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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.
I would reject any respect that I was given, because I was older. My functional age and abilities, are those of a young person. It's insulting to me, to be regarded as older and therefore, not fully capable of the things I can do.
I am 63, and I vote NO, that people do not deserve more respect JUST because they are old.
In my view, a list of things that deserve respect includes being good citizens, keeping a good job that supports you and your family without government assistance, being kind and considerate of others, etc. There are many people in their 20's who do all those things and many people over 60 who have never had any of those attributes.
Last edited by katharsis; 02-07-2017 at 07:54 AM..
As a general rule any human being has earned the right to be treated with respect. However that does NOT give them the right to disrespect others, the hallmark of age does not change that.
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.
Looks like the OP answered his/her (?) own question. Some of us old folks have great morals and a lot of knowledge gained from experience. Some don't. Same with younger people. Some of what the old folks learned just does not matter today. I the 50's the Navy trained me in electronics. I was good at it. Want to picture me repairing some sort of aviation electronics today?
There seems to be a lot of 'term mixing' on this thread between simple civility and courtesy toward others --- and "respect." All are deserving of civility and courtesy and the failure to extend that to others reveals a lack of respect for one's self and others.
There is a wisdom that comes with experience that can only be acquired over time. Nobody at age 60-70 looks back on their life and thinks, "I had all the answers in my 20's and really didn't learn anything in the past 40-50 years." Many look back on the mistakes and mis-perceptions of their youth and think, "If I had only known then what I know now, I would not have made as many mistakes!" Learning from one's mistakes is the substance of wisdom, which is deserving of respect.
Respect for others acknowledges their wisdom and experience. By default, older people have more experience, although many do not acquire wisdom equal to their years. By default, younger people lack the experience that comes with time, even though some have insights and wisdom beyond their years. Nevertheless, the assumption of some young people that they have learned as much about life as elders two and three times their age, lacks hindsight to validate its merit.
In summary, both young and old deserve civility and courtesy. However, respect, based on wisdom and experience is more often due to older people. Whether older people are worthy of that respect
is determined by whether or not they learned from their experience and mistakes. But, even in that area, older people are in a better position to make that determination than younger people. So yes, in that context, older people are typically worthy of more respect than younger people.
In any human society seniority had respect from the younger generation. It was the general rule until the 20 century.
Some cultures went as far as worshiping the elderly and dead ancestors. It was the rule in every civilization including some that didn't come at all in contact with other people. This order has a great psychological effect on the other members of society, giving everyone the security of stability.
While they may have misunderstood it both then and now, the elders in fact lived through parts of our history that many newbies have no sentient notion of at all. Showing some respect for those in whose footsteps you walk every day doesn't seem like all that much of a deal really.
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Want to picture me repairing some sort of aviation electronics today?
