On 22/09/2013 7:56 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:18:21 +0100, Stephen wrote:
>

>> Pity, he did not have a theory about keeping deadlines.
>
> :)
>
> Well, he sort of did, but it had to do more with the noise they made as
> they went past. :)
>

Woosh! ;-)


>>>
>> It sounds like a good theory but I don't really think that it cuts the
>> mustard.
>
> Well, like I said, the ages involved perhaps aren't accurate for
> everyone, but for a large number of people, I think this makes a lot of
> sense.
>

Very few of the people I know are like that.
But I won't argue, for once. :-)


>
>>> - I think the ages aren't necessarily set in stone, but in principle,
>>> this makes sense.  You eventually get to the point where keeping up is
>>> too much of a bother, and
>>
>> Yes, but at midlife?
>
> Well, like I said, it depends on the person.  I know some people who hit
> that "35" point much earlier, and some who hit it much later.  I think
> the point isn't so much the specific values, but that this happens to
> pretty much everyone at some point.
>

I am a fairy and my name is Nuff.

Fairy Nuff. ;-)

>
> Another Adams quote applies:
>
> "We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that
> works."
>

True.

>> It falls into two categories, IMO.
>> Life was better when I was young, people were better educated, more
>> polite and had time for others. Better quality of life etc.
>> And: Technology is too complicated, things were better when you could
>> understand how they worked. Such as a baud rate of 9600, RAM memory 640
>> kB. Cars that did not have ABS, seat belts, crumple zones. I cold go on.
>
> Both situations are true - but I think it also is a trick the mind plays
> by idealizing the past as well.

I think that is the crux of the matter.

> I hear this sort of thing, for example,
> said by pundits here talking about how much better things were back when
> they were kids.

Somehow some people think that most people want to hear that. I could be 
wrong and I was, once before. ;-)

> But the average American kid back in the 70s (or
> earlier) wasn't exposed to all the world's problems unless they were on a
> very huge scale.

For a start most kids don't pay attention to what is going on outside 
their own environment. And I get the feeling that most Americans are 
quite insular, happy to live in their own world. (No offence intended.)

> So memories of the time tend to be far more idyllic
> than the actual time.
>

Indeed, it is only looking back on my childhood, with the eyes of an 
adult who has travelled. That I see I was brought up in a deprived area 
and time. Then The sixties and seventies were upon us. And swinging 
Britain made everything groovy.

>>>
>> As long as you didn't repeat their mistakes.
>
> I made a conscious effort not to.  I'm happy to say that our kid is
> pretty well adjusted, too. ;)
>

:-D

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message