I don’t know. I’d take explaining a complex concept to a 6 year old over a 70 year old any day. A 70 year old will probably rely on faded memories that have over time become wholly corrupted from disuse, yet still leaned upon, adding an extra layer of having to correct what they “know.” They may give you a head start on a few sub-concepts/aspects of the concept, but in my experience working with A LOT of seniors in a former Master’s level helping profession, you’re far more likely to make faster progress with a 6 year old, and far more often then not for an elderly person, you’ll hit an insurmountable road block of understanding if it’s a concept they were never familiar with.
With effort, patience and available time, you could teach an 6 year old of average intelligence significant aspects of calculus reliably. I would wager the average 70 year old whose career was never math centric, with only faded memories of minimally complex algebra, would take multiple times as long to do the same, if at all. The elasticity for new complex anything is extremely limited, outliers who have maintained some flexibility through uncommon determination and regular, vigorous mental exercise notwithstanding.
Yeah I mean, it obviously depends on your age and world wide location. Contemporary 70 y/o in Europe have a decent understanding of math and logic. It’s a narrow cut off though. My grand parents on my father’s side never touched a computer while my grandparents on my mother’s side were shitposting on Facebook on their cellphones.
They were the example of the difference between understanding running a Fergus’s tractor and Wndows 95, despite having less than a decade in age difference
I don’t know. I’d take explaining a complex concept to a 6 year old over a 70 year old any day. A 70 year old will probably rely on faded memories that have over time become wholly corrupted from disuse, yet still leaned upon, adding an extra layer of having to correct what they “know.” They may give you a head start on a few sub-concepts/aspects of the concept, but in my experience working with A LOT of seniors in a former Master’s level helping profession, you’re far more likely to make faster progress with a 6 year old, and far more often then not for an elderly person, you’ll hit an insurmountable road block of understanding if it’s a concept they were never familiar with.
With effort, patience and available time, you could teach an 6 year old of average intelligence significant aspects of calculus reliably. I would wager the average 70 year old whose career was never math centric, with only faded memories of minimally complex algebra, would take multiple times as long to do the same, if at all. The elasticity for new complex anything is extremely limited, outliers who have maintained some flexibility through uncommon determination and regular, vigorous mental exercise notwithstanding.
Yeah I mean, it obviously depends on your age and world wide location. Contemporary 70 y/o in Europe have a decent understanding of math and logic. It’s a narrow cut off though. My grand parents on my father’s side never touched a computer while my grandparents on my mother’s side were shitposting on Facebook on their cellphones.
They were the example of the difference between understanding running a Fergus’s tractor and Wndows 95, despite having less than a decade in age difference