Well, the young people have often more spare time to dedicate to perl wizardry (no wife, no chidren, no lawn-mower, no holidays planned 6 months before, no lawyer, no company to run, and sometimes no need to put food on the table when living at dad and mom's). Maybe that's why most geniuses (in physics, maths, music, whatever) were more productive before their 40 than after. | [reply] |
Well, even at 43, I can say "yes" to just about the entire list there.
No wife, check. No children, check. No lawnmower, check. No holidays planned six months before, check. No lawyer, check (not today, anyway). No company to run, check (just an owner, not an operator {grin}). No need to put food on the table, check (I just go to a fast food drive-through down the street... so no table).
| [reply] |
| [reply] |
This is especially true in the disciplines where thinking is more important than knowing, like physics and mathematics. Einstein, remarkable though he was and productive his whole life (even if he got the "I before E except after C thing wrong all the time) was finished his significant contributions to physics before he was thirty.
| [reply] |