Friday 9 July 2004

Pic of the day: Senior Activist character from City of Heroes.

End the youth worship

I have to agree with my 5 years ago entry: Society needs a more mature ideal.

I am not sure when youth worship began. I guess it reached a frenzy when the baby boom were young, in the late 60es, and has kinda ossified since then, because these people still think they are young. It is time to let that illusion drop. It is true that the only big generation gap is between the 68ers and their parents. The later generations have more in common with their parents again, as had the earlier. But that doesn't mean that the 68'er will still be young when they are 68.

There is also the longer trend of the Flynn Effect, where each generation is smarter than the previous. There are some signs that this effect is starting to fade. Perhaps we are nearing our biological potential. Or perhaps we finally see the effect of selectively breeding for stupidity, as the poor and jobless earn money from having kids and the highly educated lose lots of money from having kids. It goes without saying that when you breed for a trait, you will get more of it, in this case poor jobless dimwitted people. But evolution is a slower force than education, so it takes some time before humanity is visibly on the decline. It could still be reversed, but that's a long story in itself. I did not intend to write about that today.

***

If you look at advertising, you will see that it still largely favors the ideals of youth: Looking good, catching attention, getting stuff. Perhaps this is a self-perpetuating process: Advertising targets the thing that appeal to us, but at the same time it strengthens those values. Still, the influence of advertising can be neutralized by thinking. You are one of the few who have the mental capacity to do so. (If you were stupid, you would never have found this site at all, since it does not have blinking banners on popular web portals.)

We are no longer a society dominated by actual young people. There are lots of grown-ups now, and it is time to assert this in society. So, instead of looking young, we should emphasize a healthy lifestyle. You cannot look like a teen all your life, but most people can look and act healthy. There is actually an increasing focus on this in later years. This is good.

Instead of grabbing attention, adults should focus on giving attention. Of course, the two can easily be combined. But it is wrong when parents think of their children as a kind of pet that should be available to play with when the parent has the inclination and free time to do so. Children require lots of attention, and while you can farm out some to daycare, schools and clubs, the return is proportionate to the investment. If you don't spend time with your kids, they will never know you.

And as I said five years ago, it should not be a honor to have lots of stuff. It shows that one has failed to give, and this is a shame. It is an honor for a young person, who is saving up to start a life of their own. But it is a shame to reach the later parts of your life and make it evident to all that you have failed to give what you got. Do you want to be remembered as a black hole, where things fall in and never come back? Luckily, death will fix this problem and redistribute your wealth. But your shame will follow you like the shade of your tombstone. All who knew you in life will know that you were greedy like a kid even at an age where you had more than plenty.

***

Next time you see an advertisement, try to notice the values it conveys. Is it about looking good or about living a good life? Is it about getting attention or about caring for others? Is it about showing off or helping? Is it about receiving or giving? You may doubt that it is more blessed to give than to receive (at least if you haven't tried) but there is no doubt which is the more mature. And we should all at least taste maturity in some form before we die; it is part of life, after all. Some people may even like it!