I guess this is true of everyone, but I was just thinking about how when I was younger I lived more in the true world, without having to name it, or classify it, or categorize it. Now I live in more of a shorthand, representational world, where everything (or at least most daily things) are conveniently labeled and have been seen and dealt with so many times, that they don’t have to be actually observed or experienced. You just think “Oh, that’s a ____” and that’s the end of it; if you give it any conscious thought at all. While this makes things faster and more efficient, it sure doesn’t do much for the quality of your experiences. When you’re younger, you don’t have everything neatly categorized and tucked away on its shelf. You just take it in and absorb it and try to see what it is. Many more things are still new to you, so you experience them more deeply. I think this is one of the main reasons for the leveling effect of middle age and late life—for its blandness.