Opus 2015-478: Ode to Old: Stereotype or Generalization

Recently as I met for the final step of my evaluation with my principal, she made a statement about how I might not be open to learning new technology because I am getting close to the end of my time in teaching.  Those are not the exact words but it was a clear example of “ageism”.  I should have been offended, but it was just another opinion from a source I disagree with on almost everything.  No big deal.

But, like so many things, it got me thinking.  Take a general statement that old people don’t like new things.  It is both true and false.  It is both a stereotype and a generalization.  It is an as assumption that correlation makes causation.

Old people, like myself, tend to not fall in love with new things.  The big question is, “Why?”

Fear?  Sometimes. 

Lazy?  Sometimes.

Reduced ability?  Sometimes.

Wisdom and experience.  Usually. 

I don’t need to try every commercial offering that comes down the pike.  I have been around the block a few times.  I know generally what works and what doesn’t.  When I go to a restaurant that I frequent, I don’t need to experiment with new items.  I have already done that.  When I go to a new restaurant I might go with what experience tells me works or I might try something exotic but I will never get the liver and onions no matter how glowing the description.

Young people are in love with the new and different.  Think about the advent of texting and smart phones.  If someone came out with a device that would deliver them where they want to go they would be no danger to the rest of us.  On the highway they are developing cars that drive themselves.  If they came up with a helmet that had radar and a way of directing a teen ager they would buy it in a heart beat.  I have an easier solution:  Watch where you are going.

That is just the Old Fart in me.

homo unius libri