Hi there,
So yes, it is a scientifically established fact that older people (I think past the age of forty) have something called "fluid intelligence" which is where they are able to think about problems as if the box they are in is irrelevant. What is really impressive about this is that sometimes there are solutions to problems that you just can't think of until you step outside the box. For example, if you can switch on three lights and you need to know which is which, but you can't see the connections between the switches and the lights, how do you tell? Well, an older person will tell you that if you switch one light on for a little while, it will get warm - but people who only think of seeing the light don't think of this!
Well, I finally started getting my fluid intelligence! It is only small, I can't very far away from the box, so to speak, but I can definitely see things from other perspectives now. I am 35 and I guess it just takes experience. Kind of makes me wonder what the point of talking to people who can't do this is, but I guess that's what older people laugh about, when they smile at you the way they do. I'm so pleased.
I remember telling my mother that I was ready to retire when I was about fifteen and its taken twenty years to even get an inkling of an idea of what that meant and means. I know I haven't "arrived" and indeed may never, but I am definitely on my way and beyond at least some of the shame of my youth, the limiting stuff anyway. What the point of seeing things so rigidly was is still beyond me, but I suppose God will tell me in time. I am looking forward to that too!
Hands up if you know what I'm talking about.
So yes, it is a scientifically established fact that older people (I think past the age of forty) have something called "fluid intelligence" which is where they are able to think about problems as if the box they are in is irrelevant. What is really impressive about this is that sometimes there are solutions to problems that you just can't think of until you step outside the box. For example, if you can switch on three lights and you need to know which is which, but you can't see the connections between the switches and the lights, how do you tell? Well, an older person will tell you that if you switch one light on for a little while, it will get warm - but people who only think of seeing the light don't think of this!
Well, I finally started getting my fluid intelligence! It is only small, I can't very far away from the box, so to speak, but I can definitely see things from other perspectives now. I am 35 and I guess it just takes experience. Kind of makes me wonder what the point of talking to people who can't do this is, but I guess that's what older people laugh about, when they smile at you the way they do. I'm so pleased.
I remember telling my mother that I was ready to retire when I was about fifteen and its taken twenty years to even get an inkling of an idea of what that meant and means. I know I haven't "arrived" and indeed may never, but I am definitely on my way and beyond at least some of the shame of my youth, the limiting stuff anyway. What the point of seeing things so rigidly was is still beyond me, but I suppose God will tell me in time. I am looking forward to that too!
Hands up if you know what I'm talking about.
