IT’S NOT only the era in which one has been born, nor the life experiences one has gathered, and the lessons learned from those through the years, that distinguish and separate young people from those whom they label as old.
Quite a mouthful, yes, but that’s one puzzle I’ve tried, through the years, to answer for myself.
Whatever name it goes by, be it perspective, mindset, or intuition, it is largely influenced by the limitations of what (or think) we know.
Thus, the opinions that come forth from these have flaws in themselves, totally coated by whatever posturing we have, be it confidence, hubris, or arrogance.
Idealistic pronouncements by young people always seem to touch a nerve in elders. I’ve seen it countless times from parents and others older than us.
When the ‘elder’ roles are eventually passed on to us, it’s our turn to have similar reactions, be they amusement, irritation or agreement. Be that as it may, we accept, as though these were an inheritance from our parents and elders. And so it goes.
There is an air of arrogance in the youth of all generations. That’s one reality. The second thing to learn. That is up for the generations that came before to find out and interpret it differently. And further down it goes. The same is true with pretense.
Each generation has a trait that’s masked as confidence or the state of being sure of what one knows. No generation has ever come forward, declaring, duh, I know nothing, so teach me.
Perhaps that partly explains the tumultuous stages of adolescence and high school. Going blindly without so much as fear of consequences, armed only with a thin coat of confidence which we term as daring.
Some studies, however, show that young ones at those stages act as such because sections of our frontal lobe have yet to be developed. Thus the recklessness. Whatever.
Just recently, a young mind has intimated that she has adopted J.Mitchell’s song, “Both Sides Now,” as her life story.
Deep down I wondered, how could such a younger mind say she had looked at life so fully when she has only lived not even half of what old people have?
Say that again after 60 or so years. Don’t get it wrong. That’s not arrogance or what-do-you-know attitude from an old fart. It’s just the way it is.
Enjoy each day and don’t look so far ahead; you’ve to worry about what you’ll turn out to be tomorrow.
Therefore, go blindly, with innocent or wild abandon, out to where none have gone before.
It may not be so reassuring, I know, but at least for the time being, before that frontal lobe has fully developed, that keeps you out of the rut that you know everything already.
.
