Have cultural standards gotten lower?

[Gov Kodos]

Simple English, that alone makes merry with all else said.

 

[marksound]

old people don't appreciate the magnificence of the young.

I think you got that backwards there, big'un.

Young people in general can't appreciate the "magnificence" of their elders, simply because they aren't there yet. There's a lot to be learned from even the simplest of your elders, just because they've lived longer and have probably seen a thing or two that you haven't.

That old saw "youth is wasted on the young" is pretty much right on the nose. Older people do appreciate youth, because they had it once. But once it's gone, it's gone. It ain't never coming back.

Disagreeing about popular culture is as old as the hills. It doesn't make us old folks wrong, and it don't make you whippersnappers right.

IMO, of course. YMMV. LSMFT. ROWYCO.

 

[jayceee]

That old saw "youth is wasted on the young" is pretty much right on the nose.

Are there any cases where youth is not wasted on the young?

Possible cases could be a child prodigy who later got a Nobel Prize (for example).

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Just don't waste whatever you have now, be it youth, middle age or decrepitude.

 

[marksound]

Just don't waste whatever you have now, be it youth, middle age or decrepitude.

Let's hear it for decrepitude.

 

[thestrangequark]

I didn't bother hunting up a link to the study measuring objective trends in pop music because it was widely publicized in well-known sources like New Scientist.

Provide evidence or be dismissed.

Also, I knew full well that people so shameless as to claim it's all subjective and then still argue that there's progress would try something grossly ignorant, like trying to claim variety isn't a part of excellence.

You still think that's what I was arguing? I have made my position very clear: in art and music there is always crap and there's always great stuff. Which is which is subjective. This supports my case against the notion that civilization is in decline. In science and literacy, there is clear progress. That this same complaint has been voiced since the beginning of recorded history and we are yet to see the collapse of culture supports my case against the notion that civilization is in decline.

Further, the objective facts of history show conclusively that whole generations have praised themselves, yet the test of time has decisively rejected them.

Objective facts of history, as I noted in my very first post in this thread, show that people have been whining about the decline of cultural standards in the subsequent generation since ancient times. By doing so now you're just engaging in the same short-sighted and egotistic thought processes. This supports my case against the notion that civilization is in decline.

The inability (or refusal) to understand simple English may be useful to hide confused and incompetent thinking. But the fact is that mainly this is about indignation that old people don't appreciate the magnificence of the young. This is not an admirable thing.

Considering I've had to clarify my argument for you...is this the third time?... I don't think it's my ability to understand simple English that should be in question. I've never claimed that the young are exceptional, just that the notion that something is automatically better because it is older is stupid.

And, skepticism is still opposed to materialism.

Not if you're doing it right.

 

[Thestral]

...trying to claim variety isn't a part of excellence.

There's never been a greater variety of cultural expression easily available than there is now. On that basis alone we're pretty excellent.

 

[RandyS]

old people don't appreciate the magnificence of the young.

I think you got that backwards there, big'un.

Young people in general can't appreciate the "magnificence" of their elders, simply because they aren't there yet. There's a lot to be learned from even the simplest of your elders, just because they've lived longer and have probably seen a thing or two that you haven't.

That old saw "youth is wasted on the young" is pretty much right on the nose. Older people do appreciate youth, because they had it once. But once it's gone, it's gone. It ain't never coming back.

Disagreeing about popular culture is as old as the hills. It doesn't make us old folks wrong, and it don't make you whippersnappers right.

I was going to post, but since you said more or less everything I was going to, let me just add: well said.

 

[Kestra]

old people don't appreciate the magnificence of the young.

I think you got that backwards there, big'un.

Young people in general can't appreciate the "magnificence" of their elders, simply because they aren't there yet. There's a lot to be learned from even the simplest of your elders, just because they've lived longer and have probably seen a thing or two that you haven't.

That old saw "youth is wasted on the young" is pretty much right on the nose. Older people do appreciate youth, because they had it once. But once it's gone, it's gone. It ain't never coming back.

Disagreeing about popular culture is as old as the hills. It doesn't make us old folks wrong, and it don't make you whippersnappers right.

IMO, of course. YMMV. LSMFT. ROWYCO.

I don't know why people in this thread are insisting on creating this generational divide. There are people half my age who have seen things I haven't, and people double my age who probably haven't experienced some of the things I have.

 

[thestrangequark]

^

 

[CorporalCaptain]

^ Saved!

 

[iguana_tonante]

old people don't appreciate the magnificence of the young.

I think you got that backwards there, big'un.

I don't know why people in this thread are insisting on creating this generational divide.

Especially since no one here has ever said that the current cultural products are necessarily better than the older ones. Certainly not tsq, as she has already explained. Certainly not stj, since he was arguing the exact opposite. (Though I'm not sure about him. Apparently, we are either unable or unwilling to understand simple English, so we can't know either way.) So Carcazoid just picked a random sentence and used it to launch another rant about how young whippersnappers have failed the Greatest Generation or something like that. Because that's certainly new, clever, and above all actually true.

 

[marksound]

I think you got that backwards there, big'un.

I don't know why people in this thread are insisting on creating this generational divide.

Especially since no one here has ever said that the current cultural products are necessarily better than the older ones. Certainly not tsq, as she has already explained. Certainly not stj, since he was arguing the exact opposite. (Though I'm not sure about him. Apparently, we are either unable or unwilling to understand simple English, so we can't know either way.) So Carcazoid just picked a random sentence and used it to launch another rant about how young whippersnappers have failed the Greatest Generation or something like that. Because that's certainly new, clever, and above all actually true.

So, yeah. I'm old and stupid and don't have the patience to get past the actual gist of a long agonizing post. Thanks for making my point for me.

ETA: I appreciate your magnificence.*

 

[Thestral]

Bah, never trust anybody over thir... <looks at birthdate> forty.

 

[Pavonis]

Never trust anyone over x+5, or listen to anyone under x-10, where x is my current age.

 

[Avon]

never trust anyone that either has a hat at an odd angle, or pulls their trousers up too high

 

[Kestra]

I don't know why people in this thread are insisting on creating this generational divide.

Especially since no one here has ever said that the current cultural products are necessarily better than the older ones. Certainly not tsq, as she has already explained. Certainly not stj, since he was arguing the exact opposite. (Though I'm not sure about him. Apparently, we are either unable or unwilling to understand simple English, so we can't know either way.) So Carcazoid just picked a random sentence and used it to launch another rant about how young whippersnappers have failed the Greatest Generation or something like that. Because that's certainly new, clever, and above all actually true.

So, yeah. I'm old and stupid and don't have the patience to get past the actual gist of a long agonizing post. Thanks for making my point for me.

ETA: I appreciate your magnificence.*

No one is saying that you're old and stupid. No one.

Bah, never trust anybody over thir... <looks at birthdate> forty.

Yeah I'm turning 30 in a couple weeks. It's a weird feeling, but I'm looking forward to my thirties and still consider myself young!

 

[Thestral]

I've got a year and a half but I wanted to give myself room. Here's to still being young!

 

[sojourner]

and still consider myself young!

You are still young! Trust me, the mid forties is no picnic.

 

[RandyS]

and still consider myself young!

You are still young! Trust me, the mid forties is no picnic.

I'll second that. As I've said elsewhere around here, I've had cerebral palsy all my life, so bodily pain and discomfort has been a constant companion. But, since I passed 40 (three years ago), It's gotten harder to distinguish between the aches and pains caused by my CP, and those caused by the normal aging process. It's caused confusion with my doctor more than once recently.