‘In each generation, there is this certain wisdom of the ages that gets reburied in the fleeting drivelings of modernity; then, like a diamond in the rough, it is yet again unearthed by a very small minority who not only restores it but also polishes it and presents it as something new, something highly valuable and refreshing as understood by the current.’
Criss Jami, Author & Philosopher
Guidance, reaction and experience — these three define the key features of inter-generational learning.
It is said that we ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’: that is indeed the case for scientific discovery, but the evolution of human civilisation must also draw on reactions to its failures in addition to building on its successes.
Families are really important in this respect because they provide the platform for this guidance and reaction. This is really hard for society at large to replicate, and the fact that in the UK more than half of today's children are born out of wedlock should ring significant alarm bells in this respect; particularly so for the many boys who grow up without the presence of a father in their home.
The benefit of parental guidance was fully on show during Donald Trump's visit to Windsor Castle, when the King demonstrated so much of his mother's skills in professional diplomacy.
Meanwhile, reaction in the form of trying to find alternatives to the outbreak of conflicts around the world will be fundamentally essential if the human race is to move forward, as we set out in last week’s commentary, ‘Love your enemy’.
It helps to frame inter-generational learning within guidance, reaction and experience, not least because family learning is often expressed in terms of guidance alone — or its absence. However, reaction is a key part of learning, and there is perhaps no better example of this than with bloodsports.
If you go back a few decades, association with hunting, shooting and fishing could be found throughout society: pastimes that have descended from prehistoric ways of living. Questions about the morality of taking enjoyment from removing an animal's life never came into consideration, and customs associated with bloodsports were often reprehensible. I can recall personally being taken on my one and only deer-stalking experience at the age of twelve or so, only to have my face smeared with the animal's blood after the deed had been done: surely, enough to put anyone off bloodsports for life, whatever your views on the morality of the issue.
Reaction is also responsible for the significant move away from male headship ideology over the past thirty years, although in my view this will be a struggle to maintain if gender-neutral societies are unable to maintain a comparable birth rate to those where male headship remains dominant. Again, much of this enlightenment has resulted from young people reacting against their parents’ preconceptions. The lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot’s 1970s ballad, ‘Sit Down Young Stranger’, are particularly poignant in this regard.
Meanwhile, a combination of reaction and experience has prompted us to lead healthier lives, moving many people away from smoking and excess drinking in recognition of the damage that they have done to earlier generations.
Scientific and technological developments teach by experience rather than parental guidance and reactions, and one only has to witness the speed at which young people can master new opportunities to see the effect of that experience.
Economic and financial awareness can also significantly benefit from the blend of guidance, reaction and experience. For myself, I recall the clear definition between capital and income explained by my father: that capital should be maintained and grown for the benefit of future generations and not regarded as disposable.
I have also learned by experience, however, of capital's important role in providing the freedom to start businesses from scratch as an entrepreneur, with that capital being made to work and not simply being coveted. The parable of the talents is particularly helpful in this respect: within the Church, it is often seen as an example of good stewardship, but I would see it as the celebration of entrepreneurial activity.
Government has much to learn about the inter-generational potential of capital. Unfortunately, its profligacy over the past seventy-five years has led to public debt holding dominant priority over inter-generational common sense. This has resulted in the annual receipt of £8.5 billion in inheritance tax being used to fund bloated public services ‘free at the point of use’ for all and huge public debt interest payments, rather than providing empowerment for young people from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds.
There is, therefore, much that we have to learn about guidance, reaction and experience in planning the way forward. But most of all, we should do our very best to give young people the opportunity to use these resources in order to develop their outlook on life. The sight of young people on anti-social rampages on the BBC News last week should remind us that older generations bear substantial responsibility for the problems that so many young people are experiencing.
Gavin Oldham OBE
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