<p>The question of whether it is true (or not) that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>old[er] people [in general] loose the ability think creatively or formulate new ideas</p>
</blockquote>

<p>would lead to a very opinion based answer and therefore it is not a fit for this site.  Not everyone behaves or thinks in the same way.  However, where this is true of those who <strong>are</strong> in this situation, there are several possible names for it and they tend to be <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases" rel="nofollow noreferrer">cognitive biases</a></strong>.  There is</p>

<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Declinism</a></strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The belief that a society or institution is tending towards decline. Particularly, it is the predisposition to view the past favourably (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection" rel="nofollow noreferrer">rosy retrospection</a>) and future negatively.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rosy Retrospection</a></strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The remembering of the past as having been better than it really was.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_justification" rel="nofollow noreferrer">System justification</a></strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The tendency to defend and bolster the status quo. Existing social, economic, and political arrangements tend to be preferred, and alternatives disparaged, sometimes even at the expense of individual and collective self-interest.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Status Quo Bias</a></strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>An emotional bias; a preference for the current state of affairs. The current baseline (or status quo) is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Choice-supportive bias</a></strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In a self-justifying manner retroactively ascribing one's choices to be more informed than they were when they were made.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T14:48:50.450Z
2018-01-28T14:48:50.450Z
Chris Rogers
<p>My friend said something about that people get older than 50 loose the ability to think creatively and formulate new ideas.</p>

<p>There is also a saying like “stuck in his ways” and people say the “older you get the harder it is to change” </p>

<p>Is this a thing? If it is there a scientific name for it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T00:25:38.440Z
Perhaps older people have already contemplated those creative/new ideas that younger people think is original or creative when in fact the same ideas have been contemplated time and again already. So the older person who is "stuck in his ways" already knows a good enough "way", so why bother changing. Whereas, the young whipper snapper who thinks they are so creative and full of ideas doesn't comprehend that they are 30 or 40 years behind with their wonderfully creative idea which isn't so unique or creative at all.  Just a thought...
Dunk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-15T20:15:38.743Z
@Dunk I like doing my own thinking again from scratch  how to do things and why. I don't see the problem with it. I feel like other people who just blindly follow ways of doing things are the ones who are missing something.
Timothy
<cognitive-psychology><neuroscience>
Is it true that old people loose the ability think creatively/ formulate new ideas
ben
# Is it true that old people loose the ability think creatively/ formulate new ideas

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-28)

My friend said something about that people get older than 50 loose the ability to think creatively and formulate new ideas.

There is also a saying like “stuck in his ways” and people say the “older you get the harder it is to change”

Is this a thing? If it is there a scientific name for it?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, neuroscience

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Perhaps older people have already contemplated those creative/new ideas that younger people think is original or creative when in fact the same ideas have been contemplated time and again already. So the older person who is "stuck in his ways" already knows a good enough "way", so why bother changing. Whereas, the young whipper snapper who thinks they are so creative and full of ideas doesn't comprehend that they are 30 or 40 years behind with their wonderfully creative idea which isn't so unique or creative at all.  Just a thought...  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I like doing my own thinking again from scratch  how to do things and why. I don't see the problem with it. I feel like other people who just blindly follow ways of doing things are the ones who are missing something.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-01-28. Score: 2

The question of whether it is true (or not) that

> old[er] people [in general] loose the ability think creatively or formulate new ideas

would lead to a very opinion based answer and therefore it is not a fit for this site. Not everyone behaves or thinks in the same way. However, where this is true of those who **are** in this situation, there are several possible names for it and they tend to be **[cognitive biases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases)**. There is

**[Declinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declinism)**

> The belief that a society or institution is tending towards decline. Particularly, it is the predisposition to view the past favourably ([rosy retrospection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection)) and future negatively.

**[Rosy Retrospection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection)**

> The remembering of the past as having been better than it really was.

**[System justification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_justification)**

> The tendency to defend and bolster the status quo. Existing social, economic, and political arrangements tend to be preferred, and alternatives disparaged, sometimes even at the expense of individual and collective self-interest.

**[Status Quo Bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias)**

> An emotional bias; a preference for the current state of affairs. The current baseline (or status quo) is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss.

**[Choice-supportive bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias)**

> In a self-justifying manner retroactively ascribing one's choices to be more informed than they were when they were made.


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