What can older people learn from your generation?
Whenever I hear “back in my day,” I automatically associate the phrase with older people reminiscing about their childhood or teenage years. They always have their campfire chats or storytime moments in the family room, spreading their perspective of the magnificent past. However, to put it rather bluntly, I don’t believe their viewpoint is what it’s hyped up to be. Of course, our generation cannot compare our understanding to their wisdom and experience, but we bring plenty to the table.
Older people sometimes criticize us for being too unorganized, rash, or just not leveled-headed in general. While they’re not wrong, they miss out on the point: spontaneity brings out excitement in our lives. We shirk responsibilities in favor of video games or hanging out with friends, saving the pain and suffering for later. Additionally, procrastination brings out an element of uncertainty (although it’s definitely not sustainable) that further fuels younger, more carefree lives. Wouldn’t older people enjoy their lives more if they combined their life experiences with a little bit of spontaneity?
The youth of our generation has a fresh, valuable perspective that the older people once also had. Instead of following traditions and customs, we look to innovate and transform the customs to better fit our current technological mindset. When older people claim the excitement of their lives was left in their youth, they should look to us for examples. Instruments, sports, and video games are staples of a modern kid’s entertainment pool. While the older generations probably have their own childhood notions of entertainment, they could adapt their lifestyle to include more activities.
Instead of reminiscing on the past, older people could utilize their insight to look to the future. Just as we learn from their experience, they should learn from us. We’ve been told to let the past go, live in the present, and look to the future, but older people tend to let their past fuel their present. They take their memories of the past and compare them to the present experiences of the current generation, explaining the hardships of their generation: “I had to walk 2 miles to school,” or “We had to do all our research at the library.” To be fair, they’re not wrong. Technological advances have helped us along, but older people should take their learned insights and apply it to future technologies instead of comparing to the past.
Climate change politics: What does it remind you of? Do you think of two political parties battling for power and control over policies that will shape our climate for years to come? Most of our leaders are older and more experienced, but that also means they may not see or feel the effects of many longer-term policies. They probably better understand the scope of the climate change scenario, but the lack of awareness and using the past as the precedent instead of the future as motivation reflects the stark contrast between the mindsets of younger and older generations of people.
I’ll admit all this is simply anecdotal and opinionated, maybe even politically driven, and I remain very admiring of the wisdom of the older generation. To be honest, I myself am not even all that passionate about climate change involvement, even though it’s clearly a problem (perhaps I’m just lazy). We definitely face a unique set of challenges that require new, innovative solutions, and the insight of older people certainly couldn’t hurt us. At the end of the day, everybody has something to learn from a different generation, and I’m no different.
While I see your point about older generations criticizing our time management and our wasting of time on useless things like video games and youtube, I must also agree slightly with the older generations. They too were like us at some point, not with the same technology, but they too wasted their time when they were our age. I don't think it is simply a generational thing but also an age thing. I think one of the main reasons they criticize us is that they don't want us to make the same mistakes as they did. They realize, looking back on their life, that they may have been better off if they had put a little more effort in during our age and so I think their goal with their criticism is simply to help us not make their mistakes and to enjoy life later as opposed to during your youth. I do believe that you must take advantage of your youth and enjoy it while it lasts but we must also try to do something for the future. Maybe I have been intoxicated by the older generation's philosophy but I feel as though we should probably learn something from people who have been through very similar things to what we have been through.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the essay I think you did a great job of pointing out your viewpoint and then also reflecting upon the viewpoint and being honest (e.g. climate change).
I like that you continuously reiterate the important things that younger generations can learn from older generations. If you were to just list out what older generations could learn (spontinaity, excitement, innovation), it could seem like an attack, but you present your arguments in a very respectful way (which contrasts with how adults sometimes harshly address younger generations). We don't really learn anything about your life, but I think this is balanced out by what we learn about your worldview and how you think.
ReplyDeleteHonestly that last bit about climate change hits the mark. Even recognizing climate change as big a problem as it is, I don’t care as much about it (or at least make concrete efforts to prevent it) as I probably should. I think you showed a lot of interesting perspectives, and I like how you approached it with a bit of nuance as well. I do think it might add to your argument if you told a story of maybe why you have a certain idea or how this generational divide affected you, but it was still a good read overall. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou pose an intriguing argument in this essay. I agree with the point that in order to solve problems in a constantly-evolving world, you need to have a constantly-evolving mindset. I liked how you didn't pose old people as blatantly wrong, but made sure to mention that a lot of what you said is opinion. That brings multiple viewpoints and a conversational element to your essay. I also liked the humor in the last paragraph. I think that old people simply become less spontaneous and more rigid with age. They were just like us at some point, and I personally think that a lot of their "annoying" remarks are just pieces of advice in disguise. I also agree with your point in climate change. I think in that sector, we need to combine both the minds of the old and new generations in order to reach better solutions. Overall, good job.
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