Do you think Generation Y has anything of merit to say about the world?

Question

At least two people on this forum have been attacked on the basis of age. Apparently you have to be at least 25 years old in order for your ideas to count (to that I say: Bill O'Reilly is over 50), as this is the age at which you will have a fair amount of "life experience."

Is it acceptable for someone to have an opinion on something that has never happened to them, no matter how old they are? And isn't this kind of ageism what may cause adolescents to avoid political concerns entirely, considering that they feel they may not be taken seriously? Discuss.

Answer 1

I would give you my opinion Rio but it will just get deleted, sorry I'm a victim of reportism, I wonder what YOU can do to stop this?

Answer 2

yeah

Answer 3

I'm impressed by how fast today's youth learn.  Young people are needed for their energy, creativity and unique way of looking at things.

Bravo Rio for your gumption and go getter attitude.    

Sure young people have a place in debating. They always did.  But there's something very Cambodia rougish about preteens & young teens on the internet telling older adults to shut their holes.  Young people are the easiest for political brainwashing.

Can you imagine 200 years ago a young Dakota NDN telling an elder "f*ck you."  Today's media encourages disrespect in a microwave environment.  Even here on Answers, 12 year olds can gleefully diss a 55 year old cause we don't know each others' ages.  

Progress?    

Older people are needed to tell the younger folk what's real and what's a holo deck of imagination.  In my opinion, the WW2 crowd is great.  I've met a lot of them thru my volunteer work.  Imho, humans have been/are being "watered down."  My generation included (I'm 47.)

Without the knowledge and imput of elders,  we humans are easily steered off course.  There is a reason successful societies respected their elders.  They may f**t, burp & repeat themselves more, but without their wisdom, we are just reinventing the wheel.  

And worse, we are forgetting who we are, where we came from and becoming a colder, distant & more sterile species.  Long live the Federation.  Now where did I put my tribbles?  Live long and prosper.  

Discuss...  ;P

Answer 4

Every older generation criticises the younger generation, but the fact is Generation Y is going to BE the world in about 10 - 15 years.

Better start listening, in my opinion.

And to answer your first question ~ yes, I do.

What Gen Y may say may seem strange to older ears, or be about things older people don't understand, but that doesn't make it any less valid.

Everyone grows up, and everyone deserves to be listened to.

Gen Y will grow out of some things and into some other things, but whether we older people like it or not they ARE the future.

Putting them down for 'age' and refusing to enter into dialogue is just not going to work in the long run, is it.

After all, as a famous person once said ~ "the thing about youth is, we all grow out of it".

Cheers :-)

Answer 5

That would depend on the nature of the question.

I know now that when I was under 25 I really did know less than I do today.  I've lived twice as long, so of course I know more than I did back then.  The most complete education is a combination of formal education and the S***e life throws at you as long as you live it.

Answer 6

1) Yes. There is a thing called free speech and regardless if an individual has an experience or not, they have the right to have an opinion.

2) I don't think it is any form of discrimination that keeps young people out of politics. All they care about is filling their consumerism craving.  

Answer 7

Anyone can have an opinion about whatever they want, but people really don't want to hear advice and opinions from people who have never had the experience.  For instance: If you asked "How do you clean a horse's hooves?" and I said "Well, I've only seen horses on TV, but it looks like you would use a scrub brush or something," would you really see my answer as valid?  That's why the categories exist here, so you can answer questions according to your areas of knowledge and experience.

PS- "Ageism"?  Seriously?  I think that's actually one of the dumbest politically correct terms I've heard in a long time.

Answer 8

Yes, but i think the world isn't willing to listen.

Did Einstein have personal affairs with relativity when he discovered the theory?

No.

Do you have to be a sociopath in order to understand society?

No.

I have a feeling that the structure which Generation X has implanted unto the world is not a structure which will work with Generation Y.

Answer 9

At your age, you don't know what you don't know.  That's not to say you lack intelligence, but you lack the perspective of age, and life experience.  By the way, your reference to Bill O'Reilly proves just that.  I don't imagine you have actually spent much time listening to him.  It's popular among liberals to bash him, but few can actually name positions of his that they disagree with.  

Answer 10

I know what you mean. I've often not been taken seriously when I offer my input due to my age (18) and I've been told things like "You don't know what your talking about" or "You are too young to have a full understanding". Maybe that's true to some degree, I am pretty young and there's so much in the world that I don't know of yet, but I don't see how that merits my opinions being somehow less worthy or less meaningful. Some of the most immature posts I've seen on this forum come from adults yet they accuse us of acting childlike.

Also, yes Generation Y is often stereotyped that we don't care about anyone else but ourselves, that the only things that concerns us are materialistic things and the like and we could care less about anything else. That's often true for many but it's certainly not the case for people like me or you. I hang out with my friends and socialize yes, I like listening to music, play video games, go to parties, and just enjoying life as a young person but that doesn't mean that I'm ignorant or non-caring of anything else like politics, world affairs, issues, etc.

I'm willing to have mature and reasonable debates or arguments regarding many important things with people and I offer my input, but like I said sometimes I'm not taken seriously because I'm just a dumb kid who doesn't know anything right? There have even been a few times when I actually surprised people by how well-informed I was regarding something.

Answer 11

i am going back to school at the ripe old age of (never you mind!)

and there are kids in my class who are literally 14 years old. but they are smart. and damnit, i respect their opinions. i really do. because they really are smart and know whats up.

Answer 12

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.”

Answer 13

Yes - I do. They have lived and learned with more information that we had than us X-ers. I've also been blown away about how knowledgeable you are as well, Rio. My sister is 12 years younger than me, and smart as whip at 22. She's planning her retirement money, she's almost done with school, and she's generally a smart girl.

I remember not being taken seriously when I was younger too. Being blonde and female can really have it's downside in your early 20's, especially when getting a job. I had people say I was smarter than I looked. Gee - thanks?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and from what I see in here age doesn't necessarily mean maturity.

Answer 14

I will admit - I am one of those guilty of holding very little time or respect for teenagers and early 20s folk.  But my attitude does not come as a broad and sweeping generalization based upon experience with only a few.  Overwhelmingly, I have found them to be uninterested in much else, other than that which affects them directly.  And more specifically, they have an unbearable sense of entitlement.  A Bachelor's Degree does NOT mean that you are fit for a management position - and you certainly don't deserve one, simply because you went to University!

How can I take seriously people who cannot speak or write their language properly?  Regardless of their educational background, I would be hardpressed to find a grammatically correct example of writing.  If you have no respect for your language - enough to represent yourself in an intelligent manner - how can you be taken seriously?

Another very disturbing trend is the one that sees these young people living their lives as though they cannot learn anything from people older than themselves.  They seem to 'know it all'.  And frankly, they just haven't lived long enough for that to be true.  There is much to be learned from people who have lived through those years - but they are discounted immediately as 'not having a clue'.  

Having said that, I will admit that there are some very impressive young people who seem to have direction and intelligence and a great understanding of world events - far better than many 'adults' I've met.  But sadly, they are not in the majority - at least in my world.

Answer 15

Rio,

This will sound harsh but no other way to get around it.

You continue to speak about a career, what career as a volunteer at a college radio station. Everything to you is black and white i.e.

I will never get married

I will always have a career

I will never have children

As you age, you realize you adapt to your circumstances.

That being said, I do believe you are very mature for your age and you will do well.

Answer 16

I am 17, and no one takes me seriously.

Sigh.

Answer 17

Of course. There are wise younger folk, and there are some that are not. Yes, it is acceptable to have an opinion on something that has not happened to them personally, because they still see the effects of a particular issue on the world around them. You are correct; to automatically discount a younger persons views is short-sighted. Youth does not necessarily mean inexperience.  

Answer 18

Max Power has good points.  Things may seem black and white at 19, but life throws many challenges.  Rio, it is very difficult to evaluate one's age while you are at that age.  You really need to be a decade away to truly analyze what you did or didn't know.  Back when I was in college, I thought of myself as intelligent (I did receive good grades).  Only when I hit my 30's could I look back at my late teens, early 20's and realize how little I really knew of the world, people, and the interaction thereof.  It doesn't mean that I know everything now.

Just ask some people in their 30's if their life followed the plan they formulated back in college.  Many will say life is not what they thought it would be (good or bad).

60 minutes did a show about generation Y (the millenials).  The baby boomers are having to re-train themselves to learn how to effectively work with them.  If you can find that episode online, I'd recommend watching it then let us know what you think.

Answer 19

You and Lord Voldemort (another user who is a teenager) have blown me away repeatedly with your knowledge. You are both wise beyond your years and highly respected by many, despite your opposite views. Yes, I think there are many Generation Y youth who have much to say about the world.

I'm not in generation X either. In person I am always taken seriously. Yahoo Answers is not a good place to make a judgement on how much our generation is taken seriously, but the media does make us look stupid on a day to day basis. Perhaps it's harder for some of us to be taken seriously because of that stereotype.