Originally posted by Cosmic Mist:
Here's a quick question for the thread... Hypothetically speaking, imagine that you have just met this really great person, who shares similar interests to you (to a degree) and has really good conversation. There is a level of mutual attraction between the two of you, however this person is 10 years older than you. What do you do?
It's different I think depending on whether you're a girl or a boy. If I hooked up with a 32 year old woman, while we might get along and all those things you mention above might be in place, a woman ten years older is likely to have different priorities: house, career, kids, etc. For just the physical aspects of a relationship, it works great, lots of single women in their thirties these days are happy to have flings with younger men, but for anything more there's a real maturity gap and difference in priorities.
It's different with a younger girl and older guy because guys don't have a biological clock and can always stay immature. So a 32 year old guy can get along great with a 22 year old girl if he's still trying to live like a 22-year old.

That said, there's a whole 'sugar-daddy' aspect to those sort of relationships, I'm not saying that age should ever matter, but I've just always been of the opinion that you're more likely to share common priorities in life with someone closer to you in years.
A guy ten years older may seem incredibly wise and mature but that's because they have ten years on you. I'm sure a 12 year old girl would find me incredibly wise, mature and fascinating (all I have to do is dress like Justin Timberlake) but I wouldn't go there... ask yourself what it says of guys who would. (/me ducks)
All that said, I think we can connect with people on many levels regardless of age, it's just where you want to take a relationship with someone who is ten years older/younger than you. People go through life in stages and I find that people at different stages tend to have different priorities. That's all.