And then when you get to 25 or so, you'll start being friends with the kind of 15-year-olds who tend to make friends with 25-year-olds, and so the cycle continues.
Or, at least, that's what happened for me. And it's when I noticed the second half of the cycle, having often got mistaken for a post-doctoral researcher while an undergrad, etc. that I started to think about it a little.
I never came up with any terribly satisfactory answers. I my case, I think it's an emergent phenomenon based on my dislike of people acting on prejudice. In our society, there's an expectation that people will hang out with others their own age, so if someone my own age interacts with me, I will be subconsciously wary they've picked me for that reason rather than on my merits; that worry is absent with someone of a different age.
Also, a few decades ago, even people open to friendships with those of widely varying age would have been less likely to form those friendships. But on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.
no subject
And then when you get to 25 or so, you'll start being friends with the kind of 15-year-olds who tend to make friends with 25-year-olds, and so the cycle continues.
Or, at least, that's what happened for me. And it's when I noticed the second half of the cycle, having often got mistaken for a post-doctoral researcher while an undergrad, etc. that I started to think about it a little.
I never came up with any terribly satisfactory answers. I my case, I think it's an emergent phenomenon based on my dislike of people acting on prejudice. In our society, there's an expectation that people will hang out with others their own age, so if someone my own age interacts with me, I will be subconsciously wary they've picked me for that reason rather than on my merits; that worry is absent with someone of a different age.
Also, a few decades ago, even people open to friendships with those of widely varying age would have been less likely to form those friendships. But on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.