Are* older generations stupid or younger generations smarter?

[Deleted member 56225]

I have thought about this for a while. We always hear of people dieing on sole hikes recently. And everyone one who chimes in has an opinion. -----They should never go alone, they weren't prepared, I do this, I do that, etc. When I was in my late twenties (mid to late nineties), I did a lot of solo trips (and still do, 2 weeks in the brookes most recently). The bob marshal, the wind rivers, wilderness areas all over Colorado. I went on the back country trips by myself for 12 days or more. There were no mtnn houses, food was real and the things to cook them in were real. Had to pack them all.

Everyone says going by yourself is stupid. But why? The best backcountry experiences are solo hunts, backpacking fishing trips, etc. And back then there were no cell phones, garmins, etc. Is it a last of generational thing? Xers were the last feral generation and unfortunately x'ers raised their children to be pussy's. Ed Abbey said it, a sign with two paths, the right path and abbey's path, please take the right path.

Honestly the first time I ever felt I was in a wilderness, was in the Brooks by myself. A grizz almost walked into to camp withh me watching. Thank the Lord I had a 12 pound jack russel! (picture to follow) (Abbey always wanted to see grizz but never did, I have seen more than I can count, so I feel fortunate).

Not sure where I am going with this (had a few beers, honestly just waiting for my first like fromm big fin), just curious if we should be left alone to be free individuals, left to our deciscions (right or wrong) or be over prepared to ruin other peoples day when we don't show up? Make sense? Stupid question? Generational question? I am not sure.

 

[Deleted member 56225]

I have thought about this for a while. We always hear of people dieing on sole hikes recently. And everyone one who chimes in has an opinion. -----They should never go alone, they weren't prepared, I do this, I do that, etc. When I was in my late twenties (mid to late nineties), I did a lot of solo trips (and still do, 2 weeks in the brookes most recently). The bob marshal, the wind rivers, wilderness areas all over Colorado. I went on the back country trips by myself for 12 days or more. There were no mtnn houses, food was real and the things to cook them in were real. Had to pack them all.

Everyone says going by yourself is stupid. But why? The best backcountry experiences are solo hunts, backpacking fishing trips, etc. And back then there were no cell phones, garmins, etc. Is it a last of generational thing? Xers were the last feral generation and unfortunately x'ers raised their children to be pussy's. Ed Abbey said it, a sign with two paths, the right path and abbey's path, please take the right path.

Honestly the first time I ever felt I was in a wilderness, was in the Brooks by myself. A grizz almost walked into to camp withh me watching. Thank the Lord I had a 12 pound jack russel! (picture to follow) (Abbey always wanted to see grizz but never did, I have seen more than I can count, so I feel fortunate).

Not sure where I am going with this (had a few beers, honestly just waiting for my first like fromm big fin), just curious if we should be left alone to be free individuals, left to our deciscions (right or wrong) or be over prepared to ruin other peoples day when we don't show up? Make sense? Stupid question? Generational question? I am not sure.

forgot the pict

 

[Wolfshead]

I’ll be interested on what others have to say.
Some people don’t know what they don’t know.
We certainly live in a different time now. What some did “back in the day” on the regular, people now could/would never do.

 

[Dsnow9]

I am probably more of the exception than the norm for my age (millennial). But the exceptions are even harder to find in younger generations. A lot of that has to do with the internet and parents just plopping their kids in front of the computer or tablet. I know parents now that will give their 1 year old a tablet to keep the kids quiet during a meal. I think these trends are only going to get worse.

At the core of who we are as people we are designed to be in community, but I truly believe men need that solo time occasionally. Kind of a reset.

When I plan hunting trips and such I plan to go solo and if anyone joins that is great but I don’t make plans around others anymore because to often the whole thing will fall apart.

 

[Dsnow9]

I have thought about this for a while. We always hear of people dieing on sole hikes recently. And everyone one who chimes in has an opinion. -----They should never go alone, they weren't prepared, I do this, I do that, etc. When I was in my late twenties (mid to late nineties), I did a lot of solo trips (and still do, 2 weeks in the brookes most recently). The bob marshal, the wind rivers, wilderness areas all over Colorado. I went on the back country trips by myself for 12 days or more. There were no mtnn houses, food was real and the things to cook them in were real. Had to pack them all.

Everyone says going by yourself is stupid. But why? The best backcountry experiences are solo hunts, backpacking fishing trips, etc. And back then there were no cell phones, garmins, etc. Is it a last of generational thing? Xers were the last feral generation and unfortunately x'ers raised their children to be pussy's. Ed Abbey said it, a sign with two paths, the right path and abbey's path, please take the right path.

Honestly the first time I ever felt I was in a wilderness, was in the Brooks by myself. A grizz almost walked into to camp withh me watching. Thank the Lord I had a 12 pound jack russel! (picture to follow) (Abbey always wanted to see grizz but never did, I have seen more than I can count, so I feel fortunate).

Not sure where I am going with this (had a few beers, honestly just waiting for my first like fromm big fin), just curious if we should be left alone to be free individuals, left to our deciscions (right or wrong) or be over prepared to ruin other peoples day when we don't show up? Make sense? Stupid question? Generational question? I am not sure.

Ps you might want to check the word usage in your title…. The English language can get confusing after a few drinks

 

[CRJR45]

I wonder how much of people getting lost and dying went unreported back in my day . News then and news now is night and day difference . Back then someone getting lost and dying out by their selves wasn't news , nobody cared .
Now if Blue Ivey gets a hangnail it major news !

 

[rjthehunter]

I am probably more of the exception than the norm for my age (millennial). But the exceptions are even harder to find in younger generations. A lot of that has to do with the internet and parents just plopping their kids in front of the computer or tablet. I know parents now that will give their 1 year old a tablet to keep the kids quiet during a meal. I think these trends are only going to get worse.

At the core of who we are as people we are designed to be in community, but I truly believe men need that solo time occasionally. Kind of a reset.

When I plan hunting trips and such I plan to go solo and if anyone joins that is great but I don’t make plans around others anymore because to often the whole thing will fall apart.

Ding ding ding!

I had 2 trips that didn't happen because I tried to plan with someone. Now I plan everything solo. I don't want to miss out on something because of someone else. I'll be in WY this fall elk hunting solo. Would've never happened if I waited for someone.

Also the whole tablet thing. It's sad. Kids don't know how to act because the youtube videos or games have become their reality. And lets face it, people in kids youtube videos, aren't what I'd consider normal... But they're led to believe that they are.

 

[Gellar]

We are guilty of letting our kids watch YouTube occasionally. It always gets shut off at dinner time and they don’t use tablets. They have tablets, but we’ve taken both of them away because there is something about their attitude that changes immediately when they are watching on their tablet. My boy is 6 and likes to watch kids play with toy tractors and he watches adults (maybe 20-30 years old) play farming sim video games. My daughter watches instafamous people that make up challenges and they have a competition amongst “their friends” to complete them. The challenges are all dumb and not relevant to real life like filling your house with Orbies or converting a city street into a trampoline park or trying to sneak into an amusement park for 24 hours. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to explain to them both that what they are watching is not real and does not really happen. If we aren’t paying attention to what they are watching it does not take long for the algorithm to get way off into the weeds. When they are playing outside or even with their toys I will occasionally see them doing something stupid and ask them “why?” And they will say it was on YouTube.

To the original question “are older generations stupid or are younger generations smarter?” I think it depends on what we are talking about. In terms of reality vs unreality, kids are dumb. They have no concept of what is real or possible. It seems they do not think practically. They see something on YouTube and they automatically think that’s how it works or that is possible. they couldn’t change a lightbulb or check their oil in their car but they could get my iPhone restarted after an app crashes it.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Fixed the title for you.
I too have lost to spelling and grammar after a few beers.

 

[hank4elk]

I'm an old, so my opine does not count. If you wanted to count fancy in my day you used a slide calculator. Or an abacus.
There is a boob tube in every hand now.

 

[longbow51]

With one exception, until I started dating my wife, I never went backpacking with anyone, and that was in lots of wilderness in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

Food was rice, gorp, oatmeal, cheese, crackers, and a few brookies if I was near streams, as no way I could afford freeze dried, yet somehow I survived.

Our kids are doing a pretty good job with our granddaughter; she has screen time, but can also help work on a boat, kayaks well, runs cross country, and is a whiz in the kitchen at 12 going on 13.

We'll have her for a few weeks this summer, and will get her more range time, and on the Mo.

Time will tell though. Crucial years ahead.

 

[Hem]

No fault of their own the younger generations use/ rely on technology not available to older generations.

I can cross a mountain range with intuition, but still write checks.
Guess it's all in the eye of the beholder who is " challenged".

 

[MTTW]

I am pretty sure we are all getting dumber.

 

[mdhunter]

You know you are getting old when you start thinking "I don't know how these kids will make it".

They will make it (or most of them, lol).

 

[Treeshark]

Plato and Aristotle had similar concerns regarding the youth of their time.

 

[Wild Bill]

Of course it is important to monitor and limit use of tablets and phones and such for children, we try our best but they still get some screen time. I squash all the junk Gellar mentioned above as fast as I can. The people that make those videos that target children and don't have any educational qualities should be sent to the gulag. Our kids play games on the PBS Kids app, and a couple others, but they're all geared towards learning in some fashion.
I do get a kick out of older generations that think children shouldn't have ANY screen time and scoff when they see a kid who's able to use a phone or tablet. Newsflash for those folks, todays children will NEED to know how to use devices and tablets and computers. They're not going away, and they're only becoming more prevalent in our workplaces and lives. That being said, it falls on parents to guide them and help them with higher quality shows/games/etc.

 

[rjthehunter]

We are guilty of letting our kids watch YouTube occasionally. It always gets shut off at dinner time and they don’t use tablets. They have tablets, but we’ve taken both of them away because there is something about their attitude that changes immediately when they are watching on their tablet. My boy is 6 and likes to watch kids play with toy tractors and he watches adults (maybe 20-30 years old) play farming sim video games. My daughter watches instafamous people that make up challenges and they have a competition amongst “their friends” to complete them. The challenges are all dumb and not relevant to real life like filling your house with Orbies or converting a city street into a trampoline park or trying to sneak into an amusement park for 24 hours. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to explain to them both that what they are watching is not real and does not really happen. If we aren’t paying attention to what they are watching it does not take long for the algorithm to get way off into the weeds. When they are playing outside or even with their toys I will occasionally see them doing something stupid and ask them “why?” And they will say it was on YouTube.

To the original question “are older generations stupid or are younger generations smarter?” I think it depends on what we are talking about. In terms of reality vs unreality, kids are dumb. They have no concept of what is real or possible. It seems they do not think practically. They see something on YouTube and they automatically think that’s how it works or that is possible. they couldn’t change a lightbulb or check their oil in their car but they could get my iPhone restarted after an app crashes it.

There's a definite attitude change when they watch youtube. I've noticed short tempers, more talk back, and just a general not fun to be around attitude. My girlfriend has a 6 year old son and he definitely gets moody after being in front of a tablet. We took it away for 2 months one time just to see if it'd make a difference, and by day 2 he was back to his normal self.

One tip from a feller I was guiding this spring was to have him watch Outdoor Boys. It's a dad and his sons that do all kinds of cool outdoor stuff. It is all real too which is 100x better than watching someone play a game or do something completely unrealistic. After him watching a couple of episodes over a few days, he was outside banging two rocks together trying to start a fire. That made me happy to see!

 

[Gellar]

There's a definite attitude change when they watch youtube. I've noticed short tempers, more talk back, and just a general not fun to be around attitude. My girlfriend has a 6 year old son and he definitely gets moody after being in front of a tablet. We took it away for 2 months one time just to see if it'd make a difference, and by day 2 he was back to his normal self.

One tip from a feller I was guiding this spring was to have him watch Outdoor Boys. It's a dad and his sons that do all kinds of cool outdoor stuff. It is all real too which is 100x better than watching someone play a game or do something completely unrealistic. After him watching a couple of episodes over a few days, he was outside banging two rocks together trying to start a fire. That made me happy to see!

We watch outdoor boys. Sadly he announced a few weeks ago he was pausing his channel, but there is tons of adventures with his kids from the Florida swamps to the brooks range in Ak.

 

[gouch]

Us old folks grew up with a totally different mentality. "SAFETY FIRST" wasn't a thing. Nobody wore seatbelts, Kids would ride in the back of a pickup, motorcyclists didn't wear helmets. Damn sure nobody of any age wore a helmet or pads while bicycling, roller skating or skateboarding. Kids were pretty much unsupervised as long as they were outdoors and out of their parent's hair. If someone got hurt at work, "oh well, sucks to be you, next man up" People just felt that if something bad happens, it happens, nothing you can do about it. That's life.

So being alone in the wilderness was never a big deal. we didn't worry much or prepare for "what might happen" we just tried to enjoy what was happening. Before I was old enough to drive my dad would drop me off in the middle of nowhere for a solo hunt, if he had to work and couldn't hunt with me. Nobody thought twice about it. Except maybe mom but she didn't say anything.

So good, bad or indifferent it is just the way we grew up and many of us, even at an advanced age when maybe we should be more careful, still maintain that mindset to some degree. Even as modern society ties to beat SAFTY FIRST, into our worn-out old brains.

Besides, if nobody has the time or the desire to go with you, what the hell are you supposed to do? Stay home in your rocking chair on the back porch?

 

[TOGIE]

i honestly don't think too many people say going by yourself is stupid. the calculus for certain solo outdoor pursuits sure changes when you have a wife and kids though.

certain things are stupid, like riding a motorcycle without a helmet or not wearing a seatbelt. however, we do need entrants for the darwin awards, after all.

every generation is smarter than the last, but only due to lessons learnt from the last, otherwise, we're just as dumb.

thinking otherwise is, well...