I’m 53. Many times I can’t even understand the question, lacking common ground in experiences or popular culture. Having said that, I find a great many questions by younger people fascinating and I hope I’ve been helpful. I’m no wiser, just been around a bit longer and made a lot of mistakes.

I think I could learn a thing or two from a few of them. Here are a few examples of some youngin’s questions I like:

Is the ‘half full or half empty’ glass illustration still effective, despite overuse?

What’s the strangest friendship you’ve ever come across?

Why is putting your elbows on the table considered rude?

I think it’s just terrific how people of so many different ages,sexes, gneders and nationalities can interact here. I have learned so much from everyone.

I think the problem can never be one simply of age but experience, wisdom and grace. The thing with naivete or rigid thinking in both young and old alike is the incapacity to hold contradictory ideas and/or acknowledge the same capacity in others. It’s the ability to move away from the party line and reconsider the world from an entirely different perspective and be more fluid in your approach to opinions and ideas. And even when you want to “take your ball and go home”, you may, but you come back to play another day anyway.

Most of my closest friends on Fluther are at least 20 years younger than I . I believe that I learn more from them than they do from me.

Some of them, DominicX , for example are extremely impressive, very wise for their ages. Others, the ones who want to know if they could be still be pregnant even if their boyfriend kept his socks on during intercourse, they scare me.

@Silhouette Someone seriously asked that?

I guess it depends on where he wore that sock…

—@Draconess25 No, it was much worse,I don’t want to embarrass the girl by repeating her question verbatim.

@SeventhSense ROFLAO

@Silhouette PM me! I’m curious!

The same as with anyone else’s posts, I avoid the ones about iphones and stuff that can be googled. Younger than 20yrs old people have a great resource in accessing social sites and weighing perspectives from so many other varied ages peoples.

@Draconess Nothing to tell, she was very young and worried about being pregnant but so woefully ignorant about sex it was down right scary. The good people of fluther taught her what she needed to know.

@everyone – y’all are being sweet! You mean to say none of you have any constructive criticism or unbridled angst you want to share?

@Silhouette Sounds like someone from my high school….

@prolificus I think it’s all been used up the past few days. =P

@janbb – LOLLL… so true!!

@Draconess25 I doubt there is only one teen in this big old world who is having sex before they know the basic facts of life.

@Silhouette D’awww…you’re too kind. ^_^

@Silhouette In my freshman year, I met another freshman who was 18 with 4 kids. She thought eating chocolate would keep her from getting prego.

@Draconess25 <facepalm>

Seriously age does not matter. It is the personal quality of the person asking and answering that matters.

Without reading my profile could you even guess my age?

@RedPowerLady – by the looks of your picture, I’d say about 4 months. ;-)

@prolificus Three months actually but you were very close! :P

@everyone – This is going to make me sound like a judgmental jerk, but here’s my unbridled angst… I hate it when people younger than me act like they know it all. It comes in the form as being overly opinionated and unyielding. Sometimes I feel I want to give them a time out and make them write an essay on “How to be quick to listen and slow to speak” or “How wisdom comes with maturity and experience, not knowledge alone.”

Now, before I get bitch-slapped.. I know what I just said isn’t kind. So, let me give some insight why I think I have this angst: In my family, I am the youngest – separated by at least 9 years from my siblings, and I have cousins old enough to be my parents. When I was young, I was treated like my opinion didn’t matter and that I should just “shut up” and “suck it up.” So, I think it is possible my buttons get pushed when I see young people have the freedom to express themselves freely.

@prolificus That explains it. Remember how much you did know and how it felt to be treated stupid or irrelevant? Yep it sucked.

@prolificus

Well, I do hope you understand that isn’t fair to people in that age range.

As the recipient of much ageism (something I detest with every ounce of my being) over the years I’ve spent on Q&A sites, I can say that the best thing to do is see a person for their opinions and they way they discuss with other people first and their age as a secondary thing. I don’t even look at someone’s age nor care about their age unless the question is specifically age-pertinent (such as a question about high school or being a teenager, topics I’ve discussed many times in the past).

I’ve been frequently delighted by some of the thoughtful contributions of some of the younger jellies and I have been discouraged and appalled at times by the behaviour of those old enough to be more thoughtful and self-disciplined.

Except for some of the repetitive teenage angst questions that already have been asked and answered many times, I appreciate that a wide age range of people can interact here and learn from each other.

@DominicX – I know it isn’t fair or kind. This is why I explained myself sweetie. Ever have some internal angst and just felt the need to let it rip, knowing the angst isn’t fair or kind, but felt better and relieved once you got it out of your system? Hopefully my angst will go away and I won’t have my buttons easily pushed.

@prolificus I did that earlier today. My face is still red from embarassment.

I enjoy people of all ages as long as they show some modicum of basic good manners, tact and diplomacy.

My real life friends range from 3 to 90, and I especially love the bright stars, my daughter is 22 and I can’t get enough of her & her boyfriend, brainiac lit. kid.

I do sidestep ( not interested ) some of the more angsty and obviously rather teeny bopper questions, ( such as..,How can I pick up boys at the mall ’ ) lol
It depends…if I am feeling like sharing a bit of wisdom or if I just feel like browsing without any contribution in the moment.

Admittedly, I have read some questions that have left me laughing or rather stunned from the younger crowd.

@prolificus My experience is that ”overly opinionated and unyielding” happens in every age bracket and I wouldn’t mind them all being sent to your time out.

Transparently speaking, life has put me in a few time outs for acting the very same way. :\

@Silhouette
The good people of fluther taught her what she needed to know.
And of course that would be that after the holding of the hands and the sharing of a milkshake and an elapse of nine months a stork arrives with a package that’s left on the doorstep. Kids today~

Our family reunion tomorrow will range from a baby of three months to Nanny, who is over 99.
Everyone is interesting in his or her own way. The six-year old is now reading the first Harry Potter book.

some people are smart and some people are… not so smart. I don’t think it’s dependent on age. Although some questions have been driving me nuts. Stuff along the lines of “i saw this guy in class. does he like me???!!!?? wtf lol!” etc.

I like them. I like that there are young people on here. I think some of the questions are great, funny, introspective. I like the answers from young people as well. I like to read them. Maybe some of them are very teen age angsty, but I like those as well. I think it’s great. I always read them if I don’t answer. I just like the way people talk, I guess

I don’t make any judgements based on age. I go by the actual answers and questions they ask.

I don’t even know the age of most jellies. I rarely consider age when reading questions and posts.

Some of their questions make me sad that there’s no trusted adult in their life who has clued them in, or that they don’t feel like they can ask their parents their questions.
Others astonish me with their wisdom and maturity.
I turn 30 in less than a week, so I’m grouping myself in the 30+ crowd.

@prolificus I do know what you mean, don’t think it’s just your buttons. I suspect we were all somewhat know-it-all at 25 or so. Living more years, seeing more things, reading more newspapers, etc cuts that know-it-all attitude down some.

I’ve had a critter on here tell me I’m too old to understand. I’m very liberal and accepting.
Boy, there was smoke comin out of my ears!!!!

There are quite a few jellies that you’d never guess were teenagers, so I don’t really think it’s about the age. Some are smart, funny, wise, interested and interesting… and some are not.

I have seen foollish, inane, ignorant questions and answers from the full spectrum of ages from under 15 to over 70.

I have seen intelligent, wise, caring questions and answers from the full spectrum of ages from under 15 to over 70.

I believe it would be a disservice to the community to draw “us” and “them” lines anywhere within it. I would not want any members to feel that their age or sex or lifestyle or any other thing were automatically against them in the eyes of others.

Like @tinyfaery I have no idea the age of most flutherites.

I think age is just an abstract number and it is wisdom that matures the soul, not time.

I’m 53, do I get to have any input or have I aged out of this one?

I hardly ever have any reason to check what age fellow jellies are.

Occasionally I see an opportunity to share some wisdom of my age with the younger set here and genuinely think it is a worthy effort. But as someone who has been there done that, sage advice never stopped me from putting the bobbie-pin in the outlet anyway!

I sure don’t.A question is just that.A question.It doesn’t matter to me whether it is “bad” or “good”,I choose if I want to answer it.I would never want someone to follow a formula to ask anything.I like to see an individual’s personality come through,not sucked dry by irritating rules.

I think I’m more impressed by the “younger” (I’m not that old) users who comport themselves intelligently than anything else. I know there are several whose ages I would never have guessed, and they get big props from me.

I think there are plenty of ridiculous, badly typed/spelled, misinformed, kind of dumb questions that get asked, but I honestly can’t say that the bulk of those is coming from the under-30 crowd. I just skip the ones that seem especially exasperating.

I think we all can learn from each other. I’m not exactly a spring chicken, either, but I can impart some of my experience to the younger crowd and reap the wisdom of those who have traveled the planet longer than I. As Martha would say, It’s a good thing.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land and @Dr_Lawrence I love your answers. It’s people like you who encourage me to look at both sides of everything and keep my bias in check.
I guess I can’t answer this, but I’m almost 30, but then I haven’t actually seen any Q&A sites designed for a younger audience. :/

@Symbeline The site we both recently left seems to be aimed at a mental age of 12 now. :^)

@Jeruba – “I believe it would be a disservice to the community to draw “us” and “them” lines anywhere within it. I would not want any members to feel that their age or sex or lifestyle or any other thing were automatically against them in the eyes of others.”

This said, you would never want Fluther to require members to list their age, sex, and other demographic info on their profiles?

@stranger_in_a_strange_land It appears as a rehabilitation centre as of currently, haha.

That depends. Every once in a while you get a good question, but a lot of it is poorly-typed drivel about how to bypass the school computer’s blocking software to access Facebook, how to get a boy/girl to like you, or some way to scam the system, whether it be cracking copy protection or doing their homework for them.

Then again, I see the same stuff from some people my own age (mod-30s) as well….

@jerv Troublemakers and young budding criminals just ain’t what they used to be…why back not even ten years ago, it was all about hot wiring cars and liberating the beer vendor’s cold room of its merchandise without being caught.

Bypassing computer security to most likely look at porn or check out autopsy videos over at goregallery, pfft what wussies. XD

Sorry.

@prolificus, require? No. If it were required, I, for one, would turn away. What would be the purpose of requiring it?

But I wouldn’t discourage voluntary disclosure. I think it’s great to have that kind of knowledge of who people are and where they’re coming from—whatever they care to reveal about themselves that isn’t too personal for publication. But to go a step further and categorize people would, in my opinion, do us harm.

I just realized I’m illegal here- too old!!

@faye: Bite your tongue, please.

Eh hm. Look for the plus sign in the original question. No one is excluded. O_o

@faye Q said 50+, so we’re legal.

@the “50+ and fabulous” jellies – I’m carding! ID’s please! ~

mmm-hmmm, I wasn’t paying attention!

I enjoy many questions from many people—intelligence and humor are ageless.
—a jelly of a certain age

Humph..well..I was recently called an ‘old lady’ by one of the young bucks in these here parts.

Ooooh sonny boy, I’m pretty damn sure I’m still too much woman in every capacity for most men of any age! lolololol

Actually whats really funny is when your 22 yr. old is giving her mom dating advice and trying to set me up with men. Oh the circle of life at it’s finest! haha

We all were once 15 or 25 years old and usually grateful for the advice of people age 30 or older.

Now it’s our time to offer something to younger users.

@mattbrowne I don’t know about you but somewhere along that 15–25 some of us were buying into “never trust anyone over 30”

@anartist – That, or going Yeah, yeah, whatever. That’ll never happen to me… ;)

@anartist Yes, I had an “ahah” moment recently when I realized my son will be thirty this year so I can’t trust him any more!

What’s the worst is not being able to trust yourself.

@MissAnthrope I never trusted stupid people regardless of age. That said, I never put age limits on who I would or would not trust. Granted, older people usually have more experience to draw upon, but I’ve seen a diverse range of things in my time that I was wiser than most 30-somethings by age 23 so I do not always equate age with experience (and therefore wisdom) either.

@anartist – Unless they’re in trouble.