Learning From Experience: How Our Knowledge and Beliefs Change with Time

• 63% can calculate a tip without a calculator, 34% can recall several phone numbers from memory, and 52% can discuss current events, health, and wellness without consulting Google or AI.
• 57% of people believe they turned out just as smart as their parents, and 30% think they’re smarter.
• Gaps in your knowledge are simply opportunities to learn and grow, with 78% knowing more now than they did in their teenage years.
• 78% know more now than they did at 18, with 73% saying life experience is what truly helps people to grow and develop.

We spend the first 16 years of our lives learning – walking, talking, homework, then exams. But leaving formal education and stepping into adulthood doesn’t mean the learning journey ends. If anything, it’s just the start.

Wanting to explore how our knowledge and beliefs grow over time, and what it is that really shapes us, Nibble – the all-around knowledge app turning curiosity into habit through bite-sized, interactive lessons – surveyed 2,000 people on the knowledge they’ve picked up, how their understanding has shifted, and what it is that changed their minds.

We may find it hard to put our phones down for an entire meal, but most don’t need to reach for it when it comes time to pay – 63% can work out a tip without needing a calculator.

Millennials are more comfortable doing mental maths, with 62% insisting it comes naturally to them. However, only 43% of Gen Zers can calculate a tip easily and instantly.

Yet, there’s a certain intelligence in knowing your limits and finding a solution, even if that means reaching for a calculator. 

Reading a map may be a largely unnecessary skill now that our smartphones can tell us exactly where to go, but 58% insist they could navigate an unfamiliar city without tech to guide them if they had to.

Cooking isn’t a lost art, either. From scrambled eggs to spaghetti bolognese and a trusty mac and cheese – 80% of people can cook a simple meal without checking the recipe.

In the age of technology, memorizing phone numbers may seem obsolete, but 87% of people can recite at least one or two from memory, with 34% relying on their built-in contact list to recall several.

Despite concerns that we’re leaning too heavily on tech, it seems common sense and general intelligence are alive and well.

From current events (52%) to health and wellness (52%), history (47%), sports (47%), travel (40%), and politics (36%), there are plenty of subjects people are confident discussing without asking Google or AI for help.

With age comes experience, but does that give previous generations an intellectual advantage?

Some 57% insist they’re just as sharp as their parents and grandparents, and 30% believe they’re the smartest generation yet.

Gen Zers, in particular, are confident in their intellect, with 45% insisting they have more general knowledge and common sense than previous generations, compared to 30% of millennials.

Smartness is subjective, though, and each generation excels in different subject matters.

Gen Zers, for instance, could talk for hours on history (50%), books and art (43%), and influencer culture (40%) without consulting Google or AI. However, millennials have them beat when it comes to health and wellness (53%) and current events (45%).

We’ve learned a lot over the years, but nobody knows absolutely everything.

For instance, 67% struggle to understand at least one area of personal finance, for instance – from saving for retirement (33%) to taxes (33%), and credit card APR (26%).

Likewise, 23% are unsure of even their own credit score. 

The good news? Knowledge gaps can be filled at any age. It’s a common misconception that not knowing is something to be ashamed of. Yet, really, it’s an opportunity to continue learning and growing. 

We learn a lot during childhood, but it doesn’t shape us entirely. In fact, much of what we’re taught early on gets revised and replaced as life teaches us otherwise.

While 38% were taught that parents should always stay together for their kids, they’ve grown to disagree. Likewise, 35% consider ‘marriage is forever’ bad advice, and 24% disagree that stability is a good enough reason to stay with someone.

Likewise, 29% were steered towards university on the promise of higher earnings and a brighter future – a path many now view differently, given the debt that came with it. 

From believing all debt should be avoided (27%) to assuming money simply wasn’t something you talked about (27%), 79% of people once paid the price for their misguided financial beliefs.

The early beliefs we pick up in childhood don’t always serve us well in adulthood – 37% say they struggled with low confidence, 35% picked up poor relationship habits, and 27% suffered financially.

However, not every piece of early wisdom we receive is wrong. In fact, 67% say they’ll only make slight adjustments when raising their own kids.

However, adulthood doesn’t necessarily begin at 18 or 21, and those life experiences come at different times for different people. 

In fact, 41% didn’t feel like a proper adult until their 20s, 27% until their 30s, and 5% were still waiting into their 40s.

And for young people today, the journey might be even longer… Just 16% and 39% of millennials felt like an adult in their teens or 20s, while 35% didn’t feel grown until they reached their 30s.

With each passing year, we pick up new lessons, sharpen new skills, and expand our knowledge. Some 78% say they know more now than they did at 18, and they will undoubtedly be even more knowledgeable at 80.

After all, it isn’t the information and beliefs we pick up during childhood that determine the adults we become. Rather, 73% say it’s the experiences that life throws at us – and the lessons we learn along the way – that really shape the person we become.

Nibble is an all-around knowledge app that turns curiosity into a habit through bite-sized, interactive lessons. With topics spanning history, art, finance, psychology, and many more,  Nibble breaks down complex information into clear, manageable, and engaging short lessons that hold users’ attention, encourage learning, and motivate them to discover something new every day.