Sometimes, sure. not always. If you happen to have spent the past few decades doing something with relevance to the new skill you’re planning to work on, of course that’s going to contribute to your ability to learn that thing now. But that’s a nice coincidence, not a general improvement in ability to obtain new skills with age.
In the case of learning guitar, if I spent the past 25 years working in real-estate, for example, unless I coincidentally spent a lot of free time doing things that increased my hand dexterity, coordination, built up callouses, etc, I haven’t really made any more progress towards that goal than I would’ve had at 9 years old, and furthermore in a very real sense 25 years of life plus my age have contributed just as much in ingraining irrelevant and sometimes contradictory knowledge and skills into an increasingly inelastic mind in such a way that if my life experiences contribute more than hinder my learning at that age, I’d consider it a happy accident more than a natural benefit.
Sure it depends on how you spend your life and what you want to learn. I can speak from my experience as someone who likes to learn and try out new things and I just become more efficient at learning, knowing better what ways of learning suits me better how to get knowledge, not get frustrated, how to stay motivated etc. . When I was younger I would be much easier demotivated by slow progress or feeling of not having a talent, now I just care much less.
Sure. Lifetime learning is extremely valuable and a great way to spend time. But there’s a huge difference between building out new skills in areas you already have expertise and ability or loosely connected areas, and starting something completely new where you have very little training or knowledge. I can sit and learn new programming languages all day, and that is learning, and my prior experience is incredibly useful in doing that. But if I were to pick up a guitar, or a paintbrush, or start a gymnastics class? The idea that I can learn these things from essentially zero with even CLOSE to the proficiency of a young person is extremely wishful thinking, and it isn’t unreasonable that at an advanced age, the amount of time and energy I can put into it will never yield results I’d consider satisfactory. My point is, there’s nothing wrong or defeatist about saying “This is no longer a reasonable goal for me”, and the comic’s implication that it’s a mental weakness is condescending and simplistic.
When I was younger I didn’t pick up any music instrument since I thought I had no music talent. Later in life I stop caring and picked up percussion and some overtone flute, just for my self and I have real fun with it and don’t care that I have no talent and won’t be a great musician. That was possible because I learned to manage my expectation and not get frustrated if I’m not really good at something - a skill that I did not have when I was younger.
Nothing wrong with not wanting to learn new things, but no need to hide behind no being able to - just own it.
At that point it does depend on your goals. I have always wanted to play jazz piano, but it is absolutely impossible at my age to reach a level of proficiency that would satisfy me. Taking on the learning would be pouring a woefully insufficient amount of free time into an effort that at my advanced age would yield INCREDIBLY slow process only to be continually frustrated for the effort.
If my goal were to just play around with it and have fun? Sure. But this comic’s protagonist is lamenting the loss of DECADES of experience. He’s not looking to strum a guitar in his free time. He’s looking for real proficiency. And there is no shame in his acknowledging that at some point, you are old enough where it is no longer realistically achievable.
Assumedly the character in the comic is not on death’s doorstep, and they’re also not drawn as being particularly old. The character theoretically has decades ahead of them. If they’re lamenting the lack of decades of experience, they still have decades in which to gather said experience.
A lot has been said about the lack of free time that comes with age, but that only exists to a point. Additional responsibilities created by having children fade as they age and eventually move out of home. After middle age people often move into the twilight of their careers where they’re less focussed on work progression and are able to use their free time better as opposed to working towards the next promotion. Eventually, we usually retire and have almost as much free time as when we were children.
I get that taking on a brand new hobby in your 40s seems daunting, but it’ll only get easier and easier from that age onwards.
I’m not saying that it’s impossible or even a bad idea for someone to take on a new hobby late in life. I absolutely applaud anybody who does so. What I’m objecting to is the implication that there’s something inconsistent or shameful about this guy’s claim that he’s too old. There isn’t. There’s a world of difference between starting young and starting older, and there’s no shame or failing in his view - certainly not enough to be the punchline of a comic.
Is it brave and empowering to start a new hobby in advanced age? Absolutely. Is it also brave to acknowledge the limitations of one’s advanced age and accept the time for some things have passed? Yes.
have always wanted to play jazz piano, but it is absolutely impossible at my age to reach a level of proficiency that would satisfy me
Again if you don’t want to learn jazz piano, absolutely fine - I just honestly don’t get why not even try. But maybe you just need a couple more years to let go of to hard expectation for your self and just try it out. Worst case you learned to play piano worse than you would like to.
See, that’s the thing though. That’s not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is while I’m doing that I’m forgoing time and energy that is so limited now and could be better spent spending time with my family, or keeping up with housework, or even just resting to prepare for the job that makes everything else possible. For many people, especially as their energy reduces over time, the sheer number of demands that come with age do not provide for “what the heck, let’s try it” with any regularity. I appreciate the thought, but when capacity is limited everything comes with an opportunity cost.
There are always reasons not to do things. Which is what the comic is ultimately about for me. But than again - you have your life and I don’t know what is going on there - so no judgment. I just always thing we all need some creative outlet and I love getting people who don’t do creative stuff into doing it, be it just for one time (since I’m not a musician I like to draw with folks). And I’m not the youngest myself - so it’s not like I’m talking completely out of my ass.
Sometimes, sure. not always. If you happen to have spent the past few decades doing something with relevance to the new skill you’re planning to work on, of course that’s going to contribute to your ability to learn that thing now. But that’s a nice coincidence, not a general improvement in ability to obtain new skills with age.
In the case of learning guitar, if I spent the past 25 years working in real-estate, for example, unless I coincidentally spent a lot of free time doing things that increased my hand dexterity, coordination, built up callouses, etc, I haven’t really made any more progress towards that goal than I would’ve had at 9 years old, and furthermore in a very real sense 25 years of life plus my age have contributed just as much in ingraining irrelevant and sometimes contradictory knowledge and skills into an increasingly inelastic mind in such a way that if my life experiences contribute more than hinder my learning at that age, I’d consider it a happy accident more than a natural benefit.
Sure it depends on how you spend your life and what you want to learn. I can speak from my experience as someone who likes to learn and try out new things and I just become more efficient at learning, knowing better what ways of learning suits me better how to get knowledge, not get frustrated, how to stay motivated etc. . When I was younger I would be much easier demotivated by slow progress or feeling of not having a talent, now I just care much less.
Sure. Lifetime learning is extremely valuable and a great way to spend time. But there’s a huge difference between building out new skills in areas you already have expertise and ability or loosely connected areas, and starting something completely new where you have very little training or knowledge. I can sit and learn new programming languages all day, and that is learning, and my prior experience is incredibly useful in doing that. But if I were to pick up a guitar, or a paintbrush, or start a gymnastics class? The idea that I can learn these things from essentially zero with even CLOSE to the proficiency of a young person is extremely wishful thinking, and it isn’t unreasonable that at an advanced age, the amount of time and energy I can put into it will never yield results I’d consider satisfactory. My point is, there’s nothing wrong or defeatist about saying “This is no longer a reasonable goal for me”, and the comic’s implication that it’s a mental weakness is condescending and simplistic.
When I was younger I didn’t pick up any music instrument since I thought I had no music talent. Later in life I stop caring and picked up percussion and some overtone flute, just for my self and I have real fun with it and don’t care that I have no talent and won’t be a great musician. That was possible because I learned to manage my expectation and not get frustrated if I’m not really good at something - a skill that I did not have when I was younger.
Nothing wrong with not wanting to learn new things, but no need to hide behind no being able to - just own it.
At that point it does depend on your goals. I have always wanted to play jazz piano, but it is absolutely impossible at my age to reach a level of proficiency that would satisfy me. Taking on the learning would be pouring a woefully insufficient amount of free time into an effort that at my advanced age would yield INCREDIBLY slow process only to be continually frustrated for the effort.
If my goal were to just play around with it and have fun? Sure. But this comic’s protagonist is lamenting the loss of DECADES of experience. He’s not looking to strum a guitar in his free time. He’s looking for real proficiency. And there is no shame in his acknowledging that at some point, you are old enough where it is no longer realistically achievable.
Assumedly the character in the comic is not on death’s doorstep, and they’re also not drawn as being particularly old. The character theoretically has decades ahead of them. If they’re lamenting the lack of decades of experience, they still have decades in which to gather said experience.
A lot has been said about the lack of free time that comes with age, but that only exists to a point. Additional responsibilities created by having children fade as they age and eventually move out of home. After middle age people often move into the twilight of their careers where they’re less focussed on work progression and are able to use their free time better as opposed to working towards the next promotion. Eventually, we usually retire and have almost as much free time as when we were children.
I get that taking on a brand new hobby in your 40s seems daunting, but it’ll only get easier and easier from that age onwards.
I’m not saying that it’s impossible or even a bad idea for someone to take on a new hobby late in life. I absolutely applaud anybody who does so. What I’m objecting to is the implication that there’s something inconsistent or shameful about this guy’s claim that he’s too old. There isn’t. There’s a world of difference between starting young and starting older, and there’s no shame or failing in his view - certainly not enough to be the punchline of a comic.
Is it brave and empowering to start a new hobby in advanced age? Absolutely. Is it also brave to acknowledge the limitations of one’s advanced age and accept the time for some things have passed? Yes.
Again if you don’t want to learn jazz piano, absolutely fine - I just honestly don’t get why not even try. But maybe you just need a couple more years to let go of to hard expectation for your self and just try it out. Worst case you learned to play piano worse than you would like to.
See, that’s the thing though. That’s not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is while I’m doing that I’m forgoing time and energy that is so limited now and could be better spent spending time with my family, or keeping up with housework, or even just resting to prepare for the job that makes everything else possible. For many people, especially as their energy reduces over time, the sheer number of demands that come with age do not provide for “what the heck, let’s try it” with any regularity. I appreciate the thought, but when capacity is limited everything comes with an opportunity cost.
There are always reasons not to do things. Which is what the comic is ultimately about for me. But than again - you have your life and I don’t know what is going on there - so no judgment. I just always thing we all need some creative outlet and I love getting people who don’t do creative stuff into doing it, be it just for one time (since I’m not a musician I like to draw with folks). And I’m not the youngest myself - so it’s not like I’m talking completely out of my ass.