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"You're young, you'll blah blah blah..."

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

It's becoming increasingly clear, that many people need to get their heads out of their asses when it comes to the younger generations. I can't make any rational decision without getting this line:

I am an atheist/non-theist. = Oh you're young, you'll grow out of it.

I like and would prefer to remain childfree. = Oh you're young, you'll grow out of it.

I like illegal substances, but don't smoke or drink. = Oh you're young, you'll grow out of it.

Can't a person be young AND intelligent anymore? Yes...I'm young (according to you)..thank you for pointing that out to me. Not only is it dismissive, offensive, and ignorant to assume that my being 21 (or whatever age, it doesn't really seem to matter) means I have no life experience or no intelligence to make life choices, it's also quite annoying.

Now I'm not saying that my generation is the smartest bunch ever (that's clearly not the case), but I am saying that using age as a barometer of how wise/intelligent/experienced a person is, won't apply to all "youths". I could be the wisest mofo on the planet, and you've dismissed me because you deem me to be "young" (which incidentally makes you an ahole in my eyes).

What is being young anyways? What is youth? This short window of opportunity, to make stupid choices and to learn from them without much responsibility? To be naive to the ways of the world? And considering the definition of naive, I know I'd rather not be that..especially if that's what being "young" means. And who has authority to use such a line anyways? Isn't someone always "young" to someone else, no matter their age? My mom is young compared to her mother and father, I'm young compared to all my siblings, and my nieces and nephews are young compared to me.

When does the cycle of ageism and youth discrimination end? (not to sound..melodramatic, lol)

Thoughts, questions, comments, concerns? Post em up!

Tags: choices, life, wisdom, young, youth

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nick Blair on August 11, 2010 at 10:50am

How the hell is this a 7 page discussion?

I can't imagine that there would be such a debate over whether or not one person is justified in telling another how they will or will not live their life.

People are individuals, and free make their own decisions; is this actually hard for anyone to understand? Sure, a society of people might tend to display patterns, and pointing out those patterns seems perfectly justifiable...but to assert that it is just a matter of time before an individual submits to these patterns is foolish beyond my capacity for description.

If nobody is asking you, mind your own fucking business and stop telling younger people how they should or shouldn't live their lives.

End of fucking story.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Jones on August 11, 2010 at 5:10pm

While your completly right and giving them the finger is want my alter ego wants to do. I also have to see the intentions behind it. If they are saying it because they really feel they are helping and they are not doing it in a mean spirited way, I nod and say "Oh grandpa you are so silly" and move on. If they say it with what I percieve as negitive intentions and use language and tones that are condescending and rude i let my dark passenger tell them to fuck off and die.

/End of story (lol)

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Permalink Reply by Nabil Ashour on August 13, 2010 at 2:23pm

Usualy when I post something people are outraged and a heated debate rages on first condemning my views as being totally unfounded then continues for days until the point I had made is finally reached by the very people that found me outrageous. Thats why this topic is wicked long. because people need to feel they know more than me.

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Permalink Reply by nick altman on August 12, 2010 at 3:27pm

When I was a child and a teenager, I despised being underestimated or ignored because I was young. But there is a reason for young people being dismissed by the older, and you'll understand when you're older. Hell, being 21 already, you should see how silly it is to see 14 year olds trying to take certain parts of life and their views far too seriously.

In many ways, I am still that child who had "an old soul", but in time I've seen age brings with it a certain degree of comfort and familiarity with yourself and life that only sitting there and experiencing it for a few decades will bring, no matter how brilliant you are at deductions or proficient at imagining life through other people's eyes. And seeing younger people make huge statements about what they will or won't ever do is silly to the "older folks", because we all know how much room there is to change your mind, no matter how certain of things you are when you're young.

You may feel like you're being dismissed, but you'll most likely agree with it in time. The vast majority of people are not well developed individuals until they've gotten used to being alive more. And it's frustrating to hear that just not being old enough somehow deprives you of something when you seem to see so much more about things than many of these older people, but just be thankful you have something to look forward to. The sad part is, most people would die to go back to the passion and endless horizons youth brings with it.

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Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on August 13, 2010 at 10:31am

As a former teacher of 30 years I dealt daily with young whippersnappers (get off my dad gum lawn). I always tried to interact with them the way my father did with me. Dad never said one of my ideas were stupid (although some were monumentally stupid); he would just ask me a series of "what ifs" which would generally lead me to the conclusion that it was a stupid idea. On the other hand, occasionally he would tell me it was a good idea and would act on it. As I grew older he solicited my advice more often.
Today I ask for the opinion and help from my daughters, son in laws and even my grandkids as they are far more versed in many things that I'm not. But, I do find myself falling back on the "I'm older" dodge from time to time because many of the issues and problems they have to deal with I have already navigated and can offer some reality based advice.
The energy and fresh views of youth can benefit from the experiences of their elders and visa versa.

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Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on August 13, 2010 at 11:54am

The older I got the smarter he seemed.

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Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on August 13, 2010 at 1:15pm

The energy and fresh views of youth can benefit from the experiences of their elders and visa versa.

After scribbling the above I saw an article that fits this post presisely
In the early stages of a company, being protected from external influences can be a powerful stimulant for creativity and innovation. Why? For the same reason that we often see some of the most creative and entrepreneurial insights coming from younger people. Wisdom and experience help to grow and sustain a company, but generating novel ideas requires a certain amount of naïveté. In the context of entrepreneurship and idea generation, ignorance equals open-mindedness. An empty mind is an open one — it is empty of bias, empty of past experience, and empty of external critique.
Being unencumbered by external opinions allows two critical entrepreneurial traits to thrive: creativity and conviction. The former is most important during the early think-big stages of a company, and the latter is vital to mobilizing the team to execute with excellence

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Permalink Reply by Abnormal on November 6, 2010 at 2:02pm

I would argue this generation is a lot more intelligent then some previous generations. We have a great deal of information about technology and more of us are actually getting into college then previous generations.