I've found Python + Pandas much better in this regard than R. Maybe it's just me, but for grouping, indexing, and manipulating tabular data, Python syntax just makes more sense.
That said, R is better for stats and matrix operations.
My perspective is that life circumstances often force you to "get your shit together." Specifically, having a spouse and kids to support provides an instant shot of maturity and focus for most (decent) people. That was certainly the case for me after having my first child at 26. Since more educated adults these days seem to be delaying marriage and children into their early thirties, it naturally follows that more twenty-somethings would lack the motivation to lead a more disciplined/career-minded lifestyle.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I moved from digg to reddit entirely because digg was blocked at work and reddit wasn't. I've worked at four different places in the last five years and at each one I expect to see reddit blocked as well, but no one has gotten around to it. Maybe my situation is atypical, but I have to believe that the lack of availability of digg to office-bound slackers had to have played some part in it's demise.
I'd add Daniel Suarez's Daemon and FreedomTM to that list, at least if you're interested in this technology's ability to mobilize an army of nerd-assassins to remake society.