I know that you have heard this one before, but did you ever think about exactly what "old" means? I don 't think that you did and that is what this blog is all about.
It is really about this new generation here in the USA. It is about why they seem so different from all those that came before them. I think that you know what I mean. They seem soft and don't seem to want to work hard. They think that every thing should be free. Even their own parents don't seem to be able to understand them. Some people don't think that there is any way to help them. Are you one of those? They all seem consumed by the present and do not seem to care or want to prepare for their own future.
How about a story? I think that it was the University of British Columbia who did a study several years ago with the language of one of their Native American tribes. Just like our own English, they had several words that sounded almost exactly the same, but had very different meanings. Kind of like, "to", "too" and "two". They noticed that in the oral version the Native Americans had no trouble understanding the meaning of each word, even if it were spoke alone with no context. This interested them, but when they tried to teach the language to a person who was older than about 10 years old, the person could not differentiate between the words. Very interesting! What they found was that the brain of the person progressed through stages from "young" to "old" and once the brain was so old, it could no longer adjust to the differences in the sound of the words. If they did not learn the language at an early age, they would never be able to fully master the language.
Here is what I think has happened with this new generation of young people here in the USA. Historically our kids learned things like "thrift", "honesty" and "hard work" at very early ages. Think about my grandmother who got married at age 14? This used to be common. Even my own father was farming on his own for a living when he was only 15 years old. Today, our kids of that age are still sucking their thumbs. We all know that we have babied our kids a lot more and given them every thing that they have wanted. Admit it, we have spoiled them rotten. More and more of our kids are still living at home and seem to like it. Most parents think that they will soon move out and become "normal". Wait, not so fast!
How about another short story? Most of our kids are introduced to religion at a very early age. There are all kinds of rituals that bring the young child into the church for special ceremonies. This is "when" most children first learn about religion and accept it for the rest of their lives. After this early period of imprinting, few ever leave that religion. Like wise, few of those who have not been imprinted early in life ever take up that religion. You could say much the same think about political parties. Once imprinted, it is hard to change. Notice how ducks some times get imprinted on the family dog, thinking that it is their mother and follow the dog around the yard. I know that you have seen this sort of thing. Well, I think that some thing similar to this is true for us humans.
If you noticed, there are things that you can only learn early in life and if you don't learn those things at that time, you will never be able to learn them or at least not learn them as well. Music just may be another similar thing. The bottom line to all of this is that I feel that many of our children are now too old to learn many of the important lesson of life that they will need to survive and prosper. I know a lot of people place a lot of faith in schools to teach our kids what they need to know, but I think that the schools come too late in the life of our kids to teach them many of the basic things they need to know. It is like we have a bunch of older ducklings who have never seen their real mother and now we want them to follow their real mother. It is not going to happen!
You can't teach old "ducks" new tricks!
It is really about this new generation here in the USA. It is about why they seem so different from all those that came before them. I think that you know what I mean. They seem soft and don't seem to want to work hard. They think that every thing should be free. Even their own parents don't seem to be able to understand them. Some people don't think that there is any way to help them. Are you one of those? They all seem consumed by the present and do not seem to care or want to prepare for their own future.
How about a story? I think that it was the University of British Columbia who did a study several years ago with the language of one of their Native American tribes. Just like our own English, they had several words that sounded almost exactly the same, but had very different meanings. Kind of like, "to", "too" and "two". They noticed that in the oral version the Native Americans had no trouble understanding the meaning of each word, even if it were spoke alone with no context. This interested them, but when they tried to teach the language to a person who was older than about 10 years old, the person could not differentiate between the words. Very interesting! What they found was that the brain of the person progressed through stages from "young" to "old" and once the brain was so old, it could no longer adjust to the differences in the sound of the words. If they did not learn the language at an early age, they would never be able to fully master the language.
Here is what I think has happened with this new generation of young people here in the USA. Historically our kids learned things like "thrift", "honesty" and "hard work" at very early ages. Think about my grandmother who got married at age 14? This used to be common. Even my own father was farming on his own for a living when he was only 15 years old. Today, our kids of that age are still sucking their thumbs. We all know that we have babied our kids a lot more and given them every thing that they have wanted. Admit it, we have spoiled them rotten. More and more of our kids are still living at home and seem to like it. Most parents think that they will soon move out and become "normal". Wait, not so fast!
How about another short story? Most of our kids are introduced to religion at a very early age. There are all kinds of rituals that bring the young child into the church for special ceremonies. This is "when" most children first learn about religion and accept it for the rest of their lives. After this early period of imprinting, few ever leave that religion. Like wise, few of those who have not been imprinted early in life ever take up that religion. You could say much the same think about political parties. Once imprinted, it is hard to change. Notice how ducks some times get imprinted on the family dog, thinking that it is their mother and follow the dog around the yard. I know that you have seen this sort of thing. Well, I think that some thing similar to this is true for us humans.
If you noticed, there are things that you can only learn early in life and if you don't learn those things at that time, you will never be able to learn them or at least not learn them as well. Music just may be another similar thing. The bottom line to all of this is that I feel that many of our children are now too old to learn many of the important lesson of life that they will need to survive and prosper. I know a lot of people place a lot of faith in schools to teach our kids what they need to know, but I think that the schools come too late in the life of our kids to teach them many of the basic things they need to know. It is like we have a bunch of older ducklings who have never seen their real mother and now we want them to follow their real mother. It is not going to happen!
You can't teach old "ducks" new tricks!
