I too am getting older (nearing 40), but I attribute this in myself to just improved pattern recognition with the now two decades plus of experience I’ve had. I don’t get excited by most new frameworks because I’ve seen it before in a shape similar enough to not waste energy on it, and know much quicker whether it’s practical for my uses or not.
Being around the same age as you, I agree. But also, there's a slim line between this and becoming a jaded old asshole. Very slim. I'm noticing it happening to friends of my age.
I'm trying to work to ensure that doesn't happen to me. What I've realized is that I need to take breaks - of at least months or even years - and come back with fresh eyes to the things I know well.
And I need find new things to be a beginner at so that I don't forget what that's like. I'm trying and mostly failing to learn guitar over the past year. I've taken up resistance training in a semi-serious manner in the last few months, and that's going much better than the guitar.
This is how I look at things. I’ll let other people dance on the bleeding edge. I know enough to get my job done and if I spend the time to bring something new into the fold, I want it to be worth my time, being used for the next 5-10 years, not 5-10 months.
I keep myself in check by exploring software -- and most things in life -- from a first-principles perspective.
Last few weeks I've been writing a software 3D renderer from scratch not because there isn't countless of great engines out there ready to use, but because I need to understand the base principles of 3D rendering much better than I did before I tackle the technologies that have presumptions and bias towards specific problems baked in.
For my intended use case, my own 3D software blitter in JS is probably going to be good enough, but if it isn't, at least I know why it didn't work for me and I can make a much more informed choice.
This is how I approach programming as a senior developer at my job as well. And I find that asking the right questions and reframing problems before looking for technologies to solve them is one of the key benefits of age and experience. It's also why the last few places have hired me, specifically because I reframe questions and break down assumptions before I start typing away at the keyboard.
