- Since time immemorial, humankind has revelled in welcoming, accepting, assessing, and acting upon advice from the elderly on diverse topics/issues/endeavours, aiding in the overall progression of the race itself. As we are aware, right from the time human beings started evolving by fully using their mental faculties, the role essayed by the elderly has been reverential, to say the least. The wisdom so gained by the enterprising individuals having underwent rigmarole and the grind is always considered invaluable in the larger interests. Even the governments formed with the political leaders have a certain experience, with mostly the aged heading the governance, with the help of equally experienced others fitting into diverse verticals of administration.
PC: www.teachtoearn.in
- So much so that the elderly in the family, society, and the government are duly respected for their wisdom, insight, outlook, and expertise in diverse matters of interest. As we know, we inhabit the present-day world, considered the most advanced, with extremely awesome inventions unearthed, much to the delight of the global community. The younger generation, exposed to these cutting-edge technologies, considers itself no pushovers, often sniggering at the pearls of wisdom coming forth from the senior citizens. Reasonably, the geriatric opinions are not always considered as the gospel truth nor practically adaptable. Generally speaking, no one can dispute the fact that elders have been there and done that.
PC: India Today
- The moot point to ponder over here is whether the elders always provide good advice. Sometimes, yes. Always, no. What the youngsters should do is to filter those through their own context. Recently, when Sam Altman told an auditorium full of IITians that listening to old people is the biggest mistake young people make, the applause was expected. He seems to have been referring to traditional career advice in particular. And on that front, the man is bang on. Stock market jitters are just one indicator of how AI-related technologies are upending different industry sectors. Conceptually, however, we have been here before. The explosion of Indians’ careers post-1991 liberalisation took a lot of saying no to the fam, who feared every new-fangled choice.
PC: x.com
- Further, parents who have lived a ‘just stick to this job and you’ll own a home’ life are forever trying to rein in their children’s career adventures. Even when economic reality has literally become unrecognizable from one gen to the next. There are uglier sides to this paternalism, as when elders try to drag the next generation inside the cage in which they have lived. And living by someone else’s code, a person never gets to discover what their own, true self is. This is a life lived incompletely. And it stops society from healing its open wounds. Elders’ life experience, resilience, and practical wisdom can be invaluable. The real harm is when generational authority overrides individual agency. The real mistake is not listening to old people but listening uncritically.
