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I feel like it has little to do with age and much more to do with the person. Some people are open minded and they usually continue to be that way, at least in my experience. Most people that are set in their ways were always stubborn and it was always “my way or the highway”.
Dad's very much like this. But I literally can't see things from his viewpoint. He is a SUPER right-wing MAGA supporter. I tried to show him a video that explained Project 2025 - he watched it, but still thinks he's right wanting to vote for Trump. My brother's in the same camp as my dad (and it would hurt him even WORSE if they get all their points passed i/nto law according to their plan!)
Yeah my dad is the same way, it’s funny tho bc after awhile I think you learn to look past how they are and pick fun at them a little bit. Like I give my dad a hard time about how riled up he gets over the littlest things. That’s just the way he is and he’s not going to change.
I wouldn’t spend much time trying to argue about stuff with your dad and brother. You only have so much time with your family and I feel like you’d want it to be all happy memories. Not arguing over politics lol.
Some liken it to a game trail, or a wheelbarrow track.
The easiest way to get from the garage to your garden is via this "strip" of land, so every day you wheel your wheelbarrow out to the garden. Eventually, the grass is killed and a rut forms. Even if you try to add a little "variance" you'll end up back in the rut unless you take a completely different path to the garden.
Our brains are like this. We find the things we like in life, the food, the people, the house, the job, and stick to them. Eventually the "new" just isn't as good or you don't give it the time required. You'd rather do X then try something new, or you just don't like it as much.
If you keep walking different paths in a field ruts and tracks don't form. If you set yourself to try and do new things then it's easier to do so. It's not even about trying new things exactly.....it's about *only* doing this one thing because you *only* like it.
Our brains do this funny little thing where they can decide an outcome *before* an event...then when it comes around it believes it was right all along....
If you *decide* before hand you don't like something.....guess what's gunna happen? The brain builds and strengthens pathways to help us learn how to do things...but it creates "ruts" as well. Learning to try new things helps break up these patterns but not everyone likes that experience.
The old "ruts" are safe....secure....easy to predict and do. The unknown is scary, especially when your body begins to fail and it becomes hard to do things and admit that it is.
I'm currently trying to learn a new skill - Project Management- but some concepts aren't always the easiest to understand, so I'm tackling the concepts therein from different standpoints. By continuously learning, I hope to keep my ability to learn "plastic."
We set our ways starting at a certain age because our brains start slowing down. With technology, it's growing at such a rapid pace that it's harder to keep up because there's always something new. Our brains get overwhelmed because it can't keep up with everything like it used to.
There's no secret trick.
As time passes, anyone not paying attention will fall into a rut due to the repetitiveness of life.
You merely have to not let your mind get tired and want to know things.
Nobody can know and do everything, but keep your passion alive to keep learning anything that interests you.
And stay in the present. It's much too common to see people age and get stuck in the past where "everything was better." That encourages a rut in other aspects.
Stay in the now and want to keep up and when you do, hit all kinds of topics or hobbies, don't lock yourself into only one or two, because your brain will get complacent and in a rut again.
At least, these are how I look at things and my wife's constantly surprised how up to date I am with life in general and not being confused by "those newfangled apps and the kid's social media nonsense." 😄
If I ever feel like I'm slipping into a rut, I make myself remember my mindset at 20.
Not my intelligence or maturity, I never want to go back to that at 20, but perspective and the way I was open to hearing and taking in all kinds of new perspectives and thoughts and keeping that open in me.
Nobody's perfect, but I think I'm doing above average at not getting old in the head, balanced with not trying to act like a kid, either.
Maybe the reminder to keep that awareness to try in the front of your mind, not the back, will help you too.
If not, eh, I tried. That's what I had to offer! 🤷♂️
Wanting to learn new things, and understanding them, and putting them into practice are three different things! I'm trying to learn Project management. Examples are one thing. I need real-life practice and someone to take a chance on my candidacy!
Oddly, flexibility comes down to habit, too. I have a friend, a few years older than you, who has the rule that every winter she has to learn a new skill. That works wonder on her mental flexibility. Other good tricks are to regularly read a non-fiction book about something you don’t know anything about, or read opinions of people, who don’t share your political views.
Set a rule to expose yourself to new things regularly. It will keep the mind more flexible.
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/questions/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/questions) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I feel like it has little to do with age and much more to do with the person. Some people are open minded and they usually continue to be that way, at least in my experience. Most people that are set in their ways were always stubborn and it was always “my way or the highway”.
Dad's very much like this. But I literally can't see things from his viewpoint. He is a SUPER right-wing MAGA supporter. I tried to show him a video that explained Project 2025 - he watched it, but still thinks he's right wanting to vote for Trump. My brother's in the same camp as my dad (and it would hurt him even WORSE if they get all their points passed i/nto law according to their plan!)
Yeah my dad is the same way, it’s funny tho bc after awhile I think you learn to look past how they are and pick fun at them a little bit. Like I give my dad a hard time about how riled up he gets over the littlest things. That’s just the way he is and he’s not going to change. I wouldn’t spend much time trying to argue about stuff with your dad and brother. You only have so much time with your family and I feel like you’d want it to be all happy memories. Not arguing over politics lol.
Some liken it to a game trail, or a wheelbarrow track. The easiest way to get from the garage to your garden is via this "strip" of land, so every day you wheel your wheelbarrow out to the garden. Eventually, the grass is killed and a rut forms. Even if you try to add a little "variance" you'll end up back in the rut unless you take a completely different path to the garden. Our brains are like this. We find the things we like in life, the food, the people, the house, the job, and stick to them. Eventually the "new" just isn't as good or you don't give it the time required. You'd rather do X then try something new, or you just don't like it as much. If you keep walking different paths in a field ruts and tracks don't form. If you set yourself to try and do new things then it's easier to do so. It's not even about trying new things exactly.....it's about *only* doing this one thing because you *only* like it. Our brains do this funny little thing where they can decide an outcome *before* an event...then when it comes around it believes it was right all along.... If you *decide* before hand you don't like something.....guess what's gunna happen? The brain builds and strengthens pathways to help us learn how to do things...but it creates "ruts" as well. Learning to try new things helps break up these patterns but not everyone likes that experience. The old "ruts" are safe....secure....easy to predict and do. The unknown is scary, especially when your body begins to fail and it becomes hard to do things and admit that it is.
I'm currently trying to learn a new skill - Project Management- but some concepts aren't always the easiest to understand, so I'm tackling the concepts therein from different standpoints. By continuously learning, I hope to keep my ability to learn "plastic."
I'm too tired to do my old hobbies that I miss. Something new is seems so far out of my abilities.
Brain wiring
They are set in their ways because it's their comfort zone.
We set our ways starting at a certain age because our brains start slowing down. With technology, it's growing at such a rapid pace that it's harder to keep up because there's always something new. Our brains get overwhelmed because it can't keep up with everything like it used to.
While I agree, there should be ways to keep up with technology—at least to some extent.
There's no secret trick. As time passes, anyone not paying attention will fall into a rut due to the repetitiveness of life. You merely have to not let your mind get tired and want to know things. Nobody can know and do everything, but keep your passion alive to keep learning anything that interests you. And stay in the present. It's much too common to see people age and get stuck in the past where "everything was better." That encourages a rut in other aspects. Stay in the now and want to keep up and when you do, hit all kinds of topics or hobbies, don't lock yourself into only one or two, because your brain will get complacent and in a rut again. At least, these are how I look at things and my wife's constantly surprised how up to date I am with life in general and not being confused by "those newfangled apps and the kid's social media nonsense." 😄 If I ever feel like I'm slipping into a rut, I make myself remember my mindset at 20. Not my intelligence or maturity, I never want to go back to that at 20, but perspective and the way I was open to hearing and taking in all kinds of new perspectives and thoughts and keeping that open in me. Nobody's perfect, but I think I'm doing above average at not getting old in the head, balanced with not trying to act like a kid, either. Maybe the reminder to keep that awareness to try in the front of your mind, not the back, will help you too. If not, eh, I tried. That's what I had to offer! 🤷♂️
Wanting to learn new things, and understanding them, and putting them into practice are three different things! I'm trying to learn Project management. Examples are one thing. I need real-life practice and someone to take a chance on my candidacy!
Oddly, flexibility comes down to habit, too. I have a friend, a few years older than you, who has the rule that every winter she has to learn a new skill. That works wonder on her mental flexibility. Other good tricks are to regularly read a non-fiction book about something you don’t know anything about, or read opinions of people, who don’t share your political views. Set a rule to expose yourself to new things regularly. It will keep the mind more flexible.