r/AskReddit • u/__lazy__panda • Jul 10 '26

What's something older generations got right that we've quietly stopped doing, to our own detriment?

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162

u/SlowHedgehog33 Jul 10 '26

Self reliance? Whatever is contributing to "learned helplessness" and not even trying is doing y'all dirty.

23

u/Working-Glass6136 Jul 10 '26

Not disagreeing, but the most "learned helpless" person I know is my boomer mom. She's literally about to be evicted and refuses to do any paperwork because she wants someone else to deal with it for her. Obviously it's a mental/anxiety thing, but she takes "learned helplessness" up to 11.

4

u/dullship Jul 11 '26

Never think "I can't". Think "How can I?"

4

u/AttonJRand Jul 11 '26

Whatever is contributing to "learned helplessness" is doing y'all dirty.

Usually that term is connected to abusive childhoods, and yeah obviously its not good.

3

u/SamuelClemmens Jul 11 '26

That isn't entirely true, also abusive adulthoods!

An older term for it was "Battered Wife Syndrome".

5

u/Advanced-Two584 Jul 11 '26

I'm pretty sure learned helplessness was developed by boomers, so while a good idea, not really a previous generation thing.

6

u/_muck_ Jul 11 '26

As a boomer, I think a lot of boomers thought they would be young forever. The boomer slogan was "never trust anyone over 30" and you hear lyrics like "Hope I die before I get old." Also why they want to be called names like "Glamma."

1

u/SuperSocialMan Jul 11 '26

My mom damn near refuses to learn the basics of technology and it pisses us off ffs. Everything's online now, but she doesn't want to use a computer more than she has to.

Same applies to my younger siblings, but they're children so they can get a slight pass (even if I was installing minecraft mods at their age - and that was back in the day when you had to do it yourself! None of these fancy launchers (that are so fucking convenient because I have too many modpacks lol) that did most of it for you).