Are "young people (aged 20-30) still open-minded and willing to consider the big picture"?

Question

This was one poster's response to another question.

I'd like someone to explain to me how it is that more than a small percentage of people aged 20-30 are able to see "the big picture".

My own experience tells me that their own lack of experience in life leaves them with an inability and, sometimes, an unwillingness to see the big picture. In addition, many people I meet in that age group are woefully uninformed, not to say without opinions! For the most part, substantive conversations about world events are simply not practical.

My experience tell me that the reason why people get more "conservative" as they age is that they've gained more exposure to the world AS IT REALLY IS - thereby enabling them to have a clearer idea of what constitues a practical solution to a particular problem. There are plenty of exceptions, of course, on both sides of the political spectrum.

I don't call that "conservative" - I call it practical, informed, common sensical, rational, etc.

Answer 1

Kids say the darndest things.

Answer 2

I agree that many in the 20-30 (or 2-30) age range are ignorant of the world they live in in many aspects. I also assume that you are under 30, judging by both your picture and your political naivete. You seem to consider yourself an expert on politics although to those who have studied political and economic ideas extensively you come across as a person who's read a few ann coulter or rush limbaugh books and listens to conservative radio during the day, and of course gets a few doses of FoxNews each day, too. "You never know just how you look through other peoples' eyes" (Lyrics to some song I heard before)

No, becoming conservative has little to do with becoming less ignorant with age, but becoming more fearful with age; more concerned with "security" (even if it's a false sense of security) than "liberty," but that can happen at any age. Also, it's hard not to become more conservative in a world where conservative ideas are broadcasted and pushed and smashed and taught above all else into people's heads every day, since the ruling class (and the government itself) has the money and desire to keep everyone in a conservative mindframe. We are really lucky that deviance from the prescribed conservatism is as common as it is.

Answer 3

Here's the other side of the coin: Younger people CAN see the big picture, but aren't happy with it. We can see the injustices that older people overlook. Older people have either been successful (they've gotten the things that they pushed for when they were younger) or unsuccessful (they're "burned out" and don't have the strength to push any more) in their pursuits. Often, what younger people see as unjust, the older people have always taken for granted as "the way things are" and don't see a problem. And, it doesn't help that it's the younger people who want the change -- after all, (paraphrasing you) young people don't know anything!

So, essentially, young people fight, end their fight, and either make peace with the system or change the system to what they want it to be, and become middle-aged. Then, new young people come along who want to change what the middle-aged people are now used to. The stage has shifted, and it's difficult for the middle-aged people to remember what it was like to fight for a cause. And they rationalize that their beliefs are more sensible then than they were before (even though they would say that the ideas that they fought against were definitely wrong).

Answer 4

The truth of the big picture is as objective as any other truth. I know many people in many age groups who are so stuck in their ways that they only see their limited viewpoints as the only ones that can be the truth.

So what is the world AS IT REALLY IS? That is all in the eye of the beholder. The solutions that one would see as wild and out there by you or anyone else might be seen as practical to that person.

Some of the most informed and common sensical people I know are in the 20-30 year age bracket. Some have lived life and have experienced things far worse than the average 40 or 50 year old. I would never quantify age with experience. That is closed minded and...being such.... quite a conservitive viewpoint.

Answer 5

I am 18 and yes, i can see the entire picture and have been able to for a couple of years. My family has been through its ups and downs. We have been poor to the bone at times and pretty well off at others. All i know is that i have formed my own opinion, read many political books. I know tons of history but even though i have formed my own opinion, i am very open minded to new suggestions. its just that most of the suggestions i get are all so lolly gaggy. Through all of this i have become a conservative but i am always looking for a new explanation or opinion to things. Most people my age though, do not consider the big picture which shows with their decisions on drugs, sex, not voting and such. It is sad

Answer 6

First, in response to Jesi:
"At school the one non-liberal professor I had summed it up like this:

If you're in your 20's and you are not a Democrat you have no balls.
If you're in your 30's and your not a Republican you have no brains."

He's modifying a quote by Woodrow Wilson:
Anyone who is not a socialist at 16 has no heart,
but anyone who still is at 32 has no mind.

Now might I suggest to you this: How about instead of labeling people Democrats and Republicans etc, you actually step back and try to define what you believe in and what other people believe in in broader terms. This may come as a shock to you but everything you think is not automatically right. Everything that other people think is not automatically wrong. There's no way that 300 million people's views can be represented by 2 parties in a political system. So before you try to make this an us vs. them discussion stop and think about what you're saying.

That leads me to my response to this question. Yes.......The age group you're talking about is very open-minded, much more so than the older age groups, just like children are much more open minded and apt to absorb information than those older than them. Now to dismiss some of your statements:

"In addition, many people I meet in that age group are woefully uninformed, not to say without opinions! For the most part, substantive conversations about world events are simply not practical."
I don't know who you've met but it is my opinion that the majority of people no matter what age are woefully uninformed. And for the most part I find that trying that have a substantive conversation about world events with much of the population, regardless of age, is impossible. I'd make the point that, yes as we get older we learn more and thus are more qualified to have a conversation about world events; however, that implies a simple increase in the information we've accumulated over the years, actual critical thinking skills are more highly represented in the youth population.

"I don't call that 'conservative' - I call it practical, informed, common sensical, rational, etc."
I'm not sure you understand what "conservative" means. Being practical, informed, and rational are by no means traits exclusive to conservative people. Stop looking at "conservative" as a group of people, the political spectrum is a gradual progression from conservative to liberal. With a complete totalitarian government on the extreme of the conservative side and pure communism on the other end.

And finally to respond to your statement about people becoming more conservative as they age: in a way, yes they do. You see people in general tend to fear change. The natural progression of government is from the conservative end of the spectrum to the liberal end of the spectrum. So if you keep your views the same and don't see that the world around you is changing than if you were a liberal as a teenager you're a conservative when you die. For example if you were born in the 1900s and you grew up thinking that women should be allowed to vote, but only with restrictions, you would have been extremely liberal, if you still believe that when you died in the 2000s you'd have been unspeakably conservative.

Answer 7

Winston Churchill said: "If you are not a Liberal by the time you are 21, you do not have a heart. If you are not a Conservative by the time you are 40, you do not have a brain."
By "big picture" do you mean seeing the world as it really is, as opposed to trying to change reality to the way you think it should be? I think the basic flaw of Liberalism is deciding the way things should be, then trying to make it happen.

Answer 8

your a hypocrite...you say be open minded but then you contradict yourself and say basically that you are better because your older...and since your older you think your wiser...and then you say if we don't agree with your opinion then we are not practical, informed, lack of common sense, rational, and etc...you show your true close minded self in between the lines of your supposed open mindedness...you sir are the problem not us real open minded people...stop looking down on others and acting superior...

Answer 9

Who ever said that I applaud their understanding. I think most young people can understand a lot more than they are given credit for.

Answer 10

At school the one non-liberal professor I had summed it up like this:

If you're in your 20's and you are not a Democrat you have no balls.
If you're in your 30's and your not a Republican you have no brains.