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.
"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.
I'm (sorta) young, and I like to break into dance and weird postures and make silly faces and do juvenile stuff (run, laugh as often and wildly, get into character...) because my body sometimes just wants to do something, and even when it's not interfering with others in anyway, I'm told my intrusive thoughts are getting in the way. Lmao.
Also people still write playable stories? I've been worried they've been fading out with the last century.. I'd love to see any good ones.
Happy Birthday, Bryan! You are inspiring in so many ways, but your love for kids, childhood and adolescence is truly your best trait! And your actions definitely speak way louder than any words ever could!
I'm glad you are as nerdy as you are, its an inspiration for the rest of us, it helps me feel more normal. I often find myself world building in what-if alternate historical scenarios, and or sci-fi scenarios (often adjacent to my interest in economics). I used to think there was no one like me, and that I was a little crazy for carrying this fanciful daydreaming on into adulthood. You have been a major inspiration for me breaking my shell and feeling normal! I do have to break with you along fantasy/sci fi lines though. Stargate SG1 is peak entertainment, even if the Lord of the Rings films are objectively the greatest films of all time. We also share a birthday so an extra Happy Birthday to you sir!
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".
Happy Birthday! And may there be many more!
Happy birthday! I feel the same. I wonder if it's a Gen X thing.
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.
"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.
I'm (sorta) young, and I like to break into dance and weird postures and make silly faces and do juvenile stuff (run, laugh as often and wildly, get into character...) because my body sometimes just wants to do something, and even when it's not interfering with others in anyway, I'm told my intrusive thoughts are getting in the way. Lmao.
Also people still write playable stories? I've been worried they've been fading out with the last century.. I'd love to see any good ones.
Happy birthday, Sir. Many happy returns.
Happy birthday, Bryan!
Happy Birthday, Bryan! You are inspiring in so many ways, but your love for kids, childhood and adolescence is truly your best trait! And your actions definitely speak way louder than any words ever could!
It's different for people who have a real job.
I'm glad you are as nerdy as you are, its an inspiration for the rest of us, it helps me feel more normal. I often find myself world building in what-if alternate historical scenarios, and or sci-fi scenarios (often adjacent to my interest in economics). I used to think there was no one like me, and that I was a little crazy for carrying this fanciful daydreaming on into adulthood. You have been a major inspiration for me breaking my shell and feeling normal! I do have to break with you along fantasy/sci fi lines though. Stargate SG1 is peak entertainment, even if the Lord of the Rings films are objectively the greatest films of all time. We also share a birthday so an extra Happy Birthday to you sir!
Happy birthday!
Hi Bryan,
Happy birthday to (arguably) today's Milton Friedman!
I really enjoyed this essay. (Although, if you want to exceed Dr. Williams by a lot, you should probably cut back on the sugary desserts.)
As a long, long time fan (from the mid 2000s!) would you mind linking to your analogous essays from your 40th and 50th birthdays?
Best wishes on this milestone...may you be <50% through the journey of life...
Another year older, and what do you have to show for it? Character, charm, and a battle-scarred ear. Happy Birthday!
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".