> We need old people because they're in a position to speak truth to the world
This isn't really about age at all - its more about incremental change vs disruptive change and who has the power to make those kinds of changes.
The old are in positions of power/influence and are often aiming to move things forward incrementally. They are rarely willing to risk everything for the chance to make paradigm leaps. Outsiders, on the other hand, are more willing to take audacious risks and have nothing to lose.
The young are nearly always outsiders but not all outsiders are young. Interestingly, when an old person retires, they become outsiders too with less to lose than before and therefore more willing to speak truth to power. The dynamic here isn't really about age at all but about power.
We need to get better at recognizing when change requires a patch of our models and paradigms vs when it is actually more effective to perform a full rewrite and create new ones. If we were better at that, we'd perhaps be better at valuing the types of people required for those changes.
> They are rarely willing to risk everything for the chance to make paradigm leaps.
Yes, and your phrasing of that is one of the most accurate I've seen in these threads. We who are old are completely capable to make leaps... but we are not incentivized to do so. Stock options and a chance to make a couple million will inspire the young to work wonders. But those of us who have been saving our income for a few decades already have a nice nest egg, so an incremental update to our nest egg isn't so compelling. The rewards at the end must also be a paradigm leap.
And there are paradigm leaps in this life - most of us start at the point where we struggle to pay bills. Then you jump to where you are not struggling. Then you have enough to own nice things. Then you have a home that truly makes you feel at home. Then your home is paid off and you measure your nest egg by how many years you could go without a job. Then you hit the point where that number is higher than the number of years you are likely to live. And then you hit the point where you have extra money to enable you to change your lifestyle and give more money to charity and still have enough to live out your whole life.
Any job that doesn't move us to the next one of those points is not incentive to work harder and give up time with
our family, etc. That is also why we have less to lose as we get older. Because each of those points also means we are less dependent on our job.
At the end of the day, the differences in behavior are real. But anyone who thinks it is due to a difference in skills hasn't yet seen the big picture. Give us compensation that drives a paradigm shift in our lives, and we can drive a paradigm shift in our work to match it.
This isn't really about age at all - its more about incremental change vs disruptive change and who has the power to make those kinds of changes.
The old are in positions of power/influence and are often aiming to move things forward incrementally. They are rarely willing to risk everything for the chance to make paradigm leaps. Outsiders, on the other hand, are more willing to take audacious risks and have nothing to lose.
The young are nearly always outsiders but not all outsiders are young. Interestingly, when an old person retires, they become outsiders too with less to lose than before and therefore more willing to speak truth to power. The dynamic here isn't really about age at all but about power.
We need to get better at recognizing when change requires a patch of our models and paradigms vs when it is actually more effective to perform a full rewrite and create new ones. If we were better at that, we'd perhaps be better at valuing the types of people required for those changes.