Why the young believe they know more than they do ...

[pgsmith]

So anyway this particular response is in direct response of what the OP said about being a Scoutmaster. This is a bit late but I am going to post it anyway. Pgsmith claims to have been a Scoutmaster and this is a quote from the original post.

If you're talking about a group of 20 or 30 teenage boys in Boyscouts, if they hope to go far in Boyscouts they can't have that attitude. Its people who think they know it all who in fact usually don't know much and will not learn much because they already "know it all," as far as they're concerned. As they say you need to empty your cup so you have room to take in more knowledge. Anyway, in Boyscouts being an Eagle Scout is hard. There is so much you need to know and so many skills you've got to acquire and you're not going to get an Eagle badge without years of hard work and there is tons of learning you've got to do to get there. Surely, somebody who thinks they know the entire sum of human knowledge will not be an Eagle Scout. So those 20 or 30 teenage boys you worked with in Boyscouts, I doubt any of them were Eagle Scouts and I doubt you will ever find an Eagle Scout with a know it all attitude, because you can't have that kind of attitude and fulfill that kind of achievement.

WHOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHH ...........

That was the sound of my entire original post flying right over your head.

However, this is an excellent example of exactly what I was talking about. You say you doubt any of them were Eagle Scouts. You also emphatically state that you can't have that kind of an attitude and fulfill that kind of achievement. These are pretty definite opinions on your part, things that I'd say you're pretty sure that you know. The reality is a little different than what you know however. Of those boys who were there when I first began my annual lecture on why it's important to understand other people's point of view, 12 of them went on to become Eagle Scouts. Four of them own their own businesses, three of them are now doctors, two are lawyers. As of my last count, 21 went on to graduate from college (there may be a few that didn't send me graduation notices).

 

[PhotonGuy]

I'm guessing your young

Physically you could say I am. After all, martial arts doesn't keep you chronologically young but it keeps you physically young.

 

[PhotonGuy]

WHOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHH ...........

That was the sound of my entire original post flying right over your head.

Now you know how I sometimes feel.

Of those boys who were there when I first began my annual lecture on why it's important to understand other people's point of view, 12 of them went on to become Eagle Scouts.

But they weren't Eagle Scouts at the time, were they?

 

[pgsmith]

Now you know how I sometimes feel.

But they weren't Eagle Scouts at the time, were they?

Talking to you is about as frustrating as talking to my cat, although the cat tries harder to understand I think. Since I can't find an ignore function, I'm going to just try and not see any more of your posts. My forehead is becoming overly sore from smacking it too often!

Good luck in your life. With your attitude, I think you'll need it.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Talking to you is about as frustrating as talking to my cat, although the cat tries harder to understand I think. Since I can't find an ignore function, I'm going to just try and not see any more of your posts. My forehead is becoming overly sore from smacking it too often!

As I said, now you know how I feel.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Physically you could say I am. After all, martial arts doesn't keep you chronologically young but it keeps you physically young.

I'm still guessing you are chronologically, compared to me, since I said a few posts back "I am the standard" that and if I go by the picture of the homeless guy you posted awhile back that you claimed as you

 

[Buka]

I knew a heck of a lot more about everything when I was younger.

Maybe it's something in the water.

 

[PhotonGuy]

I'm still guessing you are chronologically, compared to me, since I said a few posts back "I am the standard" that and if I go by the picture of the homeless guy you posted awhile back that you claimed as you

Huh? I never posted a picture of a homeless guy. What post are you talking about?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Huh? I never posted a picture of a homeless guy. What post are you talking about?

Sorry, I confused you with another poster

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Sorry, I confused you with another poster

Drop bear, perhaps? He posted a rather scruffy picture of himself a while back,

 

[Xue Sheng]

Drop bear, perhaps? He posted a rather scruffy picture of himself a while back,

Yup

 

[PhotonGuy]

OK well anyway, I will try to explain the point I was trying to make in response to the original post on this thread is this but first I must inform people reading this that if you keep reading you might get frustrated. Im telling you now so you might not end up like this.

Alright you've been warned.

Anyway, here is the point I am trying to make. About young people thinking they know more than they really do. We all get like that from time to time. Even the best of us will sometimes think we know more than we do and end up making mistakes as a result. Overconfidence can cause big downfalls and we all can get afflicted with it from time to time. Anyway, as far as young people thinking they know more than they do, you are not going to become an Eagle Scout with an overall attitude like that. Yes, even Eagle Scouts can make that mistake sometimes of being overconfident but overall you can't be like that if you're going to be an Eagle Scout. You will never make it that far. And, you also have to be a young person to be an Eagle Scout, young as in under 18. Therefore Eagle Scouts are examples of young people who aren't know it alls, or at least don't have that attitude overall.

Now, hopefully my point wont go whooshing over people's heads so I wont feel just like Sheldon did.

 

[PhotonGuy]

So anyway, I would like to point out one mistake that young people sometimes make because they're young and they think they know more than they do is that they will follow the advice of an "older and wiser" person even if that advice is bad. After all, an "older and wiser" person is always right and what they say should be followed without question. Some of the biggest mistakes I made when I was younger was just that, to go along with what an "older and wiser" person said, even if it was wrong.

 

[K-man]

So anyway, I would like to point out one mistake that young people sometimes make because they're young and they think they know more than they do is that they will follow the advice of an "older and wiser" person even if that advice is bad. After all, an "older and wiser" person is always right and what they say should be followed without question. Some of the biggest mistakes I made when I was younger was just that, to go along with what an "older and wiser" person said, even if it was wrong.

And you can have the opposite. One of my favourite students keeps asking, "but what if?" Normally that question is the precursor of him picking himself off the mat with the question answered.

 

[Jenna]

So anyway, I would like to point out one mistake that young people sometimes make because they're young and they think they know more than they do is that they will follow the advice of an "older and wiser" person even if that advice is bad. After all, an "older and wiser" person is always right and what they say should be followed without question. Some of the biggest mistakes I made when I was younger was just that, to go along with what an "older and wiser" person said, even if it was wrong.

I think the best thing that any one of us can do to improve our selves is to accept -and it is a difficult idea to accept- that we are NOT ALWAYS CORRECT.

If we cannot accept this then all we have is the perpetual blind defence of our limitations. There is not benefit to any of us in so doing.

Yes it was disconcerting when my son would begin to indicate to me my lacking knowledge. It is ME who has had to change my position of "I am older so I am automatically conferred greater knowing". Now actually it is a relief off of my shoulders that I do not have to know every thing. I am exonerated just like him when things do not go according to all wishes! I have found though in acting to my supposed maturity and being first to swallow my pride and taking this position that he too is more likely to concede the gaps in his own understanding or knowledge Jx

 

[Xue Sheng]

So anyway, I would like to point out one mistake that young people sometimes make because they're young and they think they know more than they do is that they will follow the advice of an "older and wiser" person even if that advice is bad. After all, an "older and wiser" person is always right and what they say should be followed without question. Some of the biggest mistakes I made when I was younger was just that, to go along with what an "older and wiser" person said, even if it was wrong.

Some of the biggest mistakes I made when I was younger

What age might that be?

older and wiser" person

and what age might they be?

since I don't think you are all that old now, I'm mostly curious at what age you label older and wiser

And age does not mean you are always right, it just means you've been around longer and might know a little more about it and depending on how much older, tend to be a tad bit less impulsive

 

[PhotonGuy]

I think the best thing that any one of us can do to improve our selves is to accept -and it is a difficult idea to accept- that we are NOT ALWAYS CORRECT.

That's right, and it goes for older people as well as younger people.

If we cannot accept this then all we have is the perpetual blind defence of our limitations. There is not benefit to any of us in so doing.

Yes it was disconcerting when my son would begin to indicate to me my lacking knowledge. It is ME who has had to change my position of "I am older so I am automatically conferred greater knowing". Now actually it is a relief off of my shoulders that I do not have to know every thing. I am exonerated just like him when things do not go according to all wishes! I have found though in acting to my supposed maturity and being first to swallow my pride and taking this position that he too is more likely to concede the gaps in his own understanding or knowledge Jx

As quoted by Bruce Lee even though he was not the first person to say this, "He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, shun him."

 

[PhotonGuy]

What age might that be?

Teens and twenties

and what age might they be?

It varies, I would say maybe at the youngest forties with no upper age cutoff.

since I don't think you are all that old now, I'm mostly curious at what age you label older and wiser

Its all relative. A ten year old you could say is older and supposedly wiser than a three year old. A ninety year old is older and supposedly wiser than a seventy year old.

And age does not mean you are always right, it just means you've been around longer and might know a little more about it and depending on how much older, tend to be a tad bit less impulsive

The part about age not always meaning you're right, exactly. As for older people knowing more, that depends on what you do with yourself. And as for being less impulsive, I've known older people who are very impulsive and younger people who are not so impulsive.

 

[Buka]

I detect a theme here.

 

[Jenna]

That's right, and it goes for older people as well as younger people.

Indeed.. that is my intended point

If it is ok to ask I am interested to know how would you rate the advice / wisdom of your own parents or elders or those who had guardianship over you when you were younger?

Jx