7Q, I basically agree with you. I do believe that age brings a more mature outlook on things and on how you deal with situations and people. I believe that dealing with people, ie the crew, passengers, and dispatch etc etc etc, improves with age. Maybe not for everyone but for most. Everyone is an individual and there are superb young captains and incompetent older captains.
In my opinion you need enough hours to know the job and to have matured. But hours to me have never meant experience. Where and how those hours were accumulated mean all the difference in the world. A military fighter pilot that flys 250 hours in a year vs a young commuter pilot that flys 1000 hours in the same year are not equal. It simply is not the same thing. Please, this is not to start a military/civilian slug fest.