‘Generation Gap’ issues
 When
we were young we were constantly reminded of the existence of a
‘Generation gap’ and we believed this to be the reason why our elders
looked at issues somewhat differently from how we would view those. Thus
this ‘generation gap’ explained the differences in attitude between the
young and old and the young people believed that the elders are old
fashioned and outdated in their thinking and that they do not have the
knowledge that the young people of the modern generations possess.
True, things are changing so fast and the present century is the one
where technology has advanced so much subjecting the lives of humans to
unimaginable transformations.
Human nature
Yet amidst all this changes there is one thing that has not changed;
come what may; and that is human nature. Even in the future, whatever
the changes in life technological advancements may usher in, human
nature would still remain the same as every man has the same needs,
desires and aspirations.
When the
son is three years - ‘My father is the greatest guy in this
world’
When the son is six years
- ‘My father is a great guy’
When the son is 10 years
- ‘My father knows almost everything’
When the son is 12 years
- ‘My father knows but there are also others who know’.
When the son is 15 years
- ‘My father is sometimes old fashioned’
When the son is 18 years
- ‘My father is getting outdated in his thinking now’
When the son is 21 years
- ‘Oh! don’t ask my father, he is outdated’
When the son is 24 years
- ‘My father is hopeless do not ask him’
When the son is 28 years
- ‘My father is getting old, he is the last person I would
consult’
When the son is 35 years
- ‘My father is old fashioned, but yet his opinion counts’
When the son is 40 years
- ‘For this type of problems my father is the best’
When the son is 45 years
-‘I wouldn’t do anything without consulting my father’ When the
son is 50 years - ‘I wish my father was there to consult him’ |
Thus the young people need to watch out because even though they may
have all the knowledge of what is happening around them but they may not
have the wisdom of years that the old men have earned.
Knowledge is an accumulation of facts whereas wisdom is more than
just knowledge and it involves judgment; how such knowledge could be
used to augment life.
National leaders
Youth is the age of passion and hence our actions in youth are
governed more by our idealism than our reasoning.
Look at our Universities, the University students are acting like a
bunch of puppets pushed around by their passions. They want everybody to
be reasonable and right; fare and well intentioned. But who decides what
is right? Is it the university students with a limited horizon about
their education or is it the national leaders who have to view national
issues from a wider perspective? Take for instance the issue of
University hostels. Yes, the university students that get selected to
the Universities from all over the island need hostels to stay but do
they have any empathy for the plight of those who do not get selected to
the University, despite they being eligible.
Every year our education system throw up about 120,000 university
eligibles but due to limited higher education facilities only about
20,000 of them finally get selected to the universities. Then what about
the balance 100,000 who get shut out from the universities? What is the
national priority then; to provide hostels for those who get selected or
to accommodate those who get shut out by enlarging the higher education
facilities?
How could we ensure the degree of egalitarianism that young people
often demand? Are we born equal and what is fair about the global eco
system? Does nature has a plan fair by all? Thus aren’t we helpless
souls born to a world where nothing is fair but yet unwittingly we are
prepared to die for justice and equality? Young men are generally
absolutely sure in what they do and their world is always black and
white with very little gray areas.
Broader horizon
Loaded with knowledge they tend to think that they know everything as
they know not of their ignorance.
Bertram Russell once said that, “The fundamental cause of trouble in
the world today is that the stupid are absolutely sure in what they do
while the intelligent are full of doubt”.
As you advance in age you gather more experience and that helps you
evaluate issues from a broader horizon whereas in youth are impelled in
to action due your lacunae in experience.
Experience, they say is the best school master but its fees could be
high.
Exorbitant price
Thus if a man opts to learn everything by his own experience he
probably would die well experienced, but poor, as he has paid an
exorbitant price by making mistakes himself.
Therefore wise men always learn from other people’s mistakes and the
wisest of them all would be the one who learns most, having paid the
least.
Thus as we catch up with our years we realize that this ‘generation
gap’ with which we explained everything between us and our elders when
we were young is nothing but a another name for a’ wisdom gap ‘.
Nothing explains this situation better than a small leaflet I came
across in an e mail. See picture
It describes a son’s changing perception of his own father as he
grows in years.
[email protected]
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