Why We Can’t Afford To Ignore The Past

In my post Why We Can’t Afford To Get Stuck In The Past, I argued why we can’t allow ourselves to fall victim to permanent nostalgia. From time to time, I like to play the devil’s advocate and felt that I needed to contradict myself just a bit.

While we can’t afford to get stuck in our own past — hanging on to the days of high school and college or the days when we were the captain of our sports teams or cheerleading squads — we also should not allow ourselves to completely ignore the past and the offerings of previous generations.

For example, I hate when young people say they dislike something because “it’s old”. If it’s bad, then it’s bad — and that’s fine. But to discount something because of its age? That is not acceptable. That is no better than an older person not liking something because it’s new.

This discrimination is usually found in music. Many kids, if they can’t remember the day the song was released, don’t care to give it a chance. I listen to new music and I listen to older music. Many of my favorite bands were formed before I was born or were popular before “my day”. When people argue that there’s no good music out there today, I’m quick to remind them that it’s there, but they have to search through more bullshit than they used to. But it would be unfair if I said there was only good music out there today. There’s good music from every decade, every generation.

The same is true of literature. Movies.

And advice.

What if I’d never read How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie because it was originally published in the 1930′s? I would have missed out on so many great stories and so much wisdom and priceless advice that is still relevant today.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is old. Centuries old. Millenia old. Yet it’s still a significant reference for generals in the 21st century. As complex as war may be today, the fundamentals, as identified by Tzu, are still relevant.

I don’t believing in hailing the classics only because they’re older and you feel pressured to appreciate them. But I also don’t believe in ignoring them just because they’re not the “freshest”.

When it comes to art and advice and wisdom, age truly is just a number. And relevance is in no way tied to age.

That goes for all of us, both young and old. And for those of you who may feel that you’re somewhere in the middle.