> Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no.
So there are no wise young people? Are we saying we can't learn from young people when they say something is bad because we'll "it's just their cynicism"? I can see this argument being used to basically shut down any ideas older people don't agree with.
I don’t think it’s age so much as the amount of lived experience you have to map your knowledge to. There’s a limit to how much you can experience in a short time — but it’s also true that people can live a long time without experiencing much.
One thing I do notice is very young people who seem wise tend to have unearned wisdom. They can tell you something that sounds right (they trade in book knowledge) but they don’t truly know it because they’ve neither experienced it nor understood the variations and nuances around it. I tend to be skeptical of unearned wisdom and I think these folks need more self awareness and more cognizance of the limitations of their true knowledge.
On the other you can sense it when you’re with young people who grew up with opportunities to have a wide range of experiences. They’ve seen and processed the world more deeply.
I think there should also be room for unearned but taught wisdom. A young person who is taught well by wisdom from people who've had those experiences is still able to be wise. Not every mistake needs to be made to learn from it.
> Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no.