Some interesting thoughts about age and views etc...
- as you get older your perspective and view on life changes
- I think there is no doubt that you need life experience and time / age to get the perspective an older person has
- however, what no-one has been able to define is which perspective is correct (that of youth / that of the older generation)
- perhaps in reality we need both, and therefore both are right?
- I think that when you are younger you need that perspective, without the optimism and energy, the self-belief and enthusiasm who would go forwards into life and build their life, their community, their society?
- But when you are older and a little more world-weary, perhaps a little more cynical and cautious, then those views help balance the raw energy of youth
so it is in having different views that actually as a society we benefit - it is why as someone who is 44 (and therefore at their peak and always right
) I enjoy spending time with teenagers / young twenties and seeing new and different perspectives, a belief that the world can and should change - but equally I enjoy spending time with those 20 years older and understanding their wisdom and views on life...
where I think that we (society) are possibly getting it wrong is where one group (whether majority, or increasingly minority) insists that to respect them as people everyone else must agree with their views - that is so wrong it is scary - to have that approach is hypocritical, it means that they don't respect in the other direction - but sadly we seem to have governments without the understanding to prevent that and increasingly unless you agree with a minority's views you are considered to be out of order - not so, you can respect their right to have their own views, without agreeing with them...
and surely that is a part of what we understand on here, when we talk about driving, yes there is established wisdom, but equally there can be many ways of achieving the same end - we respect each other and hopefully learn from a difference of views... so when it comes to discussions like the one above, we shouldn't be looking for agreement of views - simply respect for each other - which on the one hand can mean hearing something you are not comfortable with, but acknowledging that it is not directed personallly, and on the other, perhaps leaving something unsaid at times... Sadly with the medium in which we communicate that former is easier, the latter much harder as we don't know fully the people reading... However I think that actually we have a great balance on here so personally I would hope that we all carry on posting, sometimes making mistakes, but moving forward as a community...
Alasdair