[julianeon]

Here is a simpler explanation:

When you are younger, you have a community of people and friends who push, pull, and otherwise shape you.

When you are older, there is no community. That’s an oversimplification, but it’s close enough.

So there’s no pushback about “hey man, that’s enough about your hobby.” There’s no influence to curb any parts of your personality. It’s just you, instead of being in a health community, living in a kind of void, in between your interactions w others.

Now it’s true there are people (say, your parents) who continue to exert influence. But it’s like the number of people actively involved w you falls from 100, to like 5. In terms of true peers who are your age - they number may very well fall to 0. So the amount of eccentricity, or really indulgence of personal preference above every other consideration, skyrockets.