So does this mean I’m getting smarter or dumber?
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Neither smarter nor dumber but wiser and humbler.
There is nothing worse than to have to ask what something is at the age of >25 and have people act like you're crazy for not knowing.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. -Socrates
I'll piggyback on Phil. You are wiser. Just think about teenagers who think they know everything. We laugh at their naiveté. Learning is through experience and objective understanding. The best part for me is knowing there is always something new my brain can feast on.
Just older.
As my grandpa always said, getting older is better than the alternative….
Wiser… definitely wiser.
🙂
Basically you're getting smarter but realizing you're actually dumb. That's sort of how I feel every day. The more I learn about the subject of my research the more I realize I know absolutely nothing about the subject of my research. But I do know more than I did yesterday, so I figure that counts for something.
You have more appetite for knowledge and realize the limits of time…
C G
Munk has it right. Perspective is something that shifts with age.
Truth: As long as you're learning, you'll never stop growing.
More truth: there's a limit to knowledge, but no limit to ignorance.
What Phil said.
“Ray, pretend for a moment that I don’t understand anything about metallurgy, engineering or physics, and just tell me what the hell is going on.”
Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters
This pretty much sums it up.
Young people are so cocky.
I go through this all the time. I like when you can look back at your younger self and laugh at your own naivety.
Well, I don't know about wiser or smarter, older or dumber…but your posts are certainly getting shorter
Both equally!
Funny Stuff I Write
Wiser.
Just wiser.
Yep. That's called wisdom. It would be far worse if you grew older and became more convinced that you knew everything. Young fools are sad, but old fools are even sadder.
I'm just laughing at what Hillsy said!
There was a great Calvin and Hobbes strip to this effect. The family's house was robbed, and Calvin's dad, not able to make sense of it, says something like: "I always just assumed when you got older, you knew all the answers."
Neither. It means you're spending too much time on the Internet with its endless "facts".
Sounds like you're breaking even.
The sum of all knowledge doesn't know all knowable knowledge. When knowable all is known, it'll all be over. And not until then.
An individual's knowledge fulfillment comes from contributing a noteworthy new iota to the sum.
What will or does Nathan Bransford contribute to knowledge?
The older I get and the more I learn, the less I remember whatever is was that I forgot.
The I.R.S. finds that unacceptable.
The more I realize about the things I've learned are the things I should've already knew unless they are new. Except for things I never knew; them I don't remember.
Yes, I've chosen wine as my writing drink today.
A few of my grandmother's sayings come to mind:
"There's no fool like an old fool," and
"Be thankful for growing old, many are denied the privilege."
So wiser or dumber, who cares? I am just happy to be granted the blessing of growing older.
It means your reality is getting closer to the truth.
Wisdom is something we acquire through experience, and recognizing that you 'don't know everything' is just the first step.
Learning is something that should be a lifelong path.
Does this mean you don't believe in Peter Pan anymore?
"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing and that is that I know nothing." ~Socrates
I'm with Mark Twain on this issue. I think you get smarter "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. " – Mark Twain "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ~Mark Twain
Knowledge is expanding faster than we can learn it. When I was young, all I needed to know was "fire hot", "no pooping in cave", and "watch out for sabretooth tiger". That's not enough any more, although fire is still hot.
Talk about coincidence I blogged about this a few days ago: https://sfwritersworkshop.org/DaveK_blog
Go with it.
Oh my goodness, all of that extra time you gave yourself when you switched to basic cable is paying off!
Wiser. I think wiser. I hope wiser because I love to learn and I'm getting older too.
Don't know for sure but, since I am much, much, much older than you are, I'm definitely getting it more. Of course, I'm voting for smarter.
Hire a teenager while they still know everything.
Hmm, maybe it means you're getting wiser…wiser, but not necessarily smarter. 😀
~TRA
https://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
Sounds a bit like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
😀
Funnier.
Wise and dumb are the same coin, me thinks?
you're getting wiser, nathan.
I'm not sure. Could you give us some examples so we can make a better decision?
"Truly wise men know that they are not truly wise."
It's a frustrating thing, getting older. I find myself questioning if I even know grammar at all.
But I do appreciate Prince and Stevie Wonder more.
From very early on, my Grandfather informed me that he ages backwards, like Merlin. He just looks older. I usually greet him by asking, "so where are we now, 28, 29?" Then he gives me a quarter.
You're only as young as you feel 🙂
I have been thinking this so much lately! Every time my little Judge inside starts to judging, I must remind myself how often in the past I have been wrong.
I think this is the way life is supposed to go. We need to develop generalizations and compartments for what we see around us in the world to somehow understand. Then as we age it is a process of letting go previous assumptions, while gaining fresher perspectives. (Later to be defunct)
This is what comes of sitting around all day debating philosophy with those CNET people. What next? Martial arts?
To partially answer John Jack's question, Nathan has already contributed a vast amount to my knowledge.
Charlie, better not try to deduct the cost of the wine…
Like Munk said – just older. By the time your my age, you'll be a complete moron. At least that's what my kids tell me. 😉
Exponential.
With greater awareness comes the appreciation that the knowledge you possess is but a fraction of all that could be known.
Knowledge is the weaker tool: knowledge of the world as it is understood now.
Imagination is the greater tool: the wherewithal to question, and to imagine what lies beyond our current understanding.
Zen Smith
As others have said, it doesn't mean you're getting smarter or dumber. It means you're getting older and experiencing two benefits of aging: wisdom (not the same as being smart) and humility. It's all good.
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." – Confucius
Wiser, definitely.
However, I regret to inform you, Nathan, as someone older than you, that it gets worse.
Around 40, I suddenly realized that although I knew little, at least half of what I DID know was wrong.
Now that I'm approaching 50, I'm starting to suspect the other half is even wronger.
See what you have to look forward to? 🙂