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Comment by bitops | Hacker News Reader

> The older we get the less open we are to new ideas.

I agree with this point of view insofar as that's the behavior we usually observe in most people. I think it's also true that it is possible to stay open-minded your whole life and never get stuck in one way of doing things. It's not easy though, and of course we all develop habits over the course of our lives which can be very hard to shake off.

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> I think it's also true that it is possible to stay open-minded your whole life and never get stuck in one way of doing things.

What you do is be open-minded in your 20s. Then you get "set in the way" of being open-minded, never to change that.

Sounds pretty closed-minded, getting "set in the way" like that. ;)

It really depends on how deep these things are. When it comes to certain matters such as faith, family values or even programming habits they're much harder to change. Sure, anybody can try sushi for the first time when they're 50.

That's absolutely true - some things are easier to change than others. I like your sushi example; it's easy for most people to "try something new" when the experience feels disposable and non-threatening to someone's current worldview.

It is much much harder to ask someone to be open to a new way of seeing life, especially in the areas you mentioned. Pick your favorite controversial political topic - a prime example of how difficult it is to get people to open up.

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