Fascinating take on why public intellectuals have short shelf lives:

https://scholars-stage.org/public-intellectuals-have-short-shelf-lives-but-why/

Good read. I think their theory of brain cell loss is plausible, but I feel like there's more to it than that. Each brain is different in it's capabilities and engaging in certain activities can preserve that creative/fluid thinking (meditation, art, learning new things, etc). >>

Holy Seer of /farcastle and prophet of the Void | https://linktr.ee/Alditrus

One good example of this is Hayao Miyazaki. Dude keeps saying he's retired and done making Ghibli films but he just keeps pumping stuff out, and he's 83! I think it all comes down to a willingness of being flexible and open to new knowledge and building new skills as you get older.