Some thoughts on objectivity and growing older. Here, "objectivity" is used to describe a state of rational, critical thinking.
The initial question is "does a person lose objectivity as they grow older?"
I think the answer is yes. More commonly described as "becoming senile," losing objectivity seems to happen more to the elderly. Although I fully admit I have no numbers or text to back this up with. I am purely going off of anectotal evidence here and would appreciate input from anyone who knows better.
Assuming that objectivity is something to be desired, is there a way to keep our objectivity in good shape?
I can think of situations that one could go over, and see if the answer they came up with is objective or not. But, if the same situations are used to test for objectivity, wouln't there be a danger of simply memorizing the answers, and thinking one is still objective when one actually is not in other, new situations? If such a problem becomes a reality, wouldn't the "test for objectivity" (now only giving false-positives) only be, ironically, adding confidence in the wrong direction?
Is it possible to consistently and repeatedly test for objectivity of a growing/aging mind?
Is it possible to "exercise" objectivity?
If objectivity can decrease, is it possible to personally identify such a loss and reverse the non-objective thinking?
Are we all doomed to lose objectivity as we grow older and it's just a matter of time?
If so, what's the best method you can think of to slow such a loss?
A few things that may help with testing for objectivity:
-a willingness to be wrong
-a willingness to learn
-acceptance of not knowing everything
All thoughts and ideas pertaining to losing objectivity are welcome.
Maybe for "Is it Science" or "Miscellaneous Topics." I'm also not opposed to this going to "Coffee House" as it may be too far away from the main EvC discussion.