Re: What, Me Think? (Going way off the deep end)

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Ymorrigu -at- aol -dot- com wrote:

> And this bit of knowledge comes from a 21 year-old who is tired of all of the sweeping generalizations maade >about her generation, or any group of young people for that matter.  Just because you are over 40 does not >mean you are smarter or can think more critically than a person under 20.  

But you wouldn't want to deprive us of one of the few pleasures left
in our declining years? How else are we old farts to stave off the
awareness of our first chronic aches and pains, or to sublimate our
jealousy of the young?

Seriously, though, you're right. Being older gives you more time to
recover from ignorance, but most people over 40 haven't taken
advantage of that time, either. The bulkheads that slam down in the
minds of the middle age when a new thought is introduced are just as
much a handicap as youthful ignorance.

>And no, TV is probably not to blame.

It's not a simple, one-to-one relation, and it varies from person to
person. However, TV (and radio before it) did introduce something
new into society: the constant availability of entertainment for the
average person. So, it would be surprising if they hadn't had some
affect on modern life.

>If you want some off the wall reasons why people can't think critically, then let's get Darwinian:  With the >advance of technology (medical and industrial), the human population no longer has to subscribe to the rules >of natural selection.  Humans have no need to be bigger, stronger, critical thinkers, so naturally the >"undesirables" will be able to procreate more easily.  So, from my logic, its not that young people can't >think critically, there's just a larger population of drivelling morons out there that make us look bad.

Or maybe we're being biologically selected to lie back and be
entertained? In that case, the young - being more adapted to this
new environment - would simply fit into this niche better than the
middle-aged? In which case, all our bleatings are simply the rumble
of dinosaurs as the tiny mammals scramble about under out feet.

-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"The squire has a piece of paper that says he owns the land,
The bishop has a bible that says our souls are damned,
Mackenzie had a printing press, it's soaking in the bay,
And if Mackenzie comes again, there will be hell to pay."
-Dennis Lee, "Mackenzie"

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