An homage to Bernard Shaw’s “Youth is wasted on the young”, there’s something to think about when a nine year old boy is giving advice on relationships, which is selling AND being made into a movie. Points to note:
- It’s a boy
- … talking about relationships
- … giving advice
- … about stuff that continues to be out there (that is, it’s not new or ground breaking knowledge)
- … which adults continue to ignore!
Hmmm.
The kid observed other kids and provided advice for kids. I observe adults. Now of course I generalize and hypothesize (so much fun and entirely liberating), but I’d say I wouldn’t give my pet fish (if I had one) juggling sticks to keep itself amused. Or take a 5 yr old child to see a political commentary monologue on stage (unless s/he was truly interested, in which case I’d say a special prayer for their well-being and take them to a psychologist instead). And yet I see in relationships people speaking different love languages; in essence, not giving the other what is important to them, rather what is convenient for us. And we then are surprised, baffled and upset that things don’t work out.
Apparently we tried to do it to pandas too (i.e. give them something they didn’t need or want) – hoping to increase their population by feeding them viagra or showing panda adult videos (not kidding). Didn’t prove effective there either. Eventually the pandas worked it out themselves and therefore haven’t become extinct yet.
The moral of the story? Humans also have to stop watching adult videos to save themselves from becoming extinct.
Mutarjam (interpreted) 
its highly interesting that you caught that 9 year old!
what we forget, is that most of us would see whats we seek in advice if we think a bit beyond ourselves. We are, as humans, a selfish race. Once we shed some of our selfish ness and start thinking from other peoples perspectives, things in this world would be a lot better in terms of human relationships.
Its all about perspectives and perception, the way i see it!
Haha, this post made my sunday afternoon. I wish if the book was available when I was young. May be I were married by now if I had this book.
So true X – perspectives and perceptions, so neatly summarized! And ER – my worry is that people going through life right now will see this advice but many won’t still apply it. We (humans) have a remarkable tendency to ignore the obvious, stick our heads in the sand and hope that everything that’s happened to others won’t happen to us, and we will break the natural laws (witness the book “Collapse” by Jared Diamond)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_(book)
Mutarjam, you know what I have been thinking lately is to get marry with some one who was in abusive relationship or divorced or some thing like that. It would help her to appreciate good things more[read me] more because you can’t value if you have not seen the bad side. And why human being expect that nothing bad would happen to them because may be some of them have hope and believe[At least I had last year]. And above all, they want to follow. Not every day, you get leaders so unless we get true leaders or scientists or philosophers, we[the societies] will not evolve.
By the way some of the advice from that kid are way too funny :-). But I feel sorry for him. I am sure all this attention from media and negligence of his parents to protect him from out side world has taken the best years of his life. May be he would turn into Franck Mackey [of movie Mangolia] when he’d grow up 😦
Magnolia was an interesting and weird movie 🙂 I hope too that the kid doesn’t turn into that. And for you I hope you find the understanding and compassion you’re looking for (amen).
Ah, I am glad that you have watched Mangolia :-). Not many people have seen and those who saw it was due to Tom Cruise :-). I found that movie very beautiful . But I agree it was sort of weird in the sense that there were so many stories running in parallel and there was no direct correlation between them till end. Any good movies you would recommend me ?
Really funny blog, tasted like a sip of water on a hot day. The way my life has been going for the last few days, I feel that all advices are true and all advices are useless. However much you read and learn, in the end when you are facing a dilemma, you will feel your situation is unique or your own insight into your own problem enables you to act “against advice”. Well, I just did something of the sort. And while I was shaking, I was thinking, maybe “it will not happen to me.” Let us see what happens.
A word of “advice” 🙂 ex-refugee, abused are most notoroious for abusing. Mankind is made to swing on extremes.
Thanks intishaar! And you’re right; this book also argues that we continue to be “predictably irrational”
http://www.predictablyirrational.com/
Well, we need a happy new year blog too or are you too busy partying? Happy new year to you and all others.
Thanks Intishaar – happy new year to you as well!
Refugee – my apologies your comment went unattended for a while (technical error, really!). I will be glad to recommend movies – depends on what you like to see. Frank/Nixon was very interesting drama, and not in the way I thought it would be. Einstein and Eddington presents the interesting socio-political context of Einstein’s theory that replaced Newton’s. The list is endless 🙂