for people who have a real job.
Yeah I don’t find that compelling. I’m very similar to Bryan in how he describes himself in this post. However, a good majority of my peers don’t share my curiosity and glee for learning, playing, and living life and none of us have real jobs. There is one exception, though. One of my friends has a chess teaching business, and he’s even more neotonous than I am. I really don’t think it’s job dependent
I love this attitude, this approach to life. I'm 82 and retired from my econ-prof job, but definitely far from being retired. Most people don't believe me when I tell them my age. I love having fun, and much of it is what many people might describe as "juvenile or puerile".
hallelujah!!
Don't most people grow up because of the pressures of earning a livelihood? The number of happy childhood friends who now lament becoming a "corporate slave" are too many
So long as we have health and enough income, neoteny makes sense. Absent either, the reality of life can get in the way.
Being a tenured academic likely has something to do with why you can prioritize having fun and don't look forward to retirement.
Happy 55th! Your embrace of neoteny is inspiring—choosing fun, adventure, and curiosity over the conventional path of aging. Life is meant to be lived with enthusiasm, and your energy is contagious.
I'm 77 and I agree!
I would suggest at the margin you should be a bit more careful and will still be following a relative path of neoteny and not one of monotony ! And Happy B day...
"But the thought of retirement repulses me. I love dreaming up new projects, and I don’t like to sit still for more than two hours."
Actually, retirement gives you the opportunity to dream up and pursue as many new projects of your own as suits your fancy and your personal capacity without having the grind of being tied down by your employer's projects.
The notion that additional leisure time necessarily means additional idleness is nonsense. Indeed, the main challenge I've discovered with retirement is that you can add so many more personal projects to your "to do" list that you just don't have time for them all, so you have to learn to prioritize them and to pace yourself.
I suspect that people who do turn into slothful, bored couch potatoes in their retirement years do so because their *ability* to dream up engaging new projects is seriously impaired. If you've spent your entire life just being a passive spectator when you weren't doing your employer's bidding, taking away the employer isn't suddenly going to make you more curious about the world, passionate about nurturing your abilities, or more extroverted in your engagements with others.
On the other hand, if you've always been a self-starting dreamer and doer (which for many people is in spite of what their jobs have demand of them), you'll do just fine in retirement. If you have been fortunate enough to be in a job where you've had a lot of control over your work (which is typically the case for college professors), you might not notice much of a change at all. Indeed, many retired professors just keep working on their favorite research projects as emeriti professors.
I once had the responsibility for reporting faculty employment statistics for various national surveys on behalf of the University of California system, and I managed to break the automated data intake system of one of the surveys. The survey had only allocated two digits for its age field, but the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego had a professor emeritus who was still employed part time in a marine research project at the age of 100. Once I confirmed that UCSD really did have a working centenarian, the survey had to modify the specifications for its age field (which is kind of a big deal in the world of database programming).
I suppose one could argue that as a paid part-time employee he wasn't technically retired, but he had obviously shed all the annoying tasks that professors are normally saddled with many decades earlier and was simply pursuing his dreams. It's not like anyone really had to demand anything of him, or that he really needed a small salary (a pittance compared to his pension) in order to keep working.
Yeah but Bryan is a tenured professor. He basically already gets to do whatever he wants, and get paid for it too. https://www.betonit.ai/p/tenure-is-a-total-scam