"Crankiness" May Be A Sign Of Intelligence

I would have thought that crankiness later in life was because one was fed up with the b.s. they have seen in their many years of life and, they, over the years, have become wiser and are just cranky at others trying to b.s. them. Getting called on it is another story. Apparently, this is not socially correct. Like I care.
46 year old man , Canada
P.S. Don't try and b.s. me. I will call you on it. Correct or not.
L.

...but no doubt one of them is being fed up as you note. I think I'm certainly a candidate for that.

Wesley Hein
Wesley [at] lifetwo [dot] com

At 63, I actually take notice of my b ecoming more contrary. I am not so sure it is a sign of intelligence although I have always considered my self bright and a quick-study. What I feel is that the accumulated life experience exposes things for what they are; and yes, a lot of it is BS. The major problem with this contrariness is that others interpret my behavior as anger -- it is not and I need to learn how to couch my contrary attitude in a more amiable,conversational way. Life is a burden and for older people, more so. We no longer luxuriate in expectation of untold sunrises; we can count them. This nearness to the end does not allow for much 'beating around the bush' and perhaps our resentment of this fact betrays itself in crankiness.

I StumbledUpon this page and it somehow hit a nerve which prompted a response.

sy,,,fej.iii@verizon.net

According to the MayoClinic, irritability can be a sign of diabetes. According to the American Health Assistance Foundation, irritability in seniors can be a symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Or, as you so eloquently put it, it can be completely non-medical:

"We no longer luxuriate in expectation of untold sunrises; we can count them. This nearness to the end does not allow for much 'beating around the bush' and perhaps our resentment of this fact betrays itself in crankiness."

Of all the possible reasons, I plan on telling people that the reason for my crankiness is the one listed in the original article--the one that all of these comments are attached.

Wesley Hein
Wesley [at] lifetwo [dot] com

Great! Another reason for arrogant boomers to remain self-centered!

"I'm not cranky or rude. I'm just smarter and better than you."

It easy for the left hand to confabulate reasons for right one. How did the researchers define intelligence or quantify it? Success? IQ? Income?

To have aged with a bit of wonder and kindess and wisdom is certainly a better place to be for the person inside and those outside than to be overbearingly arrogant with a "smart and cranky" coffee mug. (Which replaced his "precocious and annoying" Dr.Spock baby bottle, I believe.)

PS: And who says, "it is all b.s." after age 20? Who are you people? (I suppose I don't fit into the research of this study since I was young bright and suicidal. Older now, when I feel irritable, I realize I'm embittered and depressed and try not to dump it on people as if it were a virtue. On my tombstone, I hope it does not say "Wretched, vain and cranky. Exercised them as if they were his charms. Embittered by a world too stupid by half and unworthy of his attention or intelligence or (it may have been buried with him)... joy.")

You damn kids get off my lawn!!!

Smart people notice all the BS and as they get older they start realizing that they can't change it and they get mad... mostly because they also realize that they wasted a lot of their life trying to show people what was wrong and everybody thought they were smart enough to not have to listen.

Easy, answer to why the change from openness to crankiness, endless frustration. Seeing the world as it is, understanding the humane and morally sound way of sharing life and seeing instead the endless greed, selfishness and pettiness, seeing it rewarded and celebrated by a society gone insane. So you try to make a better like for humanity in-spite of the one in ten psychopaths who scheme and plot for the exact opposite and who infect those around them with equally destructive and inhumane behaviour. The worst thing is, you realise through reading that intelligent and open people have been making the similar selfless efforts for thousands of years, sometimes it hardly seems worth the effort but, children should not have to pay the price of their parents greed and stupidity.

Unfortunately, in a study of this nature which includes both the young and old generations, the collective experiences cannot be isolated and factored out. Culturally, the newer generation is quite different from older generations, and this is not something which can be subtracted as a variable. I am tired of synopses of these studies being featured on websites with zero insight into the procedural methods of the study. This is bull, to get an academic name into the public mind and then secure a retirement with a self-help book. Do not buy these snake oil studies, PLEASE.