I think it's a mixture of both @luzcypher - life experience and perspective, the diverse situations, band experience, performance experience are all important. But if you start young, live long and play every day, you've surely got to get something right.
I consider myself the worst musician I know, judged against the years I have been practicing - Young people, and children today just blow my mind, but so do a lot of people I never respected or understood when I was younger :)