What Can The Older People Learn From Younger Generations?

by Blog Contributor | January 8, 2024 | Society | 0

^{Photo by leah hetteberg on Unsplash}

Is it possible for older generations to learn from younger generations? When different periods offer different learnings, the youth may also educate those above them.

With age comes wisdom.

This is an age-old saying that has molded how society is today. The older generations have always been seen as the more competent and valuable figures of society, advising their younger peers. Age has been a measuring factor for profession and promotion, a means of seeing one’s competencies. This comes with no argument. Their background makes them the better fount of experience and knowledge, and their years of decision-making equip them to make better judgments.

Hence, the understanding that the older generation has better wisdom is deeply engraved in society.

However, as much as they have broader experiences, there are things the years before haven’t taught them. As the world progresses, so would the competencies they need and social circumstances they can learn from. The wisdom the older generations possess is beneficial.

But this doesn’t mean they can’t learn from younger generations. Learning never stops, even when they already have a profound sense of wisdom.

Older People Provide Useful Advice, But Who Gives Them Back?

When society follows the logic that age comes with wisdom, older generations are among the primary sources of advice. They’re the root of this consequential guidance, the better reference for various significant beliefs. It’s a typical exchange practiced universally. The older generations are traditionally the givers, the advisers to those who need counseling.

But when they need the same sentiments, who gives it to them?

In You’re Kidding I’m A Senior by Renee’ Servello, the author has posed the same question, exploring the situation from an appropriate lens. Who has the authority and capacity to advise the older generations? When it’s typical for them to be the guides, who provides them the needed equivalent?

Many might argue that given their experiences and current circumstances, the older people are, the less in need they would be of advice. It’s easy to assume they can manage life with their previous experiences. However, as unique as generations progress and the world becomes, seniors may also face time-specific trials they won’t have the appropriate knowledge to solve. This is when they can lean on and learn from younger generations.

Each generation is unique. It comes with different circumstances and problems that develop different values, skills, and qualities. If they stop themselves from relearning and growing throughout the period, the older population will be left out and stagnate negatively. Regardless of age, learning is consequential to growth. Hence, when seniors provide the younger ones with wisdom about life, it’s also expected the former can learn from younger generations what they haven’t during their time.

What Can They Get From Younger Generations?

Both generations can learn from each other. But in these newer and younger years, the youth would have more time-appropriate lessons and competencies to teach. When the seniors spend time with them, they develop a better grasp of the time and learn from younger generations the skills they would need to require the current movement of society.

One of the most prominent skills the seniors would learn from the youth revolves around the significance of the internet. This is a newly developed and enhanced aspect of society that hasn’t existed in the past. Hence, how to maximize its benefits will be something the older ones should learn from younger generations. The internet is how modern-day society connects. But with how confusing it can be to the seniors, they would need the youth’s expertise to utilize it truly.

The older generations can learn to use technology to enrich their connections and relationships with the youth. They can also learn from younger generations the importance of fun and spontaneity alongside modern societal improvements. The world has become fast-paced, and they need every moment to recharge and ensure they won’t suffer from exhaustion and stress. And fun is something they can learn better from the youth.

Young people are the future. While they may not have as much wisdom as the older generations, this doesn’t mean they don’t provide significant lessons.

Seniors can learn from younger generations the competencies they haven’t met during their time. This exchange is crucial to their continuous growth.