Turning stupid!

[Headless Rat]

Does anyone else feel like the older they get, the less quick witted they become?I do! Don't want to sound up myself (becasue I'm not) but when I was younger I was a LOT smarter than I am now; in that, I used to learn things and notice things a lot quicker than I do now. Is this normal enough? Do others feel this way?Is there anything one can do to rectify this...like puzzles or things like that?

[dot.hawkes]

Sorry i feel just the opposite, i have a far more demanding job than I have ever had and I achieve alot more these days than i could have ever imagined, I feel my brain is working fine and I feel quite smart.

[PinkFizz]

Have you got a copycat Dot?? on the tatoo thread by rubyrose.

[China Doll]

She certainly has Pinky. Want it reported Dot?

Headless Rat - I have to say that I haven't noticed any drastic changes in the brain as I've got that older... but I might not have been as bright as I thought to start with!

[fee-is-me]

I'm the opposite, too, i'm afraid!

I have a very stressful career (which i love) and a very complicated home life (which i love even more) but i think me little Essex brain is thriving on it.

I find me funny and smart... er... even if others don't!!

And do i care...? Nah! :-o

[Siamsal]

I agree with you Headless. I'm sure it is a lot harder to learn things now. Mind, I have to say I haven't had a very mentally demanding job for the last few years, so maybe it's as dot says: 'use it or lose it'!

[cascarelli]

I hope the other one isnt really Dot..........shocked!

I think my brain's slightly better as I'm older, I make more rational decisions (or at least I think I do, hmm).

Of course, people who know me would probably disagree

[dot.hawkes]

No it's not, i have emailed the ed yet again about this person, they must know i know who they are. Cheers for pointing it out ,

[noxlumos]

sometimes just extra stress or tension can cause a bit of isolation and depression and make you feel that way Headless, well with me anyway, because I notice that most of the time I feel sharper and more confident and on the ball, then suddenly a big crisis crops up and I feel older and a bit less decisive than I once was, then crisis over and I'm fine again.

[joannie10]

I have to agree with you Headless. I have a pretty full and active life and can chat heaps about meaningless stuff but dont ever feel I have anything really interesting to say as feel my brain no longer retains information very well. I try to read more now - books, newspapers, but dont retain the info and wish i could talk more about the places I have visited as holidays etc are getting more and more exciting but dont feel I learn enough about the places I visit no matter how hard i try!! I am not even 40.

[Headless Rat]

Yea Noxlumos, I tend to agree about the confidence thing being an important aspect of how you perform. I'm definitely NOT confident about how smart I am. Others intimidate me easily and I always find myself copying what others do, and therefore not using my own sense, when, in reality, if I'm forced to do something on my own and without others to look at, 99% of the time I do a a much better job than the others. What annoys me is that I listen WAY too much to what other people think. Others tend to blow things way out of proportion and make things sound much more difficult than they actually are. DOWN with other people's views and UP with self-belief!!

[raysparx1]

Hi Headless,

I think that as we get older we become more confidant in a lot of ways but in some things we back off a bit, last year I had to go back to college because of legislation in the electrical trade, I hadn't been to college for nearly 40 years, I was dreading it,I was trying everything I could think of to put it off,but I went, same with computers I had not been on a computer before a couple of years ago, wasn't interested (truth is I was scared of it) but if we keep an open mind, accept change and go with it, we won't get left behind, stick with it mate, we got a lot of knowledge us old cruds, Ray

[Headless Rat]

Yea Joannie! I feel exactly like that! too much meaningless waffle abuot celebrities and rubbish like that. When it comes to important stuff, you like to be able to have an educated opinion to put forward...or at least an intelligent enough reason for believing what you believe. Also, do people find that there's so much to know and so little time to learn an amount even akin to the size of a drop in the ocean, that the quest for knowledge all becomes overwhelming? ?

[4getmenot]

I'm quite intelligent its just I can do the most stupidest things at times which I do think had got worse as I've got older.

[Headless Rat]

Hey Ray!
im only a yung'un!!I ain't no old fogey i tell ye!!!Still in me prime ;)

[raysparx1]

wish I was, you got no problems then, you come across good on here, so keep it going, forgot I was one of the oldest old gits on here, sorry for ageing you a bit !!!!

[Headless Rat]

you can't be a git, Ray, if you're an electrician! Always found them to be the soundest fellas ever....although there are exceptions to every rule I guess ;) Kidding!

[raysparx1]

WE exist to LIVEN up peoples lives, we are a lazy lot as well,don't get many hard working ones, I do find though that the paparwork now does my crust in,never was any good at paperwork, doing the job is easy, but spending hours form filling god, glad I only do part time now. be good Headless Rat.

[bluevern]

what???????...what was the question,,,where am i

[studentking]

if i repeat what anyone else has already said, i apologise however contrary to common belief if you test and stimulate your brain(provided it's healthy (i.e no disease etc.) you can sustain and even improve your mental capacity up until you die!
read the Tony Buzan books on use your memory and mind mapping i found them very informative and useful.