There is no age-restriction on wisdom and knowledge, and the words on a page are only as much as you give them credit for. If you can't ever listen to the words of a 20 year old, then, by all means, go right ahead and dismiss them, but you could miss out on some great ideas.
I do agree that you are more likely to get better life advice from those with a wealth of experience, but youth is hardly a reason to discredit anyone's words.
20 years old have had only very limited exposure to all facts of life, they have had a full working brain for a very short time compared to older adults, and they have no idea about what can and cannot be done. that is their strength at the same time as their weakness, and I certainlY would not use wisdom to qualify any 20 years old for the above reasons. Does not mean I see them as incapable or stupid either.
No human being, regardless of age, has been exposed to all the facts of life. Unfortunately, it takes more than direct personal experience to understand the human condition. Those rich in personal experience are nonetheless poor in extra personal experience. Universalizing personal experience, which is widely and unashamedly practiced, is both narcissistic and pointless, as it holds no certain relevance beyond its originator. Honestly, I think the advice of this 20-year-old, although diffuse, is perhaps more meaningful than much offered by the "wise".
Wisdom and knowledge, by definition, require time. Age is directly related to time.
To drive this point home - a week-old baby has no knowledge or wisdom to offer me.
I may derive insight from being around a week-old baby, and that insight is because I am of age, and have accumulated wisdom and knowledge, not because of the baby.
It could just be that realizing people have no clue until they're at leaaaast 25, more realistically at least 30, more realistically most people never get a clue, is part of the wisdom that I've acquired, and am trying to convey here, for the 20-somethings to ponder.
I'm not writing this to toot my own horn - I was completely clueless at 20. I was so clueless I'd argue with people twice my age on the internet and get defensive when I'd get asked my age :)
No, wisdom and knowledge don't correlate linearly with time. Wisdom and knowledge come from insight, reflection and experience. Sure the 40 year old has most likely seen more and done more than the 20 year old, but that means nothing if he does nothing with what he has seen, and just seeing these things does not impart anyting but the most shallow definition of wisdom on a person. I've met 40 year olds far wiser than most 80 year olds, and I've meet 20 year olds far wiser than most 40 year olds. The length of time someone has been alive is not a valid excuse for dismissing what they say or the insight they've developed. Life is a subjective experience and the length of time involved means very little compared to what they've experienced and what they've gone through.
As my dad taught me, some people get twenty years of experience and some people get one year of experience twenty times.
But the letter title was interesting to me: in Silicon Valley where I work, there are engineers who enjoy doing things and engineers that seem to have some big plan to become famous and rich. The former are a lot happier and usually more successful over the years.
Not sure where you read anyone saying wisdom and knowledge correlate linearly with time, the parent poster definitely didn't say it. Other than that, I agree with your post, but know that you can pretty much straight substitute "experience" and "time."
On what basis do you think you've actually attained a wise understanding of life? (not asking this in a hostile way, just curious)
I'm wondering about this because I've heard this exact same series of ideas in different forms from several people in their old or advanced middle age, most of whom actually had an outdated understanding of the world as they had seemingly stopped paying attention to its evolution and set out to experience new things once they had settled down with a family. Not that I can blame them, of course.
Since there is so much to learn about the world and so many lives that are utterly different from one another that I wonder if it's even possible to ever "get a clue" or if it's just a comforting illusion. Of course, I'm sure there are general useful patterns and rules of thumb that can make it easier, like the ones outlined in the letter to Hume.
There is one anecdote which I think can illustrate this point quite well. I came across a book by Martin Gardner that detailed his wisdom about the world that he had accumulated during his life. One of the reviews caught my eye however, with the following statement:
"Suppose I tell you no more than the following: Martin Gardner lived in the U.S. in the 20th century. Once you've read that statement, there is absolutely nothing in this book that will surprise you."
And they were right. The guy had essentially absorbed the ideas of his environment like a sponge. He saw them as insights wise enough to regurgitate them over the course of an entire book. This was not an average man but a person who had grappled with difficult abstract thought his entire life and made a career out of it, and yet his wisdom was still in canned form.
There are some universals that one gets to understand as he/she gets older - one of them is how clueless one is at the young and tender age of 20. There is just no way around it and it's not a bad thing at all.
It's just true.
The reason it may not seem true - is that a lot of people, and I mean most, tend to carry shame and insecurity, which prevents them from growing emotionally, well into their 30s, 40s and even to their grave. As a result, it may feel like 'I'm not clueless at 20-something, I know better than a lot of the 30 and 40-somethings I meet!'.
To which I'd reply - you're right! They're ALSO clueless! Like you! :)
It's not a competition. It most definitely is possible to get a clue - and the clues will be different for everyone. The way to close up and remain clueless is pretty generic - remain defensive, follow the established rules, don't question too much.
The way to get clues is fairly unique, because you have to follow your heart and your gut, see how it plays out and adjust, a lot. That'll be unique to you, but not so unique that you can't find some helpful ideas along the way from people who've gone down a similar route and that you admire.
If you admire what a 20-something has done more than what some of the older folks have accomplished, it may be a sign that you need to look into what you want to get out of life, that takes more than a decade or two to accomplish. Dream bigger :)
I do agree that you are more likely to get better life advice from those with a wealth of experience, but youth is hardly a reason to discredit anyone's words.