At lunch recently, Bryan asked: what wisdom do we old folks have to pass on to young folk, if only they would listen? A few possibilities: 1) You might look inside yourself and think you know yourself, but over many decades you can change in ways you won’t see ahead of time. Don’t assume you know who you will become. This applies all the more to folks around you. You may know who they are now, but not who they will become.
I didn't notice any problems with your english. I doubt your IQ is only 69, and even if it is, you could try comparing yourself to other people less. Modern society is pretty great, even the bums are enjoying it.
"You might be unpopular when young, but with decades of work you could become popular when old."
Would be great if true, but with my low IQ of 69, no matter how hard I try, I won't become a genius or even _good_ at something (especially mathematics & physics).
So there you go. Why waste decades of work on something you won't master anyway? I'd rather commit suicide than end up a loser.
p. s. Sorry for my english, it is awful owing to a) it not being my mother tongue and b) my low IQ.
Um, as an old person .. and one who does suffer much daily physical pain .. life is much more worth living now than when I was in my 20s. For one thing the moments are just more precious and thus I feel I get the most out of them. We really do stop and smell (and just plain notice) the roses (or the nuances in a complex screen drama or novel). We take longer to reach political conclusions .. for one thing we have outgrown the idea that there are good guys and bad guys to be defeated. Once we realize that our opponents are not bad guys, their positions become much more interesting and we spend more time learning from them. We want to know how they arrived at them and our own positions become more nuanced (a long way of saying that we all start out thinking we are humanitarian or, in todays parlance, "liberal" because we think we are on the side of righteousness). Life is more enjoyable as an older person because we are intellectually reborn into a world where another veil between us and reality is lifted. That is why to us youth is wasted on the young .. until one has at least 5 or 6 decades under one's belt, one is living in a fog. The fog is still here, just not as thick as before.
I was really appreciative of the third point. At mid life I had to start over, completely, yet again. And while some days it is not so easy, (will it take decades?) I still believe a better life - and personality - could happen with old age. And yes it is something I am 'dying' to do.
Young people have a hard time putting things in perspective. When you grasp the big picture, it's easy to spot somebody else who doesn't. But reverse isn't true. People who don't get the big picture have no clue when they encounter somebody who does.
Surely you've experienced this effect in some more specific area of inquiry, no? Why would you assume the same isn't true when discussing "life" in general?
I sense the 20-somethings posting in this thread are resisting the theme altogether. To them, I suggest comparing yourself to teenagers. What do you think about their behavior? That's exactly how older people see you.
If you have something you are just dying to do, a lifetime can fit many failures before an eventual success
This is basically Malcolm Gladwell's point in Late Bloomers: Why do we equate genius with precocity?, albeit in an artistic context. I just finished the book he used as a source for many of his ideas, Old Masters and Young Geniuses, and it profoundly reshaped a lot of the ideas I had about success and failure in ways that are too long to explain here.
That "something" shouldn't be thought of as currency. So bitcoins are just as ridiculous.
If you need something a long time out, invest it in a value-creating enterprise and get it out there to create value. Have a farm. Have a factory. Have a power plant that's making power. Because no matter what any currency does, if you've got stuff and the means to make more stuff, who cares how many chits or dollars or gold coins or whatever you'll get for it--you'll have what people need and will give you stuff for.
IVV, you are welcome to pile all your chits into bitcoin if you'd rather.
Anyone who studies a bit of history and looks at the debt / money creation activities of the Fed and USG -- would have to be off his gourd to save money in US dollars for anything you want more than 1-2 years out.
I didn't notice any problems with your english. I doubt your IQ is only 69, and even if it is, you could try comparing yourself to other people less. Modern society is pretty great, even the bums are enjoying it.
"You might be unpopular when young, but with decades of work you could become popular when old."
Would be great if true, but with my low IQ of 69, no matter how hard I try, I won't become a genius or even _good_ at something (especially mathematics & physics).
So there you go. Why waste decades of work on something you won't master anyway? I'd rather commit suicide than end up a loser.
p. s. Sorry for my english, it is awful owing to a) it not being my mother tongue and b) my low IQ.
Um, as an old person .. and one who does suffer much daily physical pain .. life is much more worth living now than when I was in my 20s. For one thing the moments are just more precious and thus I feel I get the most out of them. We really do stop and smell (and just plain notice) the roses (or the nuances in a complex screen drama or novel). We take longer to reach political conclusions .. for one thing we have outgrown the idea that there are good guys and bad guys to be defeated. Once we realize that our opponents are not bad guys, their positions become much more interesting and we spend more time learning from them. We want to know how they arrived at them and our own positions become more nuanced (a long way of saying that we all start out thinking we are humanitarian or, in todays parlance, "liberal" because we think we are on the side of righteousness). Life is more enjoyable as an older person because we are intellectually reborn into a world where another veil between us and reality is lifted. That is why to us youth is wasted on the young .. until one has at least 5 or 6 decades under one's belt, one is living in a fog. The fog is still here, just not as thick as before.
"tattoo" is exactly the first thought I had at #1. You beat me to it Laura.
Matthew C. & IVV: I'm sure you're right. Drop a line and I'll give you the address to mail all that worthless money to. Glad to help.
It means, you might thing twice before making snarky comments about tattoos ;)
My point is, you do *keep* growing. Maybe in 10 years you'll see the utter wisdom of the youth and foolishness in your values.
I think it means that you might want to think twice before getting that tattoo.
I was really appreciative of the third point. At mid life I had to start over, completely, yet again. And while some days it is not so easy, (will it take decades?) I still believe a better life - and personality - could happen with old age. And yes it is something I am 'dying' to do.
Not necessarily true. The worst families are horrendous.
Hackers Maxim #7:'Live Free Or Die, Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils'
Young people have a hard time putting things in perspective. When you grasp the big picture, it's easy to spot somebody else who doesn't. But reverse isn't true. People who don't get the big picture have no clue when they encounter somebody who does.
Surely you've experienced this effect in some more specific area of inquiry, no? Why would you assume the same isn't true when discussing "life" in general?
I sense the 20-somethings posting in this thread are resisting the theme altogether. To them, I suggest comparing yourself to teenagers. What do you think about their behavior? That's exactly how older people see you.
If you have something you are just dying to do, a lifetime can fit many failures before an eventual success
This is basically Malcolm Gladwell's point in Late Bloomers: Why do we equate genius with precocity?, albeit in an artistic context. I just finished the book he used as a source for many of his ideas, Old Masters and Young Geniuses, and it profoundly reshaped a lot of the ideas I had about success and failure in ways that are too long to explain here.
That "something" shouldn't be thought of as currency. So bitcoins are just as ridiculous.
If you need something a long time out, invest it in a value-creating enterprise and get it out there to create value. Have a farm. Have a factory. Have a power plant that's making power. Because no matter what any currency does, if you've got stuff and the means to make more stuff, who cares how many chits or dollars or gold coins or whatever you'll get for it--you'll have what people need and will give you stuff for.
IVV, you are welcome to pile all your chits into bitcoin if you'd rather.
Anyone who studies a bit of history and looks at the debt / money creation activities of the Fed and USG -- would have to be off his gourd to save money in US dollars for anything you want more than 1-2 years out.
Hint: That "something" isn't bars or disks of metal.
#3 that is unless what you want to do is be a great athlete.