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Never heard of him or you personally. I do not judge or worry about people on the boob tube but have respect and some feelings to the stranger that offered a hand when my car broke down this morning. That face top face meeting brings out any respect.
That you for supporting my opinion. You had respect for "the stranger that offered a hand when my car broke down this morning". You had respect for a reason. Not just a blanket "respect" (although in that context, it's a meaningless word).
You never heard of him because I made him up. But based on your previous post, you would have respected him...for no reason.
By definition, the elders have seen first-hand an entire array of things that youth was simply born too late to observe on any comparable basis. When the young become old (as they do in a dynamic world), they will finally have boarded that same boat.
By definition, the elders have seen first-hand an entire array of things that youth was simply born too late to observe on any comparable basis. When the young become old (as they do in a dynamic world), they will finally have boarded that same boat.
Two things I see wrong (as an elder myself). I see people my age DENYING the things they lived through. Like the S&L meltdown. Second thing, elders are created unequal. Some accept that there were no WMDs, some swear there were AND, despite Germany's contradiction, Saddam Hussein was conspiring with Al Qaeda. So even though I think the very young are way too eager to propose they are invulnerable to outworn notions, more likely to see things clearly, you can't assign respect by age. You do it by eyeing their commentary critically. Not a simple matter, but there is no other way.
Two things I see wrong (as an elder myself). I see people my age DENYING the things they lived through. Like the S&L meltdown.
An ability to explain the S&L crisis is uncommon in persons of any age at all. It remains unarguable that older Americans have had in-person exposure to events and history that younger Americans can only watch TV shows about. They deserve respect simply for having what the whipper-snappers will never have.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneTimeSEALover
So even though I think the very young are way too eager to propose they are invulnerable to outworn notions, more likely to see things clearly, you can't assign respect by age. You do it by eyeing their commentary critically. Not a simple matter, but there is no other way.
There are many other ways. One such is simply to extend respect to all others and wait for any to prove themselves unworthy of it. This is just one of many examples. Not qualifying as an actually credible example would be extending respect based on results from some series of middle school pop quizzes. That would seem completely silly.
The reason I think this was a good post is not because of the specific examples that the other posters gave. But a general tendency among people of all ages, including us old wise folks, to see what we want to see, rather than what is. To lack perspective. I see it in "current events", I see it in politics (on both sides of the aisle and at the grass roots level and among those in office), I see it in seniors being unrealistic about their health and health care (including me), I see it in decisions that are sometimes made my business leaders who are often seniors, and so forth.
And I think the poster hit it right on the head. Young people do have a problem seeing things clearly, but that is just as common with oldsters...like me. As a principal in a very large system, with 24 middle school principal colleagues, I would see younger principals make some pretty dumb mistakes. And I would see near-retirement principals in their 60s make different kinds of dumb mistakes that were often based on being out of touch with where society and the specific community is. When the other poster said, "You do it by eyeing their commentary critically. Not a simple matter, but there is no other way.", he's right. You judge a person's wisdom by measuring the wisdom, not by looking at him and saying, "Oh, he's old; he must be wise." The wisest and most dependable person I know well is a 22 year old college student. On the other hand, the biggest fool I know...or I should say knew...was an old fart up the street who just died recently; Ebeneezer Scrooge personified, ranted and raved about one political issue after another, and in our little townhome community of about 200 townhomes had how many friends? Zero. Was in constant battle (apparently his whole life) with his ex-wives, adult children, and everyone else he came in contact with. Have you heard the old saying? There's no fool like an old fool.
Last edited by toosie; 02-23-2017 at 03:35 PM..
Reason: Thank you
There are many other ways. One such is simply to extend respect to all others and wait for any to prove themselves unworthy of it. This is just one of many examples. Not qualifying as an actually credible example would be extending respect based on results from some series of middle school pop quizzes. That would seem completely silly.
That's sort of dodging the question. What is the "respect" you are talking about? I'm talking about the result of observation, where the respect is given or withheld without regard to age. Based on what the person does.
That's sort of dodging the question. What is the "respect" you are talking about? I'm talking about the result of observation, where the respect is given or withheld without regard to age. Based on what the person does.
I know.
Personally, I've found this thread almost sickening. I seem to be hearing from some that everyone deserves respect. You know...like Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, John Wayne Gacy, Pol Pot, Osama Bin Laden, etc. They're just poor misunderstood little angles, and we should respect them. Now let's all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya". Vomit.
When everyone wins blue ribbons, blue ribbons mean nothing.
No, but I do think you need to respect someone based upon their actions...not their age. If they are respectful, respectable, decent human beings, they probably deserve our respect.
Very much agree with this. Character matters! I have a family member that is so mean to servers-waitresses and others when we are out. I want to hide sometimes. She is in her late 60's. I really hate going places with her due to her lack of respect and manners. That is not how I grew up.
My parents were not perfect but we learned to respect others.
I wasn't much into elementary school when I realized people were getting respect they didn't deserve. It was a time when the old taught the young to automatically respect those older than you. I realized almost immediately this was a pure con.
Just for being alive longer? Is their opinion more valuable? On one hand, old people do have a long archive of experience, but on the other hand, some people are idiots no matter what age they are.
There's a difference between respecting a person vs. respecting an idea of that person. It is the same distinction as the difference between disagreeing with someone vs. insulting them.
Avoiding being rude is a good thing for all, regardless of age. However all else equal, if someone is more knowledgeable about something, their ideas should be taken seriously, not due to "respect" but simply because it is, simply and bluntly put, impossible for everyone to know everything!
This is circumstantial though, and authority on a subject is earned not by age but by experience. If I need someone to offer legal advice, I'll take the legal advice of a lawyer over (let's say) my non-lawyer parents, even if the lawyer is 35 and my parents are in their 60's.
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