“Listen to your elder’s advice. Not because they are always right, but because they have more experience of being wrong.”
-Anonymous
Old people offer advice to spare younger people making wrong decisions that will cause them pain. We have the best of intentions—we want to help them make better choices that will guarantee better jobs, better partners, a better life. But do the younger generations pay attention? Do they really think we have anything to say? Do young people, with their minds and fingers engaged in playing video games or texting, have any respect for their grandparent who is struggling to use a cell phone?
What Has Happened Here?
We are all aware of the hectic pace of change today. Startling new innovations are part of every young person’s life. Most of us know about these:
- The Internet
- The iphone
- Applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
Every senior is faced with learning these advances from the ground up—to some, it’s like learning an entirely new language—and old people are being left further and further behind. Never before, in all of history, have the generations been so far apart in the transfer of knowledge.
We learned from the Generations Before Us
Today’s old people were the knowledge-bearers of yesterday. Teachers knew the curriculum and taught young scholars the mystery of science and mathematics using nothing but a book and a blackboard. Parents passed on their knowledge about hunting and fishing, building houses and boats, cooking and sewing. In many cases, survival was at stake. Dads knew everything. I remember my grandson at the age of six, proudly saying, “My Grandpa can do anything!” But today’s six-year-old could be text-messaging a friend at a rapid pace, while his grandfather is confused about how to answer his own phone.
The closest parallel in history might be the situation our grandparents faced when coming to the “New World”, with a few English words at their command. Within a few weeks their children, who learned language much quicker, were interpreting for their elders. It is not reassuring to know that some of these immigrants fumbled with their new language for the rest of their lives. Like them, some of us feel like newcomers in this new technological land, and may never master the innovations we need to simply get by.
Why Should Younger People Listen to Us?
Jennifer Wegerer in her article, Best Advice from Seniors, suggests that advice has the power to save younger generations from creating disaster and havoc in their lives. Advice from elders, unlike information found on the internet, stems from the tried and true experience gained from their long lives. Elders took risks, made errors, and learned from their mistakes. They remember what worked and what didn’t work.
A study led by Dr. Darrell Worthy at the University of Texas shows that Seniors are better at decision-making:
- Seniors take longer to make a decision
- Seniors make better financial decisions
- Seniors make better strategic life decisions
The study concludes,
“While university-age participants were quicker to make choices which led to immediate rewards, another group aged 60 to 80 were much more adept at taking strategic decisions which took future stages into account.”
What We Can Do
How do we carve out a place of respect for ourselves in this fast-paced world? How do we ask our grandchildren to pay attention, and accept our advice? Looking from the perspective of decades of experience, we are acutely aware that our advice is needed. From our vantage point, we see dangers in critical areas:
- The way the earth has changed in the 70 to 90 years during our living memory
- The economic dangers we have experienced and want to warn about
- The serious errors in relationships we see our grandchildren making
Of course, younger people may not be willing to take that advice until they become older (and wiser) themselves. Getting them to pay attention to the pitfalls that may befall them in the future might be the biggest challenge of our times.