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Old Man Logic

Have you ever had a situation where you are in a heated discussion with an older person and they throw around the phrases "because I know" or "it is that way because I said so".  I generally refer to this as old man logic.  It is relatively easy to spot old man logic in action and there are three simple ingredients;  a heated conversation or argument about a popular topic (hunting, fishing, politics, etc.), two opposing opinions, and of course an "older" person expressing their opinion without any basis in fact.

Old man logic is not new and in fact has been occurring regularly for as long as men have gathered.  Fathers have been misleading their sons, grandfathers misleading their grandsons, and so on.  Now don't get me wrong.  I am not saying that "older" men are stupid but they are foolish enough to have convinced themselves that some deeply rooted opinion is factual.  The Internet has been a godsend when i comes to disputing old man logic.  I can recall many heated arguments with family members about the economy, politics, and science where old man logic was slung around like mud at a tractor pull.  Over the last 20 years the Internet has proved to be a valuable tool in the fight against old man logic.  No longer can men declare that Ford Motor Company is not really struggling and it is all a conspiracy to make the executives rich.  Or that wind doesn't matter when setting up your hunting stand.

 I function on one basic guiding principal when it comes to knowledge and wisdom. AGE DOES NOT DICTATE WISDOM ... EVER.  Those who truly learn from their experiences, mistakes, and other individuals will be wiser with time.  Just because you are old in age doesn't mean that you are wiser with time. 

Posted: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 7:32 PM by squirrelnutz
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Comments

counter terrorists win said:

Yes I know exactly what your referring to. My father, which we refer to as the "Garganasaurus" (my last name + saurus because of his age and ferocious old man logic) is a strong patron of insisting Utica Rd. (a local road in Macomb County) is the gateway to the rest of the world. Whenever i ask him how to get somewhere he simply says "Take Utica Rd." I try and argue with him to convince him Utica Rd. will not take me to Pittsburg but the old man logic kicks in and its a loosing arguement. When i was younger i valued his old man logic because i didnt know any better, that is until i found out when he came home from Nam he used to get loaded and do manuvers on the front lawn. The old man logic can have a commanding effect over those unaware of its existance.

# March 27, 2007 10:17 PM

Rock Strongbow said:

I also have experienced(a multitude of times) the effects of Old Man Logic.  Sometimes I would just give up the arguement because some of the responses were so idiotic it could not have been considered rational thought.  What I have learned is to  walk away from the initial argument, dig up some information relavent to the topic in question and then present it to the Old man. That way, return arguments like "You're so full of S**t" or "You don't know what you're talking about" or my favorite "dont tell me, I've been doing it for 25 years" are immediately disbanded. Also, when it comes to Old Man Logic, you can throw the reasoning process out the window.

# March 28, 2007 12:13 PM
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