On Learning and Aging

Everybody knows that the older the person, the harder it is to learn something new, and it is usually taking longer and longer to do it. However, even though this statement is theoretically true, there are a couple of curious observations indicating that it is not as simple as that. Let us have a look at some facts and see the connection between a learning process and aging.

Learning in a Nutshell

According to Wikipedia, learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. It assumes that a person can do it and then probably use this knowledge in real life.

Learning as a process also assumes that a person has to spend some time to acquire knowledge. This time is usually proportional to the amount and complexity of acquired knowledge. In other words, the bigger the book and the harder it is to understand the longer it will take to complete it. 

Learning time will be the most critical metric used to show a relation to aging. To simplify a comparison, let us assume that there is some fixed amount of useful knowledge that a person wants to acquire.

Years Go By

People are learning from the day they are born until the day they die. Most of the people learning a lot during the first 20-25 years of their life (school, university) when it is easier to do, and then they are gradually slowing down.

The curious part of the connection between learning and aging is happening when a person stops learning a lot. Let us use the age interval from 20 to 80 years to demonstrate what is happening with the person during this period.

The Longer You Live

… the harder it is to learn. And here is a standard relationship between learning speed and a person's age (blue line).

Everything is clear here: the younger generation doing it quicker, the older generation doing it slower. But how older people, e.g., university professors, can still learn something and even compete with there own students?

The answer is simple — learning speed itself is not the only factor that affects how quickly a person can learn something new. And here is the first observation:

A lack of learning speed can be compensated by the ability to structure information.

Think about it — the older you are, the more you know, and the easier it is for you to find associations and patterns in the incoming information. It is called an experience. Except for the knowledge itself, it also means that a person experienced in some areas can learn something new in these areas as fast as an inexperienced younger person or even quicker.

Some other factors can boost this ability even more — for example, good memory. But they are usually very individual and do not always can be used.

However, there is one more important factor that may help in maintaining learning speed for a more extended period. Have a look at the green line at the following graph.

So what is this factor?

Learning as a Skill

Surprisingly this is learning itself. The second observation:

The more a person learns, the easier it is to learn further.

It sounds unusual, but this is true. Such a person maintains the flexibility of mind, continuously refreshes his/her knowledge base, and builds a foundation for further improvements. All together these traits plus the ability to structure information allows telling about the learning as a skill.

Like any other skill, it can be acquired and trained — by studying, doing science, writing articles, and sometimes even by teaching. All these activities allow improving the ability to learn and overall learning speed. A university professor is a personification of this skill.

On the other hand, the learning skills of a person that does not do any of the mentioned activities will be degraded, and degraded very fast. Remember the last time you back from an excellent long vacation — it was such a pleasure! But returning to daily activities that involve continuous thinking could be problematic or even painful. Generally, it takes several days (sometimes even several weeks) to gain speed and return to the pre-vacation state.

Knowledge Areas

During the lifetime, a person acquires quite a lot of different knowledge — from the arithmetic basics in primary school to the most crucial specialized business skills. Do all these skills help to maintain a learning speed? 

Yes, they do! The third observation:

Acquiring knowledge in any area maintains overall learning speed.

It is not that important if you are studying a new programming language, visiting business training, or just learning to play poker. As long as the brain is stimulated with new knowledge, it maintains an ability to learn quickly.

Of course, some skills are more useful than others, but this is only a matter of personal preferences. These skills give you more than just a piece of knowledge. For example, playing chess is improving memory, and physical activities allow one to improve health.

So, no matter if you are a dockworker or a software developer — improve yourself continuously and never refuse the possibility to learn something new! You will be rewarded with the ability to learn quickly and live an exciting life.