“When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect -- but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate -- may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical -- always think for yourself.”
The wise words above were uttered by Linus Pauling, an American, who won two Nobel Prizes – the first for Chemistry in 1954 – and the coveted Peace Prize in 1962.
I have thought about these words and what they meant, during this past week. Many times, I have heard people speak of the wisdom possessed by our elders and how time and experience make us wiser. I am beginning to believe I have been misled, perhaps even lied to.
Josh McDaniels, who had been the head coach of the Denver Broncos, was fired on Monday. He was most likely fired for a variety of reasons, mainly his team has been losing, but also because he was caught cheating in a game a few weeks ago. He was fined $50,000 by the NFL for illegally taping a practice of an opposing team. He cheated.
Over the weekend, I watched a group of young boys playing football. They were on the play ground of an area school. You may have seen them too or boys like them as scenes like this are common. They played and had fun, but all of the sudden a discussion broke out and one boy was “sidelined” by the others. I had to ask the young man why he was no longer allowed to play. His reply, “I cheated, sir”.
Let me get this straight, eight year old boys know you get kicked out when you cheat, but NFL Coaches just get fined? Who is smarter? Who has more integrity?
As my wife and I did some Christmas Shopping over the weekend, we stressed about coming up with the money for all of the gifts “we needed to buy”. We wondered where we would find the money.
While checking out of a store, I heard a little girl tell her Mom, “I don’t care about getting presents why don’t we just be happy we’re all together!”
Let me get this straight, a little girl knows more about the real meaning of Christmas than two “wise” adults out shopping?
Just prior to sitting down to write this story, I attended a high school basketball game. I saw people whom I have had differences with in the past. People whom I have known for years, but because of one thing or another we have allowed pride or silly differences to come between our friendship. This is really sad, but my life is no different than yours – I have regrets and no knowledge of how to repair them.
While these thoughts of damaged friendships ran through my mind, I was drawn to a conversation taking place on the bench in front of me. Two boys in their early teens were talking about a discussion one of their teachers had led them in. The discussion centered on bullying and how wrong it was to treat someone badly because they were “different”. They were discussing how they needed to reach out to a particular classmate and become friends again to right their wrongs.
Let me get this straight, some young teenage boys know better how to repair a friendship with some dignity, than myself? They are better at conflict resolution?
Ahhh, I understand what Mr. Pauling was saying. The World really does progress, when the younger generation figures out what was wrong with their Elders. Yes, indeed we must always be skeptical and think for ourselves. As for me, I think I am going to be more like the younger generation, from now on. It’s obvious they are the wise ones!
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