A question of wisdom?

[Blade]

Thats ok i have a 500-600pg. text book from last quarter full of Chinese and Japanese history and major phylosiphers that was a very cool class.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

My sixth grade Science teacher had a wonderful saying:

"One morning, you will wake up and realize just HOW MUCH your parents really know".

I was 17 when it happened for me.

AFA the rebellious attitude, it's all part of establishing an identity. Teenagers are just realizing how valuable they are as an individual rather than as "So and so's kid". Their thought processes (and social skills) become more sophisticated and they begin to understand that they are "their own person". Religion, Life, Politics, Government, and Society used to just be "grown-up topics", but now they actually start to make sense...and the teenager realizes they are knowledgeable enough to form opinions about them. Even better, they now learn that their opinion is important to others.

The one area that they aren't developed in is Wisdom. Except in very rare cases, Wisdom is only gained through experience, and teenagers are just starting to really "experience" life. There are LOTS of things I would do differently (or not do at all) if I had a chance to go back in time but retain my current level of knowledge. It's no surprise that AD&D allows a characters' Wisdom to increase as the character ages...it is a natural progression. When I first started playing AD&D, a friend was explaining the different abilities my character had. I couldn't figure out any real difference between Intelligence and Wisdom. They seemed like flip-sides of the same coin (and - in a way - they are). He came up with a great answer that cleared it up.

"Intelligence is the ability to come up with an idea. Wisdom is the ability to determine if it is a GOOD idea."

I came up with a LOT of ideas when I was a teenager, but when I acted on them, I discovered some of them WEREN'T very good ones. (Example: Ben Gay/Muscle Rub/Tiger Balm/etc are wonderful products for easing muscle pain....BUT NOT FOR GROIN MUSCLES!!!....yes, I actually did that - ONCE!).

Magik, just treat you're son they way you would one of us...with respect...but let him know you expect him to do the same for you. It won't eliminate all the "bumps" in the road you're on now, but it might smooth some of them over.


Oh yeah, AFA teenagers that have invented something that had an impact on society.....

Have any of you heard of this fella named Bill Gates?

[WOLFGIR]

Hehe, well even the old Greeks stated that Magik!

But also you have to consider the flow of information today. Teens have access to news on the fly, information overflow and also can discuss things with people all over the world today. And it is also for teens to "question" the world. Part of human nature to "learn" and to develope. When you are a teen wuestions and interests for politics are at the strongest surge. Though only for a few. I am speaking in VERT general terms here.

As teens go, they see the world from a complete new perspective, from childhood to see the cruel grown up world, and sometimes I think they are actually right. I mean what have we done that is so great? Wherein lies the grown ups wisdom in slowly accepting more and more?

Idealistic thougts, well taught right out of schools learning how things "should" be to discover that the world is sometimes pretty far from that?

It´s a phase wether you lived through it or not, I´m sure many of us have gone through it. I thought I new best hehe when I was a teen, but then when I found out that I new a drop of rain in the ocean, I got humbled and tried to understand as much as possible instead. But as stated before, the activity of the brain can come into a supersurge during teens and questions are pondered, and great thinkers and doers come to life.

I also come to think of the saying. With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone..

The more I know, the more I know I know less and less.. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

quote:

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Originally posted by Roxi:
About 3 years ago I attended our good friend and neighbors high school graduation. One gentleman, the school counselor I believe, read a letter to the class and parents etc that attended. The letter was from a former student. Though I don't have the exact words, I remember the content fairly well because it hit home with me. The letter read something like this:

'When I was little, my parents were the wisest people in the world. They knew ALL. There was not a single question my young mind could conjure up that they didn't know the answer to. As I grew a little older, nearing my teen years, I realized that, yes, they were wise, but they didn't know all there was. Becoming a teenager I became aware of how ignorant my parents and all adults were. In fact, they just didn't seem to know much of anything that's really, really important. By the time I was ready to graduate I had to face the fact that my parents were downright stupid. They were totally disconnected from all reality. They lacked understanding of even the smallest thing of importance. All of my intelligent observations were always met with their blank, uncomprehending stare, much to my shame that such were my parents.
As I ventured out and made my own way in the world, I began to see that, well, they weren't totally stupid.... they knew a few things. And as each year, each new experience in my life faced me, I began to realize, once again, just how wise my parents were and are. Today, I know now that the wisest thing they have ever done was to allow me my ignorance of being.'

Please remember, this is not exact, but I believe it very close. Anyway, I thought it was a very interesting observation that former student made.

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Very nice post Roxi. [img]smile.gif[/img] I guess Ill let my son live another year or so

[Garnet FalconDance]

MagiK darlin', it's not as if *we* didn't do the same thing when we were teens!

But I would agree that the internet and communications in general have served to produce a better informed, more widely studied child in general (where applicable). Their world is a *lot* bigger than our ever was and IMO their brains are wired a bit differently for it. Mozart was a musical child prodigy in his day, but in today's world (while he'd still be a genius) he'd not be as *much* an exception.

Budha has the theory that when you're young, the world is there for your conquer--and you are bulletproof (in your own mind, anyhow)! Now sooner or later you learn you are not bulletproof and infallible, but for a short while it seems like it [img]smile.gif[/img] . It's only after this miraculous stage that you realize how much you really don't know and then can get on with learning and life. I think it holds true, if you think about it.

I know I have two teen boys and a near-enough teen girl in the house right now---and I am constantly amazed at just how stupid I really am [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] ! It's a wonder I *ever* made it to this wrinkledy old age to hear them tell it. But just wait til they move out into the cold, cold world all by thems' lonesomes'...........

[Redblueflare]

quote:

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Originally posted by MagiK:
[QB]
Catagories being: Religion, Life, Politics, Government and Society

QB]

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These are the categories that I tend to stay away from. I don't watch the news very often, so my parents always know more about what's going on. Besides even if I did I wouldn't argue with my parents about them. You can't really know more than anyone else on these subjects, but you can *have* an opinion. Whether you believe you're honestly right or not, someone else is going to try to prove you wrong.

Now in other subjects lets say Algebra. My parents sometimes ask me to help out my sister. My parents has been out of high school for awhile, and don't remember all that stuff, but they still remember some of it.

[Galadria]

I guess that I'm lucky. My teenager (15) is a nice, respectful boy. But I kept being reminded that saying of Mark Twain's, "When I left home at 14, I thought my father was the stupiest man in the world. When I returned at 21, I was surprised at how much the old man had learned."

[Garnet FalconDance]

I don't think 'nice and respectful' preclude know-it-all, Galadria. My boys are, for the most part, nice and respectful (more than a little mischievious and impish at times, too) but they still have that air about them at times which fairly screams "I *am* the smartest, baddest kid on the planet". I think it's probably a generational 'problem' which has come down to us from the beginnings of time....all youth test the waters, push the boundaries to see just how far their little world will give before it smacks back. Parents ar the front line of their world, so we get the brunt of it.

I know there is no more (irritating) universal sight than a teenager, hands on the hips, eyes rolled with this nonchalant aura when a parent is trying to make a point (ok, so maybe it's just girls for the most part, but boys do it too).

[Galadria]

Well, Garnet, I think that a lot of it, too, is that I'm just a step-parent, not in charge of dicipline, and my husband is a large, intelligent, formidable person who doesn't suffer fools lightly. So, my teenager really doesn't think that he knows more than his dad. Like I say, I'm very lucky.