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What do I value in old people? Patience, compassion, wisdom, experience, self-awareness, skepticism, faith, perspective, financial maturity, honesty, thrift, pe

What do I value in old people? Patience, compassion, wisdom, experience, self-awareness, skepticism, faith, perspective, financial maturity, honesty, thrift, perserverance, self-sacrifice, wit. Not only does technology not diminish any of that value, I find that technology makes those qualities even more valuable.

alttab 17y ago
I echoed this on the blog but this was my response: I agree with Gary. Not only relationships, but emotional maturity, and even more so now than ever HUMILITY… will only be learned with time. I don’t think the value of old people has declined, as much as our appreciation for them.
randallsquared 17y ago
I think a lot of those attributes are less valuable in today's world, mostly for technological reasons. :) Patience: everything from fast food to ATMs to self-checkout at the grocery has made patience nearly unnecessary compared to a hundred years ago. Wisdom / experience / skepticism / perspective: most of what passes for 'wisdom' is merely knowledge; many such things are right (but mostly can be Googled), and many such things are wrong (because the sample was too limited -- the saw about anecdote vs data applies). In any case, I think it's far more rare to be wise than old. All these seem like they're aspects of the same thing. Faith: Unless you meant 'trust', I'd say this isn't a net good, anyway. If you did mean 'trust', then I'd say it goes more with youth and innocence than the elderly. Financial maturity: I grew up poor, and having lots of poor, old people around will disabuse you of the notion that older people are necessarily financially mature; this is more a function of class than age. Honesty: With pervasive surveillance, we're about to be forced into being more honest than people have ever been. This is actually more likely to affect the young first, rather than the old, as various MySpace and Facebook scandals have already shown. At some point, people will begin acting as though everything they do is on camera. Some of us already are. Thrift / self-sacrifice: There's less and less need for this, as we're immensely more wealthy than we used to be, and in spite of the gloom and doom about the economy, that's likely to continue without some really massive government intervention. Perserverance / wit: These seem like personal qualities independent of age, in my experience. I accidentally downvoted you (while selecting text); sorry. :(
- jimbokun 17y ago
  "Thrift / self-sacrifice: There's less and less need for this, as we're immensely more wealthy than we used to be," I think this makes the argument for the financial wisdom of the old better than anything else you could say (assuming, of course, you're not "old" yourself). EDIT: Ok, anyone want to argue that we were not in need of more thrift over the last decade?
- GiraffeNecktie 17y ago
  Patience: The little things are faster butthe big things don't change much. Technology does not speed up raising a child, preparing for retirement, learning a language, understanding what my life's about. "Most of what passes for 'wisdom' is merely knowledge" - Perhaps. But I'd also suggest that many young people wouldn't know wisdom if it bit them on the ass. And no, wisdom can't be "googled". Faith: No I don't mean trust. And I don't mean religion. Financial maturity: I'm not saying that old people are "necessarily" anything. But people that have learned to manage their affairs through many decades may have learned something useful. I'm just saying. Honesty: Personal surveillance? WTF? I'm not talking about stealing candy bars from the corner store. I'm talking about living long enough that you're comfortable being real with the world. Thrift/self: "There's less and less need for this" Oh really? Perservance / wit: I do respect and admire the perserverance of someone who's ploughed through four years of graduate school. I have tons of respect for someone who's been on the line for their family/colleagues/whatever for 50 or 60. I find young people often mistake being clever for wit.

alttab 17y ago

I echoed this on the blog but this was my response: I agree with Gary. Not only relationships, but emotional maturity, and even more so now than ever HUMILITY… will only be learned with time. I don’t think the value of old people has declined, as much as our appreciation for them.

randallsquared 17y ago

I think a lot of those attributes are less valuable in today's world, mostly for technological reasons. :) Patience: everything from fast food to ATMs to self-checkout at the grocery has made patience nearly unnecessary compared to a hundred years ago. Wisdom / experience / skepticism / perspective: most of what passes for 'wisdom' is merely knowledge; many such things are right (but mostly can be Googled), and many such things are wrong (because the sample was too limited -- the saw about anecdote vs data applies). In any case, I think it's far more rare to be wise than old. All these seem like they're aspects of the same thing. Faith: Unless you meant 'trust', I'd say this isn't a net good, anyway. If you did mean 'trust', then I'd say it goes more with youth and innocence than the elderly. Financial maturity: I grew up poor, and having lots of poor, old people around will disabuse you of the notion that older people are necessarily financially mature; this is more a function of class than age. Honesty: With pervasive surveillance, we're about to be forced into being more honest than people have ever been. This is actually more likely to affect the young first, rather than the old, as various MySpace and Facebook scandals have already shown. At some point, people will begin acting as though everything they do is on camera. Some of us already are. Thrift / self-sacrifice: There's less and less need for this, as we're immensely more wealthy than we used to be, and in spite of the gloom and doom about the economy, that's likely to continue without some really massive government intervention. Perserverance / wit: These seem like personal qualities independent of age, in my experience. I accidentally downvoted you (while selecting text); sorry. :(

jimbokun 17y ago
"Thrift / self-sacrifice: There's less and less need for this, as we're immensely more wealthy than we used to be," I think this makes the argument for the financial wisdom of the old better than anything else you could say (assuming, of course, you're not "old" yourself). EDIT: Ok, anyone want to argue that we were not in need of more thrift over the last decade?
GiraffeNecktie 17y ago
Patience: The little things are faster butthe big things don't change much. Technology does not speed up raising a child, preparing for retirement, learning a language, understanding what my life's about. "Most of what passes for 'wisdom' is merely knowledge" - Perhaps. But I'd also suggest that many young people wouldn't know wisdom if it bit them on the ass. And no, wisdom can't be "googled". Faith: No I don't mean trust. And I don't mean religion. Financial maturity: I'm not saying that old people are "necessarily" anything. But people that have learned to manage their affairs through many decades may have learned something useful. I'm just saying. Honesty: Personal surveillance? WTF? I'm not talking about stealing candy bars from the corner store. I'm talking about living long enough that you're comfortable being real with the world. Thrift/self: "There's less and less need for this" Oh really? Perservance / wit: I do respect and admire the perserverance of someone who's ploughed through four years of graduate school. I have tons of respect for someone who's been on the line for their family/colleagues/whatever for 50 or 60. I find young people often mistake being clever for wit.