There was in interesting discussion on National Public Radio this Tuesday entitled “Does Age Quash Our Spirit of Adventure?” (see the website here for a replay). Apparently radio stations know people are open to new musical genres until around age 20, then begin to close their “blinders” to new types of music and artists from that point forward. To get the most listeners to a type or style of song, they check the period when an artist peaked musically. Those people aged 20 at that time are the ones who will be listening to the station playing those songs. As that demographic age group grows older, they still listen to the same music.
The same phenomenon of being open minded up to a certain age, then becoming closed minded to other options also seem to apply to other things like trying new foods (the show used sushi in the Midwest as an example). This seems to be the very same type of thing many of us go through as we are confronted with demands for change from our partner as the relationship ages. The personal growth we are all working one may have a lot to do with this – reversing the narrowing of our blinders that were once more open in our youth.
