About this quote

Arrogance about our own moment often hides a failure to listen. People get comfortable with the voices that echo them and then dismiss both the lessons behind older habits and the fresh angles younger people bring. Ask a simple question instead of immediately rejecting an idea: what problem was this trying to solve? Try testing one assumption against someone from another generation before you decide it’s useless.

When to use it

• Work — At a product review, you tell the team, “Before we rip out the legacy onboarding, call a veteran support rep and ask what customers keep praising.”
• Study — During thesis feedback you say, “Don’t throw out the supervisor’s method yet; ask why they used it and what evidence they had.”
• Family — At dinner a parent says, “Before you write off TikTok as nonsense, show me one thing you learned from it and I’ll show you what it solved.”
• Money — When reworking your investment plan you say, “Before chasing the newest trend, ask my parents how they navigated a market downturn.”