Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down

The Daily Stoic for September 12th, “Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down”.

“Zeno always said that nothing was more unbecoming than putting on airs, especially with the young.”
—DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 7.1.22

In my view, today’s stoic meditation is all about the arrogance of the older generations. When we see someone younger than us, we’re almost impelled to correct this person or offer some advice.

Even if our intentions may be good, it’s our ego who’s talking here. And we are doing a big mistake because we assume that we are wiser or smarter just because we are older.

Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down

Take my friend James. He is 25 -if I’m not wrong- at the time of writing this. He is Chinese but lives in Madrid.

Not only he is an extraordinary designer, but also has pretty good programming skills. He is a very competent frontend developer, and his attention to details and graphical sensibility is outstanding.

He has also a company in China. Yes, he founded his company when he was 23 or 24 years old. When I was that age, I had just left college and was working as a researcher at the university, trying to figure out the right direction for my thesis.

My point is… Never underestimate someone just because they’re younger than you… or just because you think you are smarter or have more experience. You may be in for a surprise.

Conclusion

Today’s Daily Stoic, “Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down”, advices us to be humble and not judge others because of things such as their age. I completely agree with that. Being older should make us wiser, not more arrogant.