Agreeed Marcel. I m often disappointed in this attitude of (us) older people. My example is how teachers at school describe students as 'badly behaved' when they do the exact same things themselves. A specific example is teachers getting angry when students don't listen to them, but those same teachers don't listen at meetings (and often talk while the presenter is talking). Or they aare disappointed when students don't remember to do the thing they were told to do, when the teachers don't remember to do the thing their manager told them to do.

Potential examples are:

-  Younger people taking care for older people?

- Behavior towards climate change (e.g. 'old' decision-makers that travel a lot are they concerned with aspects of climate change and their consequences for next generations)?

PS: Hard work is not an excuse!

Agreeed Marcel. I m often disappointed in this attitude of (us) older people. My example is how teachers at school describe students as 'badly behaved' when they do the exact same things themselves. A specific example is teachers getting angry when students don't listen to them, but those same teachers don't listen at meetings (and often talk while the presenter is talking). Or they aare disappointed when students don't remember to do the thing they were told to do, when the teachers don't remember to do the thing their manager told them to do.

Thank you for asking this question. In fact, with over time we can recall much business we wanted to do but we could not. How to make things or invent new ideas and doing collective works. Personally, I have asked my students to do the ongoing sport because it gives health and happiness.

Dear Marcel. 

I don't feel too old. I hope never to get so old as to have to ask for help for my private tasks...

Nevertheless,  I often have to ask for the help of my youngsters, in terms of technology. Thgey always know the right thing to get the Iphone working, and they often help with my computer breakdowns.

I love have young people around me. 

Yes @Maria,

Techniques/knowledge evolves fast, and a single (even experienced) person cannot handle/track everything! People whatever their age will depend on other people to help tracking the fast evolutions/changes in society?

Yes, dear Marcel. Interhelp is the secret of a joyful life. Both parts should work in unity,.

I agree with everyone's comment

I agree with everyone's comment

Dear Marcel,

Every time olders advice their children because they wish success for them, and may be this is one way for younger to escape many mistakes.

Best regards,

Yes, there are scenarios whereby old people ask the young people to do what the old people were not able to do when they were young - kind of unfulfilled dreams wishing others to fulfill for them.  Some examples include:

1) fathers that have unfulfilled business plans or ambitions to become doctor, lawyer, scientist etc. that want their children to achieve - sometimes without knowing their children's interest, passion & capabilities etc.

2) post-graduate supervisors try to sway away their supervisees to conduct research which are beneficial to themselves (supervisors) - sometimes without considering what the supervisees' interest or competency.

3) senior research scientists try to influence their juniors to embark on other research frontiers that they themselves not be able to conduct - may be due to lack of know how or advancement of technology during their times (senior scientists).

Some of these old people's intentions can be good or bad depends on case by case basis.

Intentions based on feelings (why not instinct of survival) versus well-founded arguments (why not science)?

Dear all

“YuGong moves mountains” is a very famous Chinese fable. YuGong was an elder man. There were two big mountains in front of his house. The mountains made his life very inconvenient. So YuGong began moving the mountains. Some people though it is impossible. But he said “I do, my son will do. My son’s son will do… son by son we will move them.” God was moved by his behavior and helped him move away the two mountains.

From the old fable, following a predecessor will is a familiar social tradition. But I think the tradition doesn’t suit today’s society. A young ought to have free will and free choice.

Thanks! Perhaps some older people have memory problems?

Dear George,

this can also be 'Young' people?

There is a generation gap between the old people & young people & it is the responsibility of old people to move their life living practice in the line with the modern generation system & practice. It is very likely that they should change totally may be -  it may not be practicable for them but they must move certain percentage in the line with the young people.

Old people love their young people no doubt but it is indirectly a psychology working in the mind to observe the young people regarding their method of working & also using certain electronic system which old people were not having .It is at this stage that old people should approach young people in a very smiling way that now you are my teacher & i am your student .

With this change old people may learn the new system & the gap between old & young can be reduced to minimum .

We must feel that just be come across around the age of 60 yrs they should not believe that they are entering old age .With this way of behavior ,& thinking old people certainly come in closeness with the result that they may exchange the views & also to run from each other as a & this closeness between them may act as a FRIEND,PHILOSOPHICAL & GUIDE .

This is my personal opinion 

During a seminar one of the young researcher asked me, What has your  generation done for us, I was wondering where is the fault 

Why older people remain competitive towards younger generations?

Survival strategy or what else?

Very often. It is simply because old people doesn't want history to be repeated.

Why? Were they not happy or what else?

Marcel, à mon avis, it depends on the (old) person. Some old people make it a habit of repeating the same tired complaints about young people, that we heard when we were young. I think that before making such stereotypical-sounding complaints, the old person ought to think back, to see whether he's going to sound too painfully predictable.

Okay as far as that goes, but still, some such complaints make sense. For example, if you're in a restaurant with young kids, surely you don't want to see them running around the restaurant as if they were in a playground, right? Children find it very hard to just sit still. But it's the parents' job to teach them the basic societal mores, even if, in doing so, one might sound repetitious.

Another is safety. Parents have to teach kids any number of things, to make sure the children don't hurt themselves or others. That too might sound repetitious.

And, do your homework! Although I learned early on, to obsessively get my homework out of the way. So in this case I wouldn't be expecting anything I wasn't doing, at that young age.