Why the young believe they know more than they do ...

PhotonGuy

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If it is ok to ask I am interested to know how would you rate the advice / wisdom of your own parents or elders or those who had guardianship over you when you were younger?

Jx

They were overall quite good but they made mistakes like everybody else. Sometimes, I would make the mistake of following their advice/wisdom when it was wrong.
 

Jenna

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They were overall quite good but they made mistakes like everybody else. Sometimes, I would make the mistake of following their advice/wisdom when it was wrong.
That is not a mistake of yours, you were just not to know and it is no fault of yours.. Though perhaps by the same token nor was it a mistake of theirs and no one is culpable? None of us can know how the future will go for certain, yes?? Perhaps then what matters is the spirit in which the advice is given? and likewise the spirit in which it is received? what do you think? Jx
 

PhotonGuy

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That is not a mistake of yours, you were just not to know and it is no fault of yours.. Though perhaps by the same token nor was it a mistake of theirs and no one is culpable? None of us can know how the future will go for certain, yes?? Perhaps then what matters is the spirit in which the advice is given? and likewise the spirit in which it is received? what do you think? Jx
There were times that I should've known better and I should've taken proper action to make sure things were done differently. I believe in being responsible for myself and for my own choices and in the past I've gone along with bad choices that haunt me to this day. I don't particularly agree with B.F. Skinner.
 

Jenna

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There were times that I should've known better and I should've taken proper action to make sure things were done differently. I believe in being responsible for myself and for my own choices and in the past I've gone along with bad choices that haunt me to this day. I don't particularly agree with B.F. Skinner.
Yes you are responsible for your self that is how it is.. yet you cannot blame your self for bad choices.. did you take that choice knowing that it would not work out? no you took it because AT THAT TIME it seemed like the best thing, right? Not your fault.. nor the fault of any one else.. you may not agree with Skinner and but our behaviours -and decisions arising- are almost always deferred to our social and familial conditioning, genetics and predispositions.. still the upshot is that there is no blame to be apportioned either on you or on your would-be advisors.. That is my opinion.. what do you say?

Anyway for what it is worth, I hear what you are saying.. I do not disagree with you on any principle you seem to espouse.. Take care.. Jx
 

PhotonGuy

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Well according to Skinner free will is an illusion. Every choice we make is a result of our genetics and our environment. I don't agree with that. If that were true we would not be responsible for our actions as we never make choices of our own. Some of the bad choices I made I didn't really want to make but I went along with them anyway because I was following the decisions of people who were "older and wiser." Anyway, this episode of this old cartoon called Bravestarr more or less makes the point Im making. This particular episode is very deep and I would say is suited for adults as well as children. If you don't want to watch the whole episode you can skip to the part about the moral lesson which is at 17:27
 

elder999

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Anyway, this episode of this old cartoon called Bravestarr more or less makes the point Im making. This particular episode is very deep and I would say is suited for adults as well as children. If you don't want to watch the whole episode you can skip to the part about the moral lesson which is at 17:27

This explains sooo much.....
 
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pgsmith

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Yes you are responsible for your self that is how it is.. yet you cannot blame your self for bad choices.. did you take that choice knowing that it would not work out? no you took it because AT THAT TIME it seemed like the best thing, right? Not your fault.. nor the fault of any one else.. you may not agree with Skinner and but our behaviours -and decisions arising- are almost always deferred to our social and familial conditioning, genetics and predispositions.. still the upshot is that there is no blame to be apportioned either on you or on your would-be advisors.. That is my opinion.. what do you say?

Anyway for what it is worth, I hear what you are saying.. I do not disagree with you on any principle you seem to espouse.. Take care.. Jx

I can't see his original post as I have him on ignore (thankfully!). However, I have to take exception (minor) to your statement here Jenna.
Fault and blame absolutely need to be laid at the feet of those that are to blame. It is what is done with that blame that is important. If no one is at fault then nobody failed, and humans can learn quite a lot from their failures. The best thing, in my opinion, is to figure out what is the root of the problem, and then you can determine how best to avoid having that happen again. If someone gives you advice that turns out to be in error, then blaming the person that gave you the advice is understandable. However, to stop there and decide that you can avoid future problems by avoiding advice is fruitless and irrational. The better course would be to determine why the advice given was in error in order to avoid the same problem in the future.
 

Jenna

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I can't see his original post as I have him on ignore (thankfully!). However, I have to take exception (minor) to your statement here Jenna.
Fault and blame absolutely need to be laid at the feet of those that are to blame. It is what is done with that blame that is important. If no one is at fault then nobody failed, and humans can learn quite a lot from their failures. The best thing, in my opinion, is to figure out what is the root of the problem, and then you can determine how best to avoid having that happen again. If someone gives you advice that turns out to be in error, then blaming the person that gave you the advice is understandable. However, to stop there and decide that you can avoid future problems by avoiding advice is fruitless and irrational. The better course would be to determine why the advice given was in error in order to avoid the same problem in the future.
That is perfectly right you take exception where you feel.. Minor or major I value your thoughts Paul and I am always grateful for your discussion whether it is to agree or disagree.. it is your courtesy in how you do it I appreciate x

I read what you are saying Paul and I agree for some one to avoid any and all advice after a bad call cannot ever be compeletely in their own self-interests yes - and which does appear to be the case with PhotonGuy.

I feel perhaps though we have a different view of apportioning of fault and blame? Some one may be at fault -responsible- for an event having happened / bad advice having been given yes I agree and these errors can as you say be learned from and but for me, to apportion blame to them would be 1. to speak without full facts and 2. ultimately bringing little or no benefit.

What I was seeking to get to through all of that, though I think I dropped the ball on that discussion or felt PhotonGuy was too singleminded for it at this time, was to enquire of him about the particular circumstance that has him seeming so personally galled that he has developed around his vexation this stance regarding in particular older -supposedly wiser- people (elders of his?) which I feel he is generalising to encompass ALL older -supposedly wiser- people.. and which, as you can see, colours his view of all of us.

Why do I care about this? Only because none of us -me included- ever progress toward our own enlightenments while we maintain such dogma as those :) And why do I care about that? Well what else are we here for except to guide each other towards the Divine :)

Thank you again for your courtesy I am grateful Jxx
 
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pgsmith

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Why do I care about this? Only because none of us -me included- ever progress toward our own enlightenments while we maintain such dogma as those :) And why do I care about that? Well what else are we here for except to guide each other towards the Divine :)

I liked that statement so much, I felt it needed to be repeated! :)

Thanks Jenna!
 

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