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Old 09-11-2007, 04:31 PM
blah_blah blah_blah is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2007
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Default Re: Thoughts on aging\'s effect on learning and intelligence

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Also pretty much all of the great mathematical, etc. geniuses will do their best work by their late 20s. But that doesn't mean people can't be really smart, it just means probably not world-class, bleeding-edge smart. Like a great sprinter who can still be really fast, just not winning the olympics fast.

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This simply isn't true anymore. There are obviously some exceptions like Terence Tao or Ben Green but mathematics is much less of a young man's game than it used to be (partly because there is a lot more that you need to know to do mathematics nowadays, as opposed to 100 years ago when a bright 20 year old could probably pick up all the material necessary to be on the cutting edge of his chosen field).
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