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I'm 29, and I'm not a hiring manager, but here's where my ageism lies: People in their 60s tend to be less open to new experiences. My ~50 year old guitar teac

I'm 29, and I'm not a hiring manager, but here's where my ageism lies: People in their 60s tend to be less open to new experiences. My ~50 year old guitar teacher told me a story about how he refused to even try guitar hero. I agree that, as an accomplished musicians, it would be kind of insulting to be asked to play guitar hero by your student. But it's such a good opportunity to learn where the student is coming from, and understand how it could teach timing and patterns, even if it doesn't teach fingering or picking. My ~65 year old dad is still working as a consultant and actively gives paid speeches, and he plays a lot of solitaire and minesweeper on the computer. I've tried to get him to try a few videos game-- I even pitched Kerbal Space Program, from the educational aspect of understand our own space program better. (When I was in D.C. at the National Air and Space Museum, I was recognizing parts that KSP had copied the models of.) He has no interest in it. My mom, and my aunts on both side of the family are extremely stubborn about their political beliefs, and phrase their responses as: "oh, well, I believe that ____". Not trying to seek a consensus, not trying to crack an argument. Just laying out their own belief. (Their political beliefs range from: common Democrat, pro-choice conservative, global-focused liberal.) I get the idea that, as we grow older, we've kind of discovered what we like and what we don't like. I usually just have Cookies & Cream ice cream, because it's my favorite. I don't try rocky road again because the nuts give it a bad texture. But if a young person strongly recommended Rocky Road Version 5, I hope I would try it for the sake of trying it. So that's where my ageism comes from. I've told my younger brother to call me out on not being open to new experiences, if that's something that happens to me in my old age. At the very least, it'll be a good source of brotherly humor.

danielschonfeld 11y ago
That! but with a grain of salt. Unopenness and the self proclaimed belief in one's abiltities/thoughts/notions all based on "I'm older, I've been there" is the root of friction between young and older employees causing valuable loss of productivity in such homogenous groups. Even more important tho and less of a subjective statement, I think most jobs today are menial in that technology offers a lot and the humans powering those jobs are really only doing a lot of rote stuff that can easily be taught. In such an environment, is it a surprise to anybody that an employer would always wanted to dump seniority over a junior employee that costs less and is just as trainable? Also in jobs requiring more than just rote menial production from the employee, quality of the service given has been lowered to a very low baseline. With that again, experience is tossed out of the window and with it the costs that are associated paying for it.
TinyTimZamboni 11y ago
I spent a summer regularly exercising with a group of friends who were all in the 50-80 age range (and they kicked my butt). One day there was a conversation like this: "You know who I saw the other day? Nancy!" "How's she doing?" "Well, she's OLD" "Yeah, that happens" "How does that happen anyway? One day they're your friend, the next they're old and only complain about their health" "It's because they stop hanging out with young people".
hwstar 11y ago
Maybe for some that's true. But not for me. When I was laid off, I learned Python, and Verilog, designed hardware and firmware several projects on Github. I've not been sitting around idle. The problem as I see it is a lack of good opportunities. There used to be lots of companies in San Diego looking for hardware or electrical engineers, but in San Diego, now it's only medical device companies and defence contractors. (Both of which I'm not fond of). I've also been looking into starting my own consulting business, but within my network, the opportunities aren't there.
chrismcb 11y ago
While there is again of truth in what you say, I think your arguments are flawed. I think there are plenty of accomplished musicians who would play guitar hero, nothing insulting in that. Plenty of people, you young and old saw your "I believe..." There is a huge difference between paying solitaire and Kerby space... Kerby has a bit of learning curve and time investment, solitaire and minesweeper take just minutes. Yes some old people are set in their ways. But you hire and older person because of their experience. Not because they want to try new things

danielschonfeld 11y ago

That! but with a grain of salt. Unopenness and the self proclaimed belief in one's abiltities/thoughts/notions all based on "I'm older, I've been there" is the root of friction between young and older employees causing valuable loss of productivity in such homogenous groups. Even more important tho and less of a subjective statement, I think most jobs today are menial in that technology offers a lot and the humans powering those jobs are really only doing a lot of rote stuff that can easily be taught. In such an environment, is it a surprise to anybody that an employer would always wanted to dump seniority over a junior employee that costs less and is just as trainable? Also in jobs requiring more than just rote menial production from the employee, quality of the service given has been lowered to a very low baseline. With that again, experience is tossed out of the window and with it the costs that are associated paying for it.

TinyTimZamboni 11y ago

I spent a summer regularly exercising with a group of friends who were all in the 50-80 age range (and they kicked my butt). One day there was a conversation like this: "You know who I saw the other day? Nancy!" "How's she doing?" "Well, she's OLD" "Yeah, that happens" "How does that happen anyway? One day they're your friend, the next they're old and only complain about their health" "It's because they stop hanging out with young people".

hwstar 11y ago

Maybe for some that's true. But not for me. When I was laid off, I learned Python, and Verilog, designed hardware and firmware several projects on Github. I've not been sitting around idle. The problem as I see it is a lack of good opportunities. There used to be lots of companies in San Diego looking for hardware or electrical engineers, but in San Diego, now it's only medical device companies and defence contractors. (Both of which I'm not fond of). I've also been looking into starting my own consulting business, but within my network, the opportunities aren't there.

chrismcb 11y ago

While there is again of truth in what you say, I think your arguments are flawed. I think there are plenty of accomplished musicians who would play guitar hero, nothing insulting in that. Plenty of people, you young and old saw your "I believe..." There is a huge difference between paying solitaire and Kerby space... Kerby has a bit of learning curve and time investment, solitaire and minesweeper take just minutes. Yes some old people are set in their ways. But you hire and older person because of their experience. Not because they want to try new things