Subjective Age
Introspection, trying to watch myself, can be an interesting way of passing the time when there is neither a computer nor a good book readily at hand. My most common version is to observe my reactions to passing women and try to figure out what the characteristics are that determine which I find attractive. Evolutionary psychologists have collected evidence on what physical characteristics men in general, across a wide variety of cultures, find attractive in women, but so far as I know nobody has made a serious effort at the micro version of the project.
Another version is to look at my reactions to other people and see what they say about my self image. One conclusion is that my subjective age is substantially lower than my objective age. The people I intuitively react to as my age peers are in fact noticeably younger than I am.
I have a simple explanation for this pattern; if it is correct, it should apply to most people, not just to me. My self image is based on some sort of weighted average of my experiences over the years. An average from, say, age ten to age 62 is going to come in at less than 62--considerably less unless very heavily weighted towards recent years.
I have, however, an alternative explanation based on experimental data from a very long time ago. At various points in my teens I was a camp councilor. I observed that if the campers in my cabin were, say, eleven year olds, anyone from about fourteen up felt to me like a grown up. The older my campers, the older my subjective definition of adult. Currently a large part of my social interaction is either with my own children--13 and 16--or with the law students I teach. Perhaps that shifts up my subjective experience of the age of people much older than that--even if they are younger than I am.
Anyone else have evidence to offer? Conjectures? Should I blame it all on neoteny?