Young people are the dumbest demograhic

[stui magpie]

"Young people are the dumbest demographic"

I saw that quote earlier today and, after a bit of thought, I can live with it and that's not specifically related to the current generation (although you could build a convincing case) but overall.

Think about it. At pretty much each stage of life, you can look back at your younger self and recognise how dumb you were when you were younger, despite thinking at the time that you knew it all.

At 16, you thought you knew it all and your parents were idiots. Then you grew up.

in your mid 20's, you realise what a dick you were at 16, can see more of your parents perspective but still think you know more. The you grew up.

In your 30's it's a more subtle jump but you know think your parents may have been onto something after all. You think your 20's self was a dick and can't even recognise your 16 year old self as being you. Then you grew up.

In your 40's, you're becoming your parents and think the younger generation are lazy, self absorbed, self opinionated, ignorant tools.

And so on.
Maybe we should raise the voting age to 30?


The verdict is in, the young are the dumbest demographic.

Discuss.

[Skids]

You gain life experience but, grow up?
Not me, I still carry on like I did in my early 20's. The young blokes I work with have no idea what to make of me.

[HAL]

Thanks for the information.

[stui magpie]

You gain life experience but, grow up?
Not me, I still carry on like I did in my early 20's. The young blokes I work with have no idea what to make of me.

hah, I can relate.

But, do you reckon you're smarter now than you were in your 20's?

[David]

[HAL]

You gain life experience but, grow up?
Not me, I still carry on like I did in my early 20's. The young blokes I work with have no idea what to make of me.

hah, I can relate.

But, do you reckon you're smarter now than you were in your 20's?

Where are you located?

[Morrigu]

This may disprove or confirm your hypothesis, depending on your perspective...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/3 ... exit-polls

Now David have you not learnt anything by the "polls" recent spectacular failures

[think positive]

You gain life experience but, grow up?
Not me, I still carry on like I did in my early 20's. The young blokes I work with have no idea what to make of me.

hah, I can relate.

But, do you reckon you're smarter now than you were in your 20's?

Hmm. Define smart!

When it comes to IT stuff and phones the kids run rings around me, and I'm not bad at it! (I'll post the link to the club website I've been working on when it's live!). Yeah I know more about some stuff, but I've forgotten a lot of stuff too, (the only thing I remember from studying Indonesia for a year is how to pronounce the teachers name, which had about 100 letters in it, and that's only because someone asked if we could shorten it and she said 'I had to learn it, so can you!')

I'm certainly wiser and not such a soft touch when it comes to how people treat me now. I still get shocked that not everyone is as friendly and forgiving as me, but I think it's good to expect the best from people, rather than the worst.

Brain smart, hmmm. Well I skipped a year, but struggled socially with the older kids. Junior struggled early, but I kept helping her til I figured out the problem, and she actually got better scores than her naturally smart sister. For me it's always been about effort, and it still holds true, in everything in life.

And I reckon that's half the problem today. I saw a good post yesterday, "I was lucky, I grew up before the electronic age'. And I agree. Also 'hey kid, don't laugh because I don't know what yolo means, I passed school with no help from google"!

Common sense smart is what they are missing. Which way to turn a nut. I remember the eldest ex boyfriend asked hubby which way you undo a nut when he was on a job with us. 18 years old, scary! But he's really high up in IT at just 22, so I guess he pays someone to do it!

Interesting question. I don't like to judge it to be honest, because it's different times. My kids are smarter in some ways, and I'm smarter in others. At the same age? Well I didn't have a doting mum helping me out too much like my kids do, I had to do stuff for myself. In our day if you wanted a trail bike or even a push bike, you had to learn to service/ fix it, and my dad did give me that. I do show the girls though, how to check the oil, change a tyre. If we don't show them how do they learn it? No tech classes at school now. A big loss IMO.

I don't think anything can take the place of life experiences. You can't teach it, you can't buy it. Like shaking paint cans I guess!

[stui magpie]

[Mugwump]

This reminds me of the famous quote : "when I was 18 I thought my father was an idiot. but by the time I was 30 I thought my father had grown up a lot...." Whoever made that up deserves a statue.

The real worry about this generation (sample size my own three children plus a lot of graduates in the workplace) is that they have grown up so addicted to screens and the hyperworld that they seem to have difficulty focusing and concentrating, flitting from subject to subject in minutes. I think it is quite possible that their brain function and pathways have been moulded by years of exposure to cyberspace. I doubt it is a good thing.

[stui magpie]

In response to david's comments about intelligence, being intelligent doesn't mean you aren't dumb in many other ways. A 16 year old could have an IQ of 150 plus and be as dumb as a doorknob.

I have a few extremely intelligent relatives who I consider stupid as hell because they have zero perspective, they can't do (what I consider) basic problem solving and I also have to deal with the same on a daily basis.

The quote was actually in relation to the US election and how Trump lost the youth vote. Time will tell on that, but if there's anyone out there over 35 who reckons they were smarter in their 20's than they are now, I'd love to hear why.

[stui magpie]

This reminds me of the famous quote : "when I was 18 I thought my father was an idiot. but by the time I was 30 I thought my father had grown up a lot...." Whoever made that up deserves a statue.

.

My son is 26 and the father of a nearly 10 month old. He could seriously relate to that and has said as much.

[Skids]

I guess things change.... i never would of even thought of crime scene sex when i was 20

[David]

[watt price tully]

This reminds me of the famous quote : "when I was 18 I thought my father was an idiot. but by the time I was 30 I thought my father had grown up a lot...." Whoever made that up deserves a statue.

....

I was about to quote Mark Twain but you sort of got there before me:

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years".