The common notion is this: the older one becomes the more resistant one is to change and to learning new fangled things.
In short, one becomes more conservative. Is this more perception than reality? Studies at the University of Vermont and Penn State indicate the opposite, that as people age they become more liberal and accepting.
That older people are seen as conservative, rigid, and ornery may in part result from the negative attitude toward the elderly in America.
In a culture so fixated on youth, this negative attitude is an inescapable truth.
No university study is needed to substantiate it. That’s the way it has always been and perhaps should and must always be for new ideas – good, bad, and indifferent – to flourish. (However, let us not forget that, Mark Zuckerberg, the young turk of the Internet is standing on the broad shoulders of Bill Gates, the elder statesman of personal computing.)
Still other studies show that older people are wiser in choosing which technologies to accept or reject. They do not buy into change for the sake of change. They do not need the latest and the greatest to be seen as hip. They must see a benefit. The young might do well to emulate this behavior.
Very few – young or old – like change. We are creatures of habit and when change threatens, we resist. But young people have no choice – they must accept technology and change because they are immersed in it at school and in their careers. It is a sink or swim situation. What surprises me most is that older people on fixed incomes, out of school, and retired from business embrace technology at all. The only reality here is that the young initiate change and the over-sixty crowd let them do all the work while they happily reap the benefits.
I have seventy-something neighbors who are as avid about the latest smartphones, tablets, and social networking apps as any thirty-something. And, as far as I’m concerned, they spend far too much time on the computer when they should be outside playing in the fresh air. (Let me digress for a moment. Social networking is a misnomer. It is neither good nor bad; it’s just not what it claims to be. If Facebook is social intercourse, then playing with yourself is sexual intercourse. I am champing at the bit to delve into the semantics, logic, and misconceptions of “social networking” and will devote more attention to the devilish details of this phenomenon in a future column.)
Here are a couple of stories for you. Are they true?
You’ll have to take my word on it.
Several days ago, while waiting in the checkout line at a local supermarket, I overheard two women talking tech:
First woman: “She unfriended me on facebook. I don’t know what I said or did to deserve it. The nerve!”
Second woman: “Well, if it makes you feel any better, she unfriended me too! I think she’s having problems with . . .”
(The best part was coming, but I missed it. I was being nudged from behind by a shopping cart and getting dirty looks from a cashier.)
More than several years ago I took a class on building websites at a community college and my two favorite classmates were an elderly husband and wife. The final exam involved building one’s own website and they took top honors, beating out a room full of young nerds and one old nerd. (The thing I found most fascinating as I observed them in class was this: she had to tutor him! Which only reinforces my belief that women are superior to men. Even physically. A rolling pin is a mighty equalizer.)
And on that off-note, you have my permission to leave. But let us hear from you. We need to know your thoughts and experiences to better serve you. Next month we will again speak to the new Senior Center. Roseanne Robillard, Director of the Council on Aging, has graciously provided us with some feedback on its progress as well as insight into the problems she and her department face.