Do you feel less intelligent than you used to be?

[Negus]

Quoted from another forum

I can't shake the feeling that I used to be a lot more intelligent than I am now. When I was younger I used to debate everything, attempt to write papers whenever I had a creative thought, and I relished in besting everyone else, I had the ambition to be the top of the world some day.

Now, just a few short years later, I just feel satisfied living a normal life, with a normal job and a stable relationship. Attempting to prove my ability seems futile, there will always be better people, and if any of it gets anywhere it will be based more on luck and social connections than my ability, so why not just be happy?

But I hate feeling that my mind is not as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes I wish some crazy comic-book tragedy would happen to me, taking away everything I have, to transform me back into having my old tenacity, before I get too old to change.

-Nexialist

I feel like my intelligence is declining. I feel much less articulate than I used to, and I can't really be bothered following complex arguments or debating them anymore.

-Eddie Hitler

I too feel like I've hit a plateau and going nowhere. It feels like the spark has left my brain.



I'm in "Gray Japan" and I feel like the environment I'm in got something to do with it. Or is it change of priorities?

Anyway, how about you guys?

[_Cathy_]

I do! This started in my late 20s. I find it hard to remember things and it's hard for me to find the perfect adjectives unlike when I was younger. My ex says it's probably because I read less now than I used to but I think it's only because of age.

[uls]

reality tends to suck the life out of people

pag bata ka pa, you feel invincible

you think you can do anything

you think you can conquer the world

there's no limit to what you can do, what you can become

and you also think you know it all

you think you have the world all figured out

then reality bites

you gotta make a living

can't live off the parents forever

get a job

then you get someone pregnant

now you got a family, responsibilities

money

gotta make money

to survive... feed the family

what was that about conquering the world?

what was that about having no limits?

got the world all figured out huh?

HA!

REALITY BITES

sucked the life out of you huh?

reality pounds you into submission

reality dumbs you down

reality deactivates your neurons

you wanted to be an astronaut?

you wanted to be a rock star?

you wanted to be Einstein?

an F1 driver?

hey, the baby is out of milk!

stop dreaming

[Hanren]

Maybe it has something to do with MOTIVATION. We may feel slow, restless, unchallenged, listless, etc. It's because we lack the motivation to explore our creative (and intelligent) side because we already feel comfortable and contented with what we have. We are more open to the realities of life that's why we tend to take the road less traveled, and dare not to risk it anymore.

But regardless of what we do, there will always be people who would be smarter, more intelligent, more motivated, and more driven than us. The trouble is, some people around us pretend to be those mentioned.

[CVT]

In my case, I feel a lot sharper than when I was in college, and postgrad where I both performed excellently...

It's getting better all the time.... Must be the pressure in the work I am doing.... Although, in retrospect, I imagine that I could have achieved more....

Read a lot, bro. negus and instill a willing-and-able-learner attitude....

10.6K:horse:

[uls]

Fluid Intelligence

the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships." Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem-solving strategies.

Crystallized Intelligence

Crystallized intelligence is learning from past experiences and learning. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences. This type of intelligence becomes stronger as we age and accumulate new knowledge and understanding.

http://roa.sagepub.com/content/3/1/33.short

Apprehension, Memory, and Fluid Intelligence Decline in Adulthood

Abstract

The principal results of three separate studies are described within the context of a recent formulation of the theory of fluid (Gf) and crystalized (Gc) intelligence. The focus of the report is on the adulthood decline of Gf. This decline is found to be in the vicinity of between 3 and 7 IQ points per decade over a period between roughly 30 and 60 years of age. The studies were designed to indicate the extert to which this decline could be explained as due to aging defects in processes of sensory detection, immediate apprehension, short-term memory, en-coding organization, attentiveness, concentration, hypothesis generation, speediness, carefulness, and persistence. The results suggested that Gf decline is associated mainly with defects in processes of organizing information; becoming alert to new information; ignoring irrelevancies; concentrating, maintaining, and dividing attention; and holding information in working memory. It seems that Gf decline mainly reflects loss of capacity, but decrease in inclination to "get up" for difficult tasks may also be involved, and there are possibilities that the results reflect, in part, cohort differences.

[ghosthunter]

I do feel a bit "less" than when I was younger but I attribute it to less stimulus than aging.

Having too many "habits" doesn't help either.

[vito corleone]

we should be getting more intelligent as we age because of experience. . .however, uls is right, when we get married and have children, our concerns become limited to the immediate practical concerns

sharpness of the mind may still be there but surely not in the same level as when we were younger due to non-practice of mind-exercising activities and thinking too much about ***

[shadow]

nope! sharp as ever.

[Negus]

i don't want to dabble in the semantics of "Sharp" vs "Intelligent", baka ma-OT.

Keep the comments coming guys.