Societal norms, the Moral Majority and a rant that feels so good

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Well, I think we are judging others in that situation. I may have done something stupid in the past. I now know it is stupid. I can define it as stupid. If someone is doing the same thing, they are stupid because they are doing the same act that I now think is stupid based on experience.

I guess it is one of the benefits of age. You can see others doing stupid things and say - damn, I've done that and boy was I stupid. It usually makes me glad I'm older and wiser.

I know that saying now that I won't judge others as "stupid" for doing something that comes naturally to a person of a certain age is just as naive as when I promised myself I'd never forget what it was like to be 6 years old. But still, I wouldn't call the judgemental condescending attitude that creeps up on us a "benefit of age".

I'm going to try to allow people to have their own growing pains and not judge a 20 year old by a 40 year old's standards. I don't tell my teenage brothers that they're stupid because they don't have the judgement that I have. It's absurd. It's one thing to try teach others the lessons you've learned, but it's another to call them stupid because they haven't gotten there yet.