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"Make mistakes, they are cheaper to correct at your age." No, no they're not. The "be stupid early" plan is a major fail IRL. The idea that society will forgiv

"Make mistakes, they are cheaper to correct at your age." No, no they're not. The "be stupid early" plan is a major fail IRL. The idea that society will forgive you for it is proven wrong every day. When employers look for anything to disqualify you, that old FB post with you being stupid is made to order, or the arrest for DUI, or any of those early mistakes, are very handy. It's actually much harder to overcome early stupidity than it ever was in the past because the internet remembers. The math of compound interest applies to a lot of things beyond your bank account. The earlier you learn the basics of something, the earlier you start doing a hobby, the earlier you start collecting RL 'achievement earned' points, the faster they will grow in later years. I would argue that THAT is the way to invest the freedom of youth. Try a hobby or learn something to see if you like it. THAT's ideal to do when you can easily move on to something else while those choices are entirely up to you. You will move on to college and a career with much more confidence that the path you are on is one you really want. YOLO is true. Why would you want to waste any of it? I also want to call BS on the 'life ends at 30' advice here. You really think traveling is best when you have no money or skills? BS. You think no one >30 is physically active? More BS.

gilbetron 9y ago
You misinterpret neither everything I said. The "make mistakes" isn't, "do drugs and get STDs and fuck up your life!", it is "try things that you might not like" or "date two women at once" or any variety of "mistakes" that people are afraid of doing at that age. Also, life doesn't end at 30, quite the opposite. I love being my age (well over 30!) and am very physically active. But traveling is a hell of a lot easier when young, because you don't have kids and bills and pets and all the other things that are great later in life (well, not the bills, but the things you get for paying those bills), but make floating around difficult. And there's no way to compare the physicality of someone in their 20s with someone in their 40s. If you think so, you were not physically active in a significant way in one of those two ages brackets. I could play soccer for hours in my 20s, but I had to finally give it up at 45 because it's just too hard on the body.
- wai1234 9y ago
  I don't think I misinterpreted, "do things you can't do when you are in your 30s". That's a categorical statement and wrong. Yes, a 30something (40, 50, ...) is not a 20something, some plus, some minus, but nothing zero simply due to age. I also don't think "make mistakes" and "try new things" are equivalent. Especially in the context of the lovely set of 'mistakes' advised in quite a few other posts in the thread. Based on your followup, what you meant, is, unfortunately, not what you actually wrote. Nuance is important.
johnpython 9y ago
I'm not surprised by people here offering 'life ends at 30' advice here. No wonder there is so much rampant ageism in this industry.
- gilbetron 9y ago
  I didn't say anything about life ending at 30, in fact I'd say it is often the opposite. But it at least changes. I'm just recommending taking advantage of the things that easier when you are 18 than when you are 50.

gilbetron 9y ago

You misinterpret neither everything I said. The "make mistakes" isn't, "do drugs and get STDs and fuck up your life!", it is "try things that you might not like" or "date two women at once" or any variety of "mistakes" that people are afraid of doing at that age. Also, life doesn't end at 30, quite the opposite. I love being my age (well over 30!) and am very physically active. But traveling is a hell of a lot easier when young, because you don't have kids and bills and pets and all the other things that are great later in life (well, not the bills, but the things you get for paying those bills), but make floating around difficult. And there's no way to compare the physicality of someone in their 20s with someone in their 40s. If you think so, you were not physically active in a significant way in one of those two ages brackets. I could play soccer for hours in my 20s, but I had to finally give it up at 45 because it's just too hard on the body.

wai1234 9y ago
I don't think I misinterpreted, "do things you can't do when you are in your 30s". That's a categorical statement and wrong. Yes, a 30something (40, 50, ...) is not a 20something, some plus, some minus, but nothing zero simply due to age. I also don't think "make mistakes" and "try new things" are equivalent. Especially in the context of the lovely set of 'mistakes' advised in quite a few other posts in the thread. Based on your followup, what you meant, is, unfortunately, not what you actually wrote. Nuance is important.

johnpython 9y ago

I'm not surprised by people here offering 'life ends at 30' advice here. No wonder there is so much rampant ageism in this industry.

gilbetron 9y ago
I didn't say anything about life ending at 30, in fact I'd say it is often the opposite. But it at least changes. I'm just recommending taking advantage of the things that easier when you are 18 than when you are 50.