What role does age have in intelligence?

Question

Or wisdom, for that matter. Can a year or two make all the difference?

Answer 1

Age has a definite role. When we are infants our intelligence is limited to a limited world that our parents provide. The world we live in is still mostly restricted or censored until we are in our twenties. Most people in their twenties either go to work, go to college or go to the army and their intelligence is again affected by the age gaining intelligence in any of the three paths. By the time full adulthood has exploded upon the group many have very pompous views about how much they know partly because they believe that nothing exists outside of their particular globe of life. The becomes ignorance which lasts until death because the older one gets after a certain point things become faded and not as real. A 70 year old man will not experience a moment the way a 20 year old will. I don't think you can gain more wisdom or intelligence by being older. My grandfather has been around for more than four of my life-spans but yet he can't figure out basic strategy, or processes for something new.
An example, my father asked both of us to rebuild a cruiser, a big boat. He asked us the best way to put a hole in the hull but it had to be very close to circular and a certain length. It was very important that this hole was perfect because the propellor would be on the other side of this hole. My grandfathers solution, one he used many time was to use a compass to trace the circle and drill a pilot hole before using a thin saw to cut around this line. I saw the errors of cuting through fiberglass under a boat in a cramped space and decided to consult a book instead. I found a book and found a section about the problem and bought a cheap drill bit that would make the same cut but uniform and without error.
My Grandfather may have two PhDs and I may be a kid out of high school struggling through college but I would have to say knowledge is not intelligence. The ability to recognize that you don't know and to learn and apply is intelligence. Getting older prevents you from learning and from applying correctly...
You got to wonder. Why are all our presidents old men?

Answer 2

Looking at my family history from Europe, I would most likely have been a serf, as would most people. However, I would like to think that I would have lived in one of the towns. Based on primogeniture, I would not likely have much of an inheritance. I am the 2nd son of a third son of a sixth son. Not exactly in line to inherit many possessions. My guess is that I would be an apprentice at this point. Hopefully I would be a cooper or a fletcher, since I like long forgotten occupations. I would probably be poor. Angry and the guild for setting such low wages. I'd be devout and illiterate, and tipsy quite a bit, since some of my wages would be paid in the form of a daily ale ration. I'd be impatient for the day that I would become a guild master. I'd be worried about finding a wife (not much different than now). I would not be allowed out often, but I would look forward to feast days when my master would have to leave me free to wander about. Due to the lack of other entertainment, I'd probably enjoy betting on cock fights or various forms of animal baiting when I had the chance.

Answer 3

I don't think that it plays as big of a role as most people tend to think. I've learned from meeting all different kinds of people that in many cases age does play a huge role, but there are still quite a few people who defy the stereotypes of age. I know a fifteen-year-old girl who has more drive and intelligence than I ever possessed at her age. I know a ten-year-old boy with more wisdom than his parents. Examples like these point out the few among the masses, but there are people out there who will amaze you :)

Answer 4

The age will keep wisdom in two main reasons

First reason: If somebody learn something about these mistakes

Second reason: It's important for a person to understand among
lots of answers which one will be better and
why.Just the time and the deep thinking can do
that.

Answer 5

I'd say for wisdom, one or two years could make a big difference. Wisdom tends to come with experience and people can experience a lot in a couple of years.

Karma.
x

Answer 6

Oh, yes, it has for me:
Life is a lot about trial-and-error, and learning from it and thus gaining insight, IF you're not stubborn to admit the rights and wrongs. Maturity softens stubbornness and realizing that you have a lot to learn and that you may have yet a lot to learn.
Some grow up fast, some don't, but age will win in the end.
I'm just wondering: I grew up fast, so how intelligent will I be in double my lifetime!

Now...unfortunately, this opens a debate: "what" is constituted as intelligence? Emotional quotient (EQ) or Intelligence quotient (IQ)...
Hey, I have both so I must top the game

Answer 7

The only thing age offers is time which then gives us the potential for growth. What we do with that time is what makes all the difference. Intelligence is our minds capablity of moving forward and learning. Wisdom is our capability of looking back and remembering what we learned and applying it.

Answer 8

It really depends on the person and what they do with their freetime, such as if you have a child that listens to classical music and enjoys it they'll have a higher intelligence level than that of a kid just sitting around plaing a video game. So really age doesn't mean a thing it's what they do in their free time.

Answer 9

A year or two maybe not.But 5-10 years yes....I have always thought that the older generation is very intelligent,with all they have been through.
Respect...

Answer 10

i cant help but look back on what i was years before and marvel at how dumb i was. and i guess i also realize how dumb i am today (at least in comparison to tomorrow). experience, a trait that can only be acquired with time, is essential to intelligence because it places it in context. oscar wilde once said, "im not young enough to know everything." i think this is what time teaches us, that we have so much to learn.