my theory is if you’re here and younger than 25 there’s hope. If you’re past 25 then you’re probably fucked.
the science behind my theory: studies show that the human brain keeps growing until around age 25. New synapses are being made, new pathways and thought patterns. I think this means it can learn to adapt, repair damage and essentially reprogram itself.
after 25 it’s like that’s all you get. no more upgrades. no new ram or hard drive space. your cpu is maxed out, and the program is set. so if it’s not working right by then, if your brain is set to self destruct, then it probably aint gonna change.
what do you guys think
7 comments
I had that same thought: 25, 30, 35… Lots of things changed but depression still there.
If it’s any help it is not as monotonous as you think after 25.
Well since I’m 33 I’m f’ed and it does make sense
eh idk I’d rather not believe that, because that means once I’m 25 if I’m not fixed there’s no hope for me and then I have 0 reasons to keep living. feels like giving up y’know. also, maybe I’m wrong but you can get ptsd even if you’re 60 so maybe the opposite is also true?
(I did research there’s a lot of articles about depression in the elderly, ex. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/depression-and-older-adults, but they mostly talk about how to recognize the signs and how to get help. there’s one on bpd https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-bpd-symptoms-decline-with-age-425211 that talks about how symptoms decline with age. however this article https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/does-mental-illness-get-worse-with-age/ says personality disorders worsen with age (without treatment) as well as touching on other mental illnesses. this article https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/science/youre-an-adult-your-brain-not-so-much.html basically just says that it’s possible that the brain keeps growing at around 30 years but they’re not sure. basically, I have no idea. there’s no research on this. I guess it depends on what symptoms you have/how bad it is already.)
That is only part of the case, this is my field so it is something I think about quite a bit. From 18-25 your brain expands faster than at any other point outside of pregnancy. Your memories of this time period will be vivid, especially compared with later in life.
My major was psychology, and my minor computer science. CPU is a measure of throughput, the choke point of most systems. What we don’t talk about as often as we should is that when a new CPU comes out, it is universally underutilized. Which means you may have the throughput to solve complex problems, but you need the cache space to process them. Most people in their early 20s are low on cache, which is why it is hard to utilize all that power.
Memory though, that’s another matter entirely. While 18-25 is more accurate, it won’t be even close to your best retention. The problem is knowing which files to delete, something humans tend to figure out in their 30s. What’s more, your utilization of memory gets better with practice.
So does your coding, which is the real powerhouse behind computing. Oh yes, we all would love better hardware, but if you can code that won’t matter nearly as much as you think. I have a favorite problem, solved with very low hardware capacity; the moonshot.
With computers that filled whole rooms, and thousands of bright minds we accomplished our greatest scientific achievement, landing a human on the moon. We did it before we were even that good at space suits, and though the specs are humble, look what they achieved. It’s something that still baffles the mind.
Something I always thought was cool about those computers, those Athena mainframes; they were hard wired, essentially tougher than most computers any of us has worked with. They were melt before fail, meaning that if things went wrong, the computer would destroy itself rather than stop.
Now that’s a trick that takes some willpower, and bold coding.
I’m 33 right now, and nowhere near finding my limits cognitively. Emotionally, that’s passed and the same goes for stress. I’m not worried about my cognition failing, rather that I’ll struggle to get interesting problems to work on in my golden years.
Very cool that you ran with the computer analogy mainly because I’m a computer science major (and i dont know squat about actual psychology). I emphatically agree with these statements:
“With computers that filled whole rooms, and thousands of bright minds we accomplished our greatest scientific achievement … the specs are humble, look what they achieved… those Athena mainframes; they were hard wired, essentially tougher than most computers any of us has worked with. They were melt before fail, meaning that if things went wrong, the computer would destroy itself rather than stop.
Now that’s a trick that takes some willpower, and bold coding.”
Yes in my theory I blamed the hardware but the truth is that our software is messed up. All the cpu power in the world will still lock up if we’re running a crappy OS. For example, our smartphones can probably calculate the moon landings but if something goes squirly it’ll lock up and you won’t be able to answer a phone call. I think this is what’s wrong with the depressed brain. Poor coding. Much like the latest OS which is constantly being cobbled together by a bunch of panicked software engineers reacting to viruses, bugs, and the sloppy work of the last programmer who got fired, our human brains are desperately trying to piece together an OS that works with all the emerging threats of life.
The oldschool “Athena mainframe” brain had a very focused task. Fight off predators, find food & shelter. and occasionally screw. So the caveman brain was rock solid at survival, it could probably find a trickle of water in a 1000 acre desert. Like the Athena mainframe it had an incredibly difficult task, but just that 1 task.
The modern brain is more like the latest abomination for your iphone. An OS that tries to be a camera, a videogame, a stock analyst, a super secure financial advisor, and heck theres probably an app that recreates the moon landing. What I’m saying is that the modern brain isn’t specialized like those solid old mainframes. The modern brain is a half-assed attempt to be EVERYTHING. And even worse, though nobody will admit it, I think the modern brain is expected to fail.
That’s why there are pharmaceuticals and shrinks and bartenders and online suicide forums. While the caveman brain was designed to “melt before fail”, the modern brain seems to have a constant level of failure built in.
sorry I got way off topic, I think I had a thought about tying this into the 25 year upgrade cutoff but I forgot. Oh wait, no that’s it… Here’s the analogy: The Athena was built with one “OS” and no upgrades (aside from hardware maintenance). That’s why it was rock solid. But the human brain stops growing at 25 so that’s essentially like Apple saying all iphones older than x years cannot be upgraded (which they actually do say), and it becomes worthless. So what I’m saying is that the world is bombarding us with new tasks and expectations and obligations, but if we’re older than 25 then we don’t have the benefit of upgrading our OS as easily as the younger kids who can adapt.
The world is terrifying as hell. every day I learn some new horror. Things that have been happening all along but the information is only now reaching us. Ithink the younger generation might be able to adapt, just like the postwar generations learn how to survive the devastation. But I feel like my mind is maxed out. i can’t keep up. And it’s not because I’m stupid, it’s because I’m an obsolete model that’s not getting any more upgrades
Interesting theory. But I doubt it’s true. People make changes throughout their lives. I believe anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
But anyway, hope is a human fallacy. We like to believe every problem can be solved. And some problems can’t. So it could have some truth to it, but I’ll never be able to believe that. Let’s see when I’m 25.
I would disagree with this for myself and that is just my experience along with thought. Everyones situation could be completely though as well. We are not all born the same, we do not develop in the womb the same nor out of the womb the same. Even identical twins are not truly identical when you start looking at them this deep and close. I am soon to turn 34. It is believed I was born with a brain malformation. It could certainly have formed after birth. Simply there is no way to know for sure. It’s an AVM in my left temporal area. It was accidentally found as a child through a cat scan to make sure I hadn’t cracked my skull after splitting the back of my head open on tile. Procedures for dealing with this and following up what they did for this went on for over 8 years after that. The malformation and the treatments for it I would certainly say caused many problems with what your referring to as a brain growing and repairing and upgrading. This being said, it did not interfere with my ability to retain things, how I remembered things, how I grew and adapted with new ideas and such. I was often top of the class or at least right behind top of the class. Last schooling program I went through was last several months of 2019. I’m not just talking high school days. I’m no genius or anything. I simply work hard for what I do and put in the effort for it with what I can control. Past 2 years, seizures have started. Small ones and big ones. 3 tumors have been located, and almost have of the left side of my brain is calcified or “dead” tissue now apparently. It sucks. It’s been going this way for years. Through that 25 year period you speak of. Again, everyone is different so maybe that is the normal case. But is anyone normal when being compared? I did not start having issue with memory or things that I would liken to the brains ability in processing until here recently in the last year. It’s noticeable to me. I would think it is to those around me too. However, it’s the medications they have me on for these seizures. It might not be only the meds. But they play a stronger part in it than anything else as of right now. I do know this through cutting myself off for months and seeing things slowly clearing up and sharpening up again. I go through a surgery this week to remove one of those tumors on left side. Hopefully I can back the meds down after this. And hopefully things clear up and sharpen up and I’ll be happy to give you an update on how my brain is “repairing” and “redeveloping” itself from what they have done and will be doing. Certain areas will be affected decreasing certain abilities. The slack of those abilities will have to be picked up by other areas of the brain if they can be retained or back to full use.