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Being terrified of people who are smarter, wiser, more competent that you is not a healthy reaction. The world is not a hunger games (at least, not yet), so som

by badpun 2y ago

Being terrified of people who are smarter, wiser, more competent that you is not a healthy reaction. The world is not a hunger games (at least, not yet), so someone being better than you is not an immediate threat to you. However, the writer seems to be a self-centered and hyperambitious kind of person, in which case someone else's success can be seen as a diminishment of one's own accomplishments ("How am I going to climb to the very top if there are some many older people who are better than me?"). But that's obviously unhinged. There's a good chance this guy will cringe hard once he rereads this post in 10-20 years.

AndrewDucker 2y ago
He is not literally terrified. Reading his post there is no actual terror there. He's impressed with them and how much they've learned, and appreciating the amount of change and growth that happens over a lifetime.
- badpun 2y ago
  What about this: > Which makes me think: I have like 5 years of experience of real life. What kind of tricks under their belts do people in their 50s, 60s, 70s have? What kinds of crazy heuristics and meta-heuristics they’ve got in their minds, hearts, and muscles after decades of poking the world? I have no clue and this is what makes me really worried about them.
  - AndrewDucker 2y ago
    Fair. I think I was taking that as hyperbole, but I could be wrong.
  - denton-scratch 2y ago
    The jiu-jitsu of older people (not really counting 50s) is simply that they know what they can and can't achieve, because they've mostly done whatever they're going to do. Sure, some over-60s have great things before them; but that's unusual. So on the whole, older folk aren't struggling to prove themselves; and they pretty much know who they are. Also, they've taken the knocks: they've faced physical injury, the pain of rejection, and often the kinds of illnesses that young people rarely get. They carry the scars and bruises. Perhaps what scares the author isn't old people as such, but rather the experiences they've had that the author has yet to face.
  - figassis 2y ago
    He’s not talking from a place of fear. He’s in awe after having just realized the gap might be wider than he thought, and that looking at his past interactions with old people, where they’re usually intentionally hiding this gap, he fears how he can never know when he’s being foolish while thinking he’s the smartest person in the room.
- WesolyKubeczek 2y ago
  Just wait when he discovers that lots of old people got where they are by just going with the flow.
  - AndrewDucker 2y ago
    Oh yeah, I don't think he's right. I think he's extrapolated from him learning a lot in 5 years and assumed that everyone does that and that the curve keeps going.
smodo 2y ago
Yes. Also, one of the pearls of wisdom gained with age is that young people will inevitably overestimate themselves. So all OP’s cleverness was at the time probably received with a mixture of annoyance and sympathetic chuckling. I know that’s how I feel when the next 25 year old tries to sell me some profound insight that’s been repackaged by consultants and gurus for 40 years. But it’s fine, enjoy your youth and make your discoveries. We all have to, it’s what makes life fun.
lotsofpulp 2y ago
I don’t know about Hunger Games, but older people’s interest in maintaining their socioeconomic position in society explains a ton of politics around the world, and the struggles young people find themselves in. There are a greater and greater proportion of people that need to be able to get labor from a smaller and smaller proportion of younger people, which basically means a need to make rents go up either via taxes or investments. The investments portion is seen as devaluation of currency. Although, that is not what the linked article is talking about.
m463 2y ago
> Being terrified of people who are smarter, wiser, more competent that you is not a healthy reaction. The draft never touched the current generation... ;)
BlueTemplar 2y ago
Yeah, he never explains or even expands on that part. Mind you, not just fear, terror !

by badpun 2y ago

AndrewDucker 2y ago

He is not literally terrified. Reading his post there is no actual terror there. He's impressed with them and how much they've learned, and appreciating the amount of change and growth that happens over a lifetime.

badpun 2y ago
What about this: > Which makes me think: I have like 5 years of experience of real life. What kind of tricks under their belts do people in their 50s, 60s, 70s have? What kinds of crazy heuristics and meta-heuristics they’ve got in their minds, hearts, and muscles after decades of poking the world? I have no clue and this is what makes me really worried about them.
- AndrewDucker 2y ago
  Fair. I think I was taking that as hyperbole, but I could be wrong.
- denton-scratch 2y ago
  The jiu-jitsu of older people (not really counting 50s) is simply that they know what they can and can't achieve, because they've mostly done whatever they're going to do. Sure, some over-60s have great things before them; but that's unusual. So on the whole, older folk aren't struggling to prove themselves; and they pretty much know who they are. Also, they've taken the knocks: they've faced physical injury, the pain of rejection, and often the kinds of illnesses that young people rarely get. They carry the scars and bruises. Perhaps what scares the author isn't old people as such, but rather the experiences they've had that the author has yet to face.
- figassis 2y ago
  He’s not talking from a place of fear. He’s in awe after having just realized the gap might be wider than he thought, and that looking at his past interactions with old people, where they’re usually intentionally hiding this gap, he fears how he can never know when he’s being foolish while thinking he’s the smartest person in the room.
WesolyKubeczek 2y ago
Just wait when he discovers that lots of old people got where they are by just going with the flow.
- AndrewDucker 2y ago
  Oh yeah, I don't think he's right. I think he's extrapolated from him learning a lot in 5 years and assumed that everyone does that and that the curve keeps going.

smodo 2y ago

Yes. Also, one of the pearls of wisdom gained with age is that young people will inevitably overestimate themselves. So all OP’s cleverness was at the time probably received with a mixture of annoyance and sympathetic chuckling. I know that’s how I feel when the next 25 year old tries to sell me some profound insight that’s been repackaged by consultants and gurus for 40 years. But it’s fine, enjoy your youth and make your discoveries. We all have to, it’s what makes life fun.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

I don’t know about Hunger Games, but older people’s interest in maintaining their socioeconomic position in society explains a ton of politics around the world, and the struggles young people find themselves in. There are a greater and greater proportion of people that need to be able to get labor from a smaller and smaller proportion of younger people, which basically means a need to make rents go up either via taxes or investments. The investments portion is seen as devaluation of currency. Although, that is not what the linked article is talking about.

m463 2y ago

> Being terrified of people who are smarter, wiser, more competent that you is not a healthy reaction. The draft never touched the current generation... ;)

BlueTemplar 2y ago

Yeah, he never explains or even expands on that part. Mind you, not just fear, terror !