My ability to guess others age once I passed forty declined/s, of people forty+yo

I guess there’s more margin for error because the whatever examples have been around longer, and people age differently (in appearance etc).

I stopped counting after forty. I’ll be thirty-twenty this year, yeah I even devised a new number system.

I’ve been in a dead-zone of personal age-consciousness now for a while. I may have stalled awareness of the chronological thing so my intellectual age could catch up, or enthusiasm gave way to wisdom. They are attempting some reconciliation.

I suppose if I have grandchildren the birthdays thing will become important.

That the earth orbits the sun does impress me, not so much calendars.

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

And if so what are the causes.

transition said:

My ability to guess others age once I passed forty declined/s, of people forty+yo

I guess there’s more margin for error because the whatever examples have been around longer, and people age differently (in appearance etc).

I stopped counting after forty. I’ll be thirty-twenty this year, yeah I even devised a new number system.

I’ve been in a dead-zone of personal age-consciousness now for a while. I may have stalled awareness of the chronological thing so my intellectual age could catch up, or enthusiasm gave way to wisdom. They are attempting some reconciliation.

I suppose if I have grandchildren the birthdays thing will become important.

That the earth orbits the sun does impress me, not so much calendars.

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

And if so what are the causes.

You’ll either get over it or learn to deal with it somehow. My mother at 81 told me that she still tried to catch the eye of 19 year old males “but they don’t seem to notice”.

transition said:

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

And if so what are the causes.

One problem is that as you age, your internal impression of your own appearance tends to freeze at some point, often at around 40 or so. So that subsequently, when you look at yourself in the mirror you just don’t “see” all the signs of ageing (it takes a photo to reveal them; middle-aged and older people are often shocked at their appearance in photos, and will tend to blame the photographer :)).

This means that when seeing people your own age you may be inclined to think they’re actually older than you.

I have found that the ability to tell the age of peers diminishes as we get older.

At the age of 10, for example, it is easy to see that a person who is a year younger is so much younger and that a person a year older is so much older. Obviously, height is a factor when comparing the age of children, but facial features rapidly change over the course of a few short years. In our 20’s, our guess may be 1-2 years out. In our 30’s, perhaps 3 years.

I am in my early 40’s now and can usually tell if someone is still in their 30’s, however, it seems that this is this decade (40’s) where genetics and lifestyle choices really come into play. I have yet to meet someone older than me who looks <40, but some people in their late 30’s look to be in their 50’s. Those who look older are usually sun-loving women or early balding men.

Unless they are close in age to my children, the ability to tell the age of people 10 years either side of my age is not good. If however, there is a woman who looks the same age as my mother (who is 71) and she tells me she is 65, I will conclude that she is not aging so well.

It’s all relative to our own age and to those we know.

In this new age of social media, celebrity and the increasing acceptance of Mr and Mrs Average using anti-aging measures (such as injectables and surgery), my guess is that in future, our ability to tell a person’s age will become even further diminished.

Bubblecar said:

This means that when seeing people your own age you may be inclined to think they’re actually older than you.

Yes, a few times recently I have been shocked by the ageing of people I first met about 20 years ago, whereas I just grow older gracefully, with no visible sign of ageing at all.

Fortunately, so does my wife, although she does seem to get progressively younger in old photos.

To my recollection, I have never been good with “guessing” the age of people. I recall once having to give a witness statement to police and I was way off with the age…

I was very accurate guessing ages when I was child. Not so now. I’m glad it isn’t just me.

It’s very difficult to tell the ages of Asians.

Peak Warming Man said:

It’s very difficult to tell the ages of Asians.

Yes, indeed. I forgot about that and my previous post relates only Caucasians, as I am Caucasian.

A good question might be …

Can Asians tell the age of Asians?

Peak Warming Man said:

It’s very difficult to tell the ages of Asians.

I once referred to an Asian mum in my music class as grandma to her son. There’s no coming back from that. But they do seem to age well and, in my defence, grandma looked almost the same as mum.

Speedy said:

I have found that the ability to tell the age of peers diminishes as we get older.

At the age of 10, for example, it is easy to see that a person who is a year younger is so much younger and that a person a year older is so much older. Obviously, height is a factor when comparing the age of children, but facial features rapidly change over the course of a few short years. In our 20’s, our guess may be 1-2 years out. In our 30’s, perhaps 3 years.

I am in my early 40’s now and can usually tell if someone is still in their 30’s, however, it seems that this is this decade (40’s) where genetics and lifestyle choices really come into play. I have yet to meet someone older than me who looks <40, but some people in their late 30’s look to be in their 50’s. Those who look older are usually sun-loving women or early balding men.

Unless they are close in age to my children, the ability to tell the age of people 10 years either side of my age is not good. If however, there is a woman who looks the same age as my mother (who is 71) and she tells me she is 65, I will conclude that she is not aging so well.

It’s all relative to our own age and to those we know.

In this new age of social media, celebrity and the increasing acceptance of Mr and Mrs Average using anti-aging measures (such as injectables and surgery), my guess is that in future, our ability to tell a person’s age will become even further diminished.

To me plastic surgery celebrities for the most part actually look quite terrible in photos and that’s with them being airbrushed/photo-shopped/manipulated. I bet close up they actually look older than they are

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

mollwollfumble said:

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

I’m guessing that only an old person would say that.

The Rev Dodgson said:

mollwollfumble said:

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

I’m guessing that only an old person would say that.

Yes, it does sound like it comes from an old book of etiquette :)

transition said:

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

Basically I don’t care how old you are, just use your manners and behave yourself.

mollwollfumble said:

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

that instinctive, in the private of the mind then, the mentalese

mollwollfumble said:

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

Well, not out loud.

kii said:

transition said:

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

Basically I don’t care how old you are, just use your manners and behave yourself.

This

Arts said:

mollwollfumble said:

It’s not polite to guess the ages of other people.

Well, not out loud.

I was calling out numbers of people walking past and some old person told me it’s rude to yell out people ages and I said I’m guessing their IQ

kii said:

transition said:

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

Basically I don’t care how old you are, just use your manners and behave yourself.

When I studied a psychology subject, we were taught that when forming a first impression based on appearance, the first 2 factors were gender then age.

Personally, I find that if I cannot tell a person’s gender, I find it more difficult to move on to age and other factors.

This does not necessarily mean that these factors are the most important, just that they are used to form our impression of people. I guess that a person’s age often determines how we choose to interact with them.

My maternal grandmother always told people she was 10 years younger than she was. Which is fine, except she was 17 when she had my mother and her brother. Mum liked to say how Nana was 7 when she birthed twins :P

Speedy said:

kii said:

transition said:

So what’s with the guessing others ages as one gets older, does the accuracy decline with age – do others experience this?

Basically I don’t care how old you are, just use your manners and behave yourself.

When I studied a psychology subject, we were taught that when forming a first impression based on appearance, the first 2 factors were gender then age.

Personally, I find that if I cannot tell a person’s gender, I find it more difficult to move on to age and other factors.

This does not necessarily mean that these factors are the most important, just that they are used to form our impression of people. I guess that a person’s age often determines how we choose to interact with them.

In my office I am one of the younger people but the only male and I have absolutely nothing in common with anyone else, even the people closer to my age seem to like things much older people like.

strange how when young ya wanna be grown up, then get there and there seems like an exponential acceleration. Looking back at those long school days there’s now years that pass (quicker, sorta) in a flash and it’s like where did they go.

I suppose as one ages there’s more in memory, there has to be, more built and maintained structure there in the neurons, from experience.

transition said:

strange how when young ya wanna be grown up, then get there and there seems like an exponential acceleration. Looking back at those long school days there’s now years that pass (quicker, sorta) in a flash and it’s like where did they go.

I suppose as one ages there’s more in memory, there has to be, more built and maintained structure there in the neurons, from experience.

When you’re young, a lot of experiences are new to you so your memory works hard to build a store of essential knowledge and a social map of the world etc. In adulthood many people tend to settle into routines in which there’s relatively little in the way of new experiences.

Generally speaking, the more eventful your life, the more memories are stored and the more slowly time will seem to pass. If you’re not doing much from day to day there’s not much to remember, so in retrospect the time will seem to have dashed past.

Interesting theory on why a trip to and from a destination for the first time seems longer than subsequent trips to the same location.
On your first trip you are laying down memories, laying down a stack of information.
On your next trip your mind is much freer to wander, what to have for dinner etc etc.
Time goes fast when you are day dreaming.

Bubblecar said:

transition said:

strange how when young ya wanna be grown up, then get there and there seems like an exponential acceleration. Looking back at those long school days there’s now years that pass (quicker, sorta) in a flash and it’s like where did they go.

I suppose as one ages there’s more in memory, there has to be, more built and maintained structure there in the neurons, from experience.

When you’re young, a lot of experiences are new to you so your memory works hard to build a store of essential knowledge and a social map of the world etc. In adulthood many people tend to settle into routines in which there’s relatively little in the way of new experiences.

Generally speaking, the more eventful your life, the more memories are stored and the more slowly time will seem to pass. If you’re not doing much from day to day there’s not much to remember, so in retrospect the time will seem to have dashed past.

sorta agree with this ..“In adulthood many people tend to settle into routines in which there’s relatively little in the way of new experiences”, not sure about the other.

>Time goes fast when you are day dreaming.

find that when I drive at my comfortable speed which is 84-90km/h I relax and think about whatever, but if I travel at the speed limit requiring more concentration the trip seems longer (or more effort).

• Interesting theory on why a trip to and from a destination for the first time seems longer than subsequent trips to the same location.

I find that the more times I go somewhere, especially places far away, that it gets longer and longer each time…

furious said:

• Interesting theory on why a trip to and from a destination for the first time seems longer than subsequent trips to the same location.

I find that the more times I go somewhere, especially places far away, that it gets longer and longer each time…

I was talking about normal people.

I should also like to point out that, for all those that do, you really shouldn’t be driving if your mind is wandering…

Driving with the wandering mind: the effect that mind-wandering has on driving performance.

I reckon the days are longer when you are a child because you have fewer of the mundane things to do. Like the washing, the cleaning, the planning and executing of meals. When you are adult you have to fit a lot more into your day.

…and executing of meals.

i know you’re supposed to hang meat but you seem to take it to extreme Buffy.

buffy said:

I reckon the days are longer when you are a child because you have fewer of the mundane things to do. Like the washing, the cleaning, the planning and executing of meals. When you are adult you have to fit a lot more into your day.

But it’s stuff you’ve done many times before, so you rarely have to lay down much in the way of new memories.

It’s the density of novel events and associated memories in particular phases of life that make life seem to pass more slowly or rapidly.

Bubblecar said:

It’s the density of novel events and associated memories in particular phases of life that make life seem to pass more slowly or rapidly.

Yes.This, as well as the fact that as you get older, every year you have lived represents a smaller proportion of your life than previously.

When you are 5, the last year represents 20% of your life so far. When you are 80, the last year represents not much over 1%.

• When you are 5, the last year represents 20% of your life so far. When you are 80, the last year represents not much over 1%.

that is the way I have always thought of it…

Obvious example: the last time I moved house, the few days it took were packed with memories, whereas in the following nine years of living here, there are entire years where I’d be hard put to remember what happened (because nothing much happened :)). Those years just seemed to race by.