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Couldn't agree more. I'm only 21 but I still have trouble with processing auditory and visual information as I just got my sight and hearing back and so I miss a lot of stuff. A lot of people take this as being rude. But if they just try a few more times they'll see that I really love to talk to people.
I agree. Of course, some old people (and even some deaf people) really ARE rude, but most of them are not.
Experience is personal. Everyone has experienced certain things and not others. A rich 80-year-old born into wealth has never experienced poverty. A poor 20-year-old has. Most young people have never experienced physical disability, but some have. Better not to assume. Just get to know the individual and go from there.
Experience is personal. Everyone has experienced certain things and not others. A rich 80-year-old born into wealth has never experienced poverty. A poor 20-year-old has. Most young people have never experienced physical disability, but some have. Better not to assume. Just get to know the individual and go from there.
Exactly!
What pisses me off is this idea that all old people somehow achieve this status, no matter WHAT their personality or achievements are. Being 80 years old makes it more likely statistically that you are 'wise', but it does not make you wise automatically.
What pisses me off is this idea that all old people somehow achieve this status, no matter WHAT their personality or achievements are. Being 80 years old makes it more likely statistically that you are 'wise', but it does not make you wise automatically.
A lot of things are judged statistically though. I overall agree with the idea that people should be judged by character and not be judged by their association with a cohort, demographic or group they happen to belong to etc. and am a rather strong individualist. But the reality will be that people will resort to making statistical judgements-- that's how marketing, policies etc are made.
One young adult could have been way more mature, responsible and thoughtful as an individual when he was a teenager than some thirty-year olds, but that doesn't mean that we can exempt him from being a minor and grant him status of age of majority early or something.
The key is not to be too lazy in making judgements whenever possible (people may be treated statistically in situations where knowing the person deeply isn't done, say for policies, insurance, job applications etc. but in daily life, where there is a chance to get to know the individual, do so) -- our minds often resort to stereotypes and first impressions because it's "practical" first.
What pisses me off is this idea that all old people somehow achieve this status, no matter WHAT their personality or achievements are. Being 80 years old makes it more likely statistically that you are 'wise', but it does not make you wise automatically.
Precisely. I get tired of people assuming I don't know what it's like to have my body not working the way it used to. In fact, I probably know more about that then most old folks. Most old folks have experienced mild hearing and vision loss. Well I'm 21 and I know what it's like to need reading glasses and hearing aids. I've also been totally blind and deaf which most older folks can't say they've experienced. I've had chronic pain and joint issues. Needless to say I hate when older folks tell me "oh, you don't know what it's like to grow old" because, well, I do.
While statistically older people have more life experience, that doesn't guarantee that they have, and there is a wide variety of what constitutes experience and what kinds of experiences people have, and also how much they reflect on them and learn from them. So to assume that every older person you come across is wiser is just, well, unwise. And on the flip-side, to assume every younger person you meet is less wise than you is definitely unwise. I've met people younger than me that know worlds more than I do about certain things because of the experiences they've had and I love to learn from them because they have a lot to offer.
Age is just a number. Wisdom comes from life experience and reflection thereafter.
A lot of things are judged statistically though. I overall agree with the idea that people should be judged by character and not be judged by their association with a cohort, demographic or group they happen to belong to etc. and am a rather strong individualist. But the reality will be that people will resort to making statistical judgements-- that's how marketing, policies etc are made.
One young adult could have been way more mature, responsible and thoughtful as an individual when he was a teenager than some thirty-year olds, but that doesn't mean that we can exempt him from being a minor and grant him status of age of majority early or something.
The key is not to be too lazy in making judgements whenever possible (people may be treated statistically in situations where knowing the person deeply isn't done, say for policies, insurance, job applications etc. but in daily life, where there is a chance to get to know the individual, do so) -- our minds often resort to stereotypes and first impressions because it's "practical" first.
I can understand using statistics to make policies and market products. But when you're meeting someone personally, there's absolutely no reason you can't just get to know them.
Trust me, generations coming after you will say the same about YOUR generation. That's okay though, because rather than accept the fact that you didn't do anything to change the world for better, you can simply blame the state of the U.S. on the generations before you!
I guess the people of YOUR generation aren't as greedy and selfish as the average person who came before you? No, I'm sure you're generous, thoughtful, only feel the need to have one home and a job that puts food on your table and clothes on your back....not all of the extras, which require a 6-7 figure income...oh PLEASE!
I agree that as Western Civilization continues to deteriorate, future generations will blame my generation in addition to others.
And I'm glad you're sure I'm generous and considerate of others, because you indeed are correct. Fortunately or unfortunately as it may be, I'm cursed/blessed with being in the 2-3% of non-lemmings who have an innate moral compass, and feel a need to act as vanguards of our civilization, and point out its decline as a result of a chain of very bad decisions over the past 50 or so years.
I agree that as Western Civilization continues to deteriorate, future generations will blame my generation in addition to others.
And I'm glad you're sure I'm generous and considerate of others, because you indeed are correct. Fortunately or unfortunately as it may be, I'm cursed/blessed with being in the 2-3% of non-lemmings who have an innate moral compass, and feel a need to act as vanguards of our civilization, and point out its decline as a result of a chain of very bad decisions over the past 50 or so years.
The truly blessed are the ones who see what is really important life. It isn't fair to go through life blaming all who came before you, for the state of affairs of a county. You hear about the ridiculously wealthy people in this country....well there aren't very damn many of them! The biggest share of the people we see who would appear to be extremely wealthy "own it all on credit".
Need more coffee.... LOL There are no perfect answers and until we all learn to see into the future and see where today's choices are going to take us tomorrow, we will continue to make bad choices. The people who came before us...well, they did the best they could. Most of them are living long enough to regret many of their choices, because they live with the misery of those choices. If nothing else, we can rest in that. But this is way off topic I think.
History alone can be the judge of whether your actions from a perceived superior moral compass were in fact superior or better after all. I'm sure all those Jesuit priests who arrived on the north american shores thought that by bringing christianity to the native populations, they were obeying a "higher" moral incentive. History has shown how that worked out for the natives with disease being the first manifest symptom of that 'higher moral incentive'.
We (elderly) need to remind ourselves on a constant basis as we age and the majority of the folks we encounter become ever younger, we were young once and if someone (anyone) were to have told us 50 years ago that we were not going to be as credible examples of mankind as our predecessors, well we would have 'pitched a fit' at the very least. the cahallenges facing the next generation are going to be just as difficult as our world wars were for us and they will need every bit of their fortitude to overcome what lies ahead.
I however, do not join in the belief that we are solely responsible for those challenges they will face as the far reaching influences younger people have had on their environment have been increasing on a grand scale with use of the internet, world travel and ability to accumulate wealth beyond our wildest dreams when we were that age.
Are old people worthy of more respect than young people?
I think that older women with shapely thighs are more worthy of respect than young gilrs with shapely thighs.
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