George Santayana is credited with first making an oft-quoted statement along the lines of: ‘Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’
In the UK at present, our news coverage is largely filled with daily claims and counter-claims on both sides of the EU Referendum argument for staying or leaving. While I have my own personal views, I do not use this blog for political purposes. I have however noticed one common theme not specifically related to the topic which I have observed elsewhere, that seems to have reared its head a lot in recent months. I am talking about the dismissal of life experience and the wisdom it affords, by the younger generation.
Just this morning I switched channels past a breakfast TV programme, where the ‘Remain’ campaign were building a strategy to convince university students to vote in favour of staying in. The representative was making the point that the future does not belong to their parents and grandparents, but to the young. Ergo: they should supposedly not give two hoots about what the older generation (who largely wish to leave the EU) are considering to do on polling day.
While nobody is disputing the simple fact that the future does belong mostly to the young, it was the dismissive tone which brought to mind other similar experiences of late.
It seems to be a curiously western phenomenon that growing old is viewed as a negative thing. People are desperate to reverse the appearance of ageing, some employers don’t like to take on staff beyond a certain (sometimes very low) age limit, and it appears that the older you are the less relevant you and your opinions become. Old and young have little interaction, and the divide is then further widened by the creation of stereotypes from perceptions based on that isolation.
I know from changes in my own life over the course of time, that even reaching middle-age can lead to viewing bygone days with an exaggerated halcyon glow. But to discount all of that life experience when you are young and have virtually none, seems like utter madness. When one looks at the universe, one observes that change is really the only constant. Change can be uncomfortable, but there is little growth without it. Sometimes what appears to be new and exciting or ‘different,’ is however just something from the past dressed up in new clothes. Those who are students of history or have lived long enough to see how cyclical human civilization can be, are often instinctively aware of this. Centuries come and go, but human beings have the same needs, drives, faults and failings.
In traditional oriental cultures, older people are frequently treated with reverence and awe. Folk realise they have something to offer that cannot be taught in a classroom, or obtained by any other means than the life each represents. Every older person is a repository of knowledge, wisdom, and individual experience of history within that culture.
Sometimes after visiting such cultures, a traveller may comment at how backwards they are and that nothing has changed there for generations. Could it be that they have embraced and incorporated the wisdom of their elders, and avoided fighting the same wars and struggles with newer weapons and different names as other cultures have done? Perhaps in that regard change is an illusion, and the old saw ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same,’ has an additional hidden message for us?
If we were to make the same choice and accord our elders a little more respect, maybe we could step off the cyclical wheel of history. Folks, it’s time to take a tangent.
Recently I read an on-line thread where people of various ages and experiences were discussing Winston Churchill and the sacrifices made for freedom in the last world war. A couple of nineteen year-old contributors stated that a war and person from seventy years ago had absolutely no relevance to their lives today. Whether or not the tone of their comments was meant to be disrespectful, it still shows the same disconnection that makes Santayana’s quote so sadly timeless. Within twenty years we will pretty much lose the last of the World War 2 veterans. Could it be that despite the fact new technology and young people intimidate them, they have something of value to offer this world that nobody else can?
At school, we were taught to research information from as many sources as possible when writing essays or making important decisions. In those pre-Internet days, this largely came down to visiting libraries and museums, and (ideally) meeting somebody who had lived through said era if the topic was recent enough. We weren't bombarded with information, but then it also wasn't available in bite-sized chunks and vapid sound-bites or memes. You actually had to take time to read a lot of material, which gave you a much broader understanding of the topic.
The future belongs to the young, but it was given to us by the old. We only have them with us for a while, and when they are gone this world loses a lot. Here’s hoping our culture will finally learn to fill-in the ‘age gap,’ for the benefit of all.
In the UK at present, our news coverage is largely filled with daily claims and counter-claims on both sides of the EU Referendum argument for staying or leaving. While I have my own personal views, I do not use this blog for political purposes. I have however noticed one common theme not specifically related to the topic which I have observed elsewhere, that seems to have reared its head a lot in recent months. I am talking about the dismissal of life experience and the wisdom it affords, by the younger generation.
Just this morning I switched channels past a breakfast TV programme, where the ‘Remain’ campaign were building a strategy to convince university students to vote in favour of staying in. The representative was making the point that the future does not belong to their parents and grandparents, but to the young. Ergo: they should supposedly not give two hoots about what the older generation (who largely wish to leave the EU) are considering to do on polling day.
While nobody is disputing the simple fact that the future does belong mostly to the young, it was the dismissive tone which brought to mind other similar experiences of late.
It seems to be a curiously western phenomenon that growing old is viewed as a negative thing. People are desperate to reverse the appearance of ageing, some employers don’t like to take on staff beyond a certain (sometimes very low) age limit, and it appears that the older you are the less relevant you and your opinions become. Old and young have little interaction, and the divide is then further widened by the creation of stereotypes from perceptions based on that isolation.
I know from changes in my own life over the course of time, that even reaching middle-age can lead to viewing bygone days with an exaggerated halcyon glow. But to discount all of that life experience when you are young and have virtually none, seems like utter madness. When one looks at the universe, one observes that change is really the only constant. Change can be uncomfortable, but there is little growth without it. Sometimes what appears to be new and exciting or ‘different,’ is however just something from the past dressed up in new clothes. Those who are students of history or have lived long enough to see how cyclical human civilization can be, are often instinctively aware of this. Centuries come and go, but human beings have the same needs, drives, faults and failings.
In traditional oriental cultures, older people are frequently treated with reverence and awe. Folk realise they have something to offer that cannot be taught in a classroom, or obtained by any other means than the life each represents. Every older person is a repository of knowledge, wisdom, and individual experience of history within that culture.
Sometimes after visiting such cultures, a traveller may comment at how backwards they are and that nothing has changed there for generations. Could it be that they have embraced and incorporated the wisdom of their elders, and avoided fighting the same wars and struggles with newer weapons and different names as other cultures have done? Perhaps in that regard change is an illusion, and the old saw ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same,’ has an additional hidden message for us?
If we were to make the same choice and accord our elders a little more respect, maybe we could step off the cyclical wheel of history. Folks, it’s time to take a tangent.
Recently I read an on-line thread where people of various ages and experiences were discussing Winston Churchill and the sacrifices made for freedom in the last world war. A couple of nineteen year-old contributors stated that a war and person from seventy years ago had absolutely no relevance to their lives today. Whether or not the tone of their comments was meant to be disrespectful, it still shows the same disconnection that makes Santayana’s quote so sadly timeless. Within twenty years we will pretty much lose the last of the World War 2 veterans. Could it be that despite the fact new technology and young people intimidate them, they have something of value to offer this world that nobody else can?
At school, we were taught to research information from as many sources as possible when writing essays or making important decisions. In those pre-Internet days, this largely came down to visiting libraries and museums, and (ideally) meeting somebody who had lived through said era if the topic was recent enough. We weren't bombarded with information, but then it also wasn't available in bite-sized chunks and vapid sound-bites or memes. You actually had to take time to read a lot of material, which gave you a much broader understanding of the topic.
The future belongs to the young, but it was given to us by the old. We only have them with us for a while, and when they are gone this world loses a lot. Here’s hoping our culture will finally learn to fill-in the ‘age gap,’ for the benefit of all.
