> The simple reason is we have too much responsibilities as an adult.
I don’t think it is that simple. I spend a lot of time in communities of people of leisure. Not millionaire celebrities, but just people who were savvy with saving and investing, and able to retire already in their 30s and spend the rest of their days on a tropical beach somewhere. These people have almost no responsibilities, but as they get older many lose all interest in acquiring new skills, even learning the local language or a new hobby.
With regard to learning’s interaction with “responsible adult life”, the cynic in me wonders if the situation is the reverse: learning new skills is a way to display mating behavior in young adulthood, and once people acquire a spouse and start a family, there is less need for going through the motions of showing one is an intelligent mate.
I don’t think it is that simple. I spend a lot of time in communities of people of leisure. Not millionaire celebrities, but just people who were savvy with saving and investing, and able to retire already in their 30s and spend the rest of their days on a tropical beach somewhere. These people have almost no responsibilities, but as they get older many lose all interest in acquiring new skills, even learning the local language or a new hobby.
With regard to learning’s interaction with “responsible adult life”, the cynic in me wonders if the situation is the reverse: learning new skills is a way to display mating behavior in young adulthood, and once people acquire a spouse and start a family, there is less need for going through the motions of showing one is an intelligent mate.