Why is it with most teenagers nowadays? |
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 21:29 | |
While I'm in middle age and understand how the older guys feel, and while I often rant about "today" myself, Textbook's post was both insightful and helpful to me. I feel torn between two worlds myself at times. As sharp as your insight is (and as sharp as many of the other young guys I consider it my privilege to know here), there is some glaring overstatement there. The life experience you will amass over the next half dozen decades will teach you that there is a wisdom codgers possess that the adrenalin culture cannot give you. (And perhaps you're not that "young" Textbook, but I'm speaking generally about the young here). When "all this were fields" come decades and times that give one perspective, and this is hardly irrelevant in being a whole human being. You will lose your loved ones. You will have to help a friend through a painful divorce or the loss of his child. You may get a life threatening disease. You will fall in love, she will break your heart, and you will fall in love again. You will have any number of catastrophes, and great joys hit you and knock the youthful chip from your shoulder. The oldsters here that you sometimes rightfully mock have been through these things, and these are not worthless commodities, but life wisdom to be shared. Laugh at us sometimes, tell us when we're overreacting, but don't write us off as worthless. Don't think we can't offer you anything you can't get from the internet. Embrace the old as you would have us take you seriously. Look beyond your parents to your grandparents for their perspective too. I realize you mentioned ACR should give some perspective, but I think your overall comment minimize the strengths of experience. It is just as short-sighted to assume the worlds future citizens need only know how to be tech savvy and credentialed in modern culture as it is to think the other way. Young and old need each other. Thanks for reminding me of that, and I hope you take the reply in the good spirit it was intended. |
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 21:54 | |
One more thought if you can stand it
In the past decade, I have spent 100s of hours interviewing very old people for history research. Many of these subjects, in their 70s-90s, have already passed away. Far from being irrelevant, hearing their stories had me on the edge of my seat. Hearing their words and seeing their faces was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of their ride. "All this were fields" can be fascinating indeed. Folks on both sides of the generations gap would be wise to not be so cocky, and to listen. I'm as guilty as anyone of being dismissive sometimes, but I'll keep trying to be objective until the day comes when I am truly Homer's Dad. Then I'll just bitch about the food. |
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WalterDigsTunes
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 11 2007 Location: SanDiegoTijuana Status: Offline Points: 4373 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 21:58 | |
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 22:02 | |
You interview dead people? |
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 22:03 | |
Walter, you're way behind the curve, man. KOS used that one on me weeks/months ago.
Fair enough, I was just trying to find some common ground here. |
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Peter
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 31 2004 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 9669 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 22:54 | |
People don't like to work? How shocking! And do you really think that becoming a famous dancer or pop star or actor is so easy it requires no work? Because any famous person you can find is going to disagree with you there...
^ Sarcasm alert (admittedly, often hard to spot in text). TRY THIS VERSION:
Some want to be dancers or pop stars. An "easy" route to riches and fame, with "no" work involved..... <<< Edited by Peter - June 10 2010 at 23:27 |
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"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
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Peter
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 31 2004 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 9669 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 23:13 | |
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"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
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Peter
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 31 2004 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 9669 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 23:16 | |
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"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
Posted: June 10 2010 at 23:51 | |
Finnforest: I find your words completely agreeable and palatable, free as they are of the superior, self-centred, "transference-of-own-shortcomings-in-dealing-with-change-into-blame-on-the-next-generation-not-listening-to-you-because-they-are-all-stupid-and-inferior" rubbish I was detecting in some of the other posters. I am only 29 but I am determined never to become one of those frozen-in-time older people whose potential to hand down wisdom is completely neutralised by their insistance that only time travel to the past can fix the problems of today.
I don't think the old are irrelevant at all, but I find WAY too many older people sitting about on the internet going "BLAH BLAH BLAH, EVERYTHING IS RUBBISH EXCEPT ME". Young people seem to be far less likely to burst into rants about how awful everything old is. That is because they are not experiencing the pain of seeing their values and culture "corrected" by the next generation. The old feel insulted to see their children go "Nope, you got it wrong, let's do it this way" but it's also hugely insulting to young people, and also just plain childish, to go "HAHA YOU HAVE RUINED THE WORLD AND I LIVED IN THE BEST TIME POSSIBLE WHICH I'M TAKING SOME SORT OF MORAL CREDIT FOR DESPITE IT BEING COMPLETELY COINCIDENTAL". At heart it is mastubatory and self-aggrandising and completely unhelpful in guiding the young.
So my snarky tone is a backlash against that sort of stuff, which is well and alive at PA, rather than a well-balanced depiction of how I feel about the whole issue.
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
Posted: June 11 2010 at 07:42 | |
Textbook: First off, I commend you for being a teacher, I think that is great! I understand and agree that sometimes the older folks tend to come off as condescending when we talk to youth about this generation’s problems. I’m sure I’ve done it at times. I certainly do pine for elements of the past but speaking for myself, I do not do so to spite young people, or to stick it in their face how much their lives suck. When I look at the young folks in my life whom I love, it is about genuine concern. I honestly feel bad that they are missing out on a certain security that was present in my childhood neighborhood, school, and friends. Certainly the 70s had problems for the adults of the time, but they were not visited on the kids to any degree approaching what we have today. I could go on about these differences but that’s another thread. So I just feel a bit bad for kids whom seemed to be getting short-shifted on a certain experience that was very positive, at least it was for me. But it’s not meant in some malicious way, I assure you. If anything it is about me blaming *my* generation for things we have done or failed to do. In some ways I feel we, and the culture in general, have stolen or messed with what should be a very special time in life. It’s not about time travel or turning the world back into The Brady Bunch or the WW2 generation, just about recognizing what values from every generation have worth, and trying not to lose them. This generation will have the same challenge when their kids begin to view them as old! ;) So the goal as I see it is for the old to relay wisdom to the young and to help make them feel more secure, less burdened by the bad news in the media, more loved, and more respected, all in a culture that can be quite fragmented and cold. And in return the young can share with us their amazing skills at adapting, resilience, enthusiasm, and hope. We really have to face the future together. I think we can all agree that we are stronger if we use each other’s strengths as opposed to viewing them with suspicion or skepticism. Best of luck with your teaching mission!!
Edit:
And I hope you will chime in on this new thread: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=68281&PID=3689295#3689295 Edited by Finnforest - June 11 2010 at 09:34 |
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
Posted: June 12 2010 at 00:08 | |
Thanks for the invite Finn but I don't think I'll be dropping by to that thread. As you might have gathered from tone here I'm a bit of an attack dog when it comes to philosophy/debate and I'm pretty sure I would just upset myself and others. It's nothing specific to this topic, I've chosen not to participate in the general discussion folder of this forum at all.
Back to the topic: Basically life is about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and this old/young thing is one very clear illustration of that.
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Progist
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 28 2010 Location: Norfolk UK Status: Offline Points: 251 |
Posted: June 12 2010 at 04:07 | |
Teenagers - bring back National Service
On a more serious note, most folks attention spans are fairly short, teenagers generally more so. Adults that I play prog to are exactly the same. As for music without lyrics not being music, whoever said it obviously didn't think before they opened their trap! Nothing unusual there |
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Earendil
Forum Senior Member Joined: November 17 2008 Location: Indiana, USA Status: Offline Points: 1584 |
Posted: November 13 2010 at 13:26 | |
A relatively high number of people at my high school know stuff like Dream Theater and Pink Floyd, but other than that there's not much progressiveness. I do have a friend though that loves Transatlantic, Morse, Spock's Beard, Mars Volta, Opeth, and stuff like that. I'd say I'm the only fan of 70's prog at my school though.
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