<p>It seems like the older people get, the less they see right and wrong as black and white. I guess this is because people need to adjust to a more complex world as their experience grows, but, at the same time, it seems like the world wouldn’t be so complex in the first place if no one ever saw shades of gray (morally speaking, of course).</p>
<p>Because we know we are a bunch of hypocrites. :)</p>
<p>I think it has something to so with becoming more flexible as we age…or sometimes less flexible, depending on the topic</p>
<p>(It’s actually because at age 45, our brains are fully developed, and then we become really dangerous. And we think we have learned from experience when, in reality, our lives are just a string of anecdotes.)</p>
<p>As a teen, I thought certain things were definite. As I have aged, I see that things are not so black and white. Experience is what has happened.</p>
<p>mini–great posts! lol + taking it seriously.</p>
<p>I have heard it said that children are innocent and love justice, whereas adults recognize their guilt and love mercy.</p>
<p>About the question, I am not sure. I really object to people who write about “simplistic dualism.” It seems to me that there can also be “complex dualism.” </p>
<p>There was an interesting article in the New York Times today about a forthcoming book about Franklin Roosevelt, and what he did/did not do to aid the Jewish people who wanted to leave Europe in the late 1930’s, and then later with regard to Auschwitz.</p>
<p>I can think of situations where one seems to have only bad choices available, some of them worse than others. It would be good if one had enough insight to come up with a good, or at least morally neutral choice. But sometimes one cannot think that fast.</p>
<p>I actually think the world would be far, far more complex if it was solely in black and white.</p>
<p>I think as we age we have seen more examples of the exception to the rule and often know the people who have been the exception. It is much easier to condemn a category than a person, in general.</p>
<p>Cataracts.</p>
<p>Dont sweat the small stuff.
Most of it isnt important.</p>
<p>romanigypsyeyes- I never thought about it that way. could you elaborate?</p>
<p>A thread on here got me thinking. Take death for example. Say we thought that death was always bad (no grey area), then we would make people and animals “live” in a clinical sense to avoid the bad- even if they are in excruciating pain. </p>
<p>When my last dog passed away, she let us know it was her time. The pain meds were no longer working and we kept her artificially alive using canine medicine. We let her go peacefully with the help of the vet rather than prolonging her pain. In a black and white world, we did something bad. We killed her. In the grey world though, it was merciful. </p>
<p>If death was ALWAYS bad think about how much more excruciating decisions would be. </p>
<p>Death is an extreme example but it’s what came to mind.</p>
<p>It’s because we have adult children who taught us to be tolerant, flexible, expand our horizons, and see another’s perspective just be growing up in our presence. We also found that what worked or seemed fair for one kid, was not working or fair to a very different sibling. </p>
<p>If we didn’t have kids, we had friends, co-workers, spouses, pets, experiences that taught us compassion and thoughtfulness, and that rules have to be broken some times.</p>
<p>However, this getting older and wiser stuff, for some, it only works up to a certain age. Something happens when some people get very old – they become ornery and cantankerous as h***. Anyone else experience this with a loved one who was quite reasonable and then had a personality change in old age?</p>
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<p>Is that true? I thought people often get more rigid and dogmatic in their thinking as they age. Think of our legislators - many old singleminded people.</p>
<p>To me, people who see things in black and white are often quick to judge others. I tend to see many sides of an issue. I think that comes with maturity (perhaps some never acquire it!)</p>
<p>I have a friend whose 17 year old D is pregnant. She told me recently that her D used to be very judgmental of others, now she is seeing the other side of that, as others are judging her.</p>
<p>I believe it’s because we have more experiences and hopefully have learned a little more as we’ve gotten older.</p>
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<p>I blame social media for that one, actually. When we change our positions, it’s not criticized by millions of people instantly.</p>
<p>This year I think many people have been seeing 50 shades of grey…
Seriously though, as we age and raise children and experience life, the good and the bad we come too things differently and become more tolerant…We filter our world and what we say until we get old enough to say when we want…regardless of the ramifications…</p>
<p>The only generalization you can make about older people is that they get older (unless they die).</p>
<p>Oh, and we’ve been burned often enough that we are presumptuous enough to think that there is something to be learned from it.</p>
<p>Mini…nice posts…</p>