Rapid social change deflates age as a prestige cue for knowledge and wisdom.

Evidence

However, if a society is rapidly changing, then the knowledge accumulated by someone over decades will become outdated rather quickly. Age is only a good proxy if the world faced by the new generation is pretty similar to that faced by the oldest generation. Consider, for example, that the elderly of today grew up in a world without computers, email, Facebook, Google, smartphones, apps, or online libraries. They typed on manual typewriters, mailed handwritten letters, went to bookstores, and could only date people they met in person or through friends and family. In our rapidly changing modern societies, the accumulated knowledge of the elderly is less valuable than it might otherwise be. In fact, the faster things change, the younger and younger the best and most competent models get. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 444

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to why prestige-model choice shifts younger with cultural change — relevant to the conformist-bias developmental question. — connects to: Elders gain prestige because age signals accumulated cultural knowledge and wisdom. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 442; Societal success hinges on which prestige-valued domains a culture honors. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 462; Social change outpacing generational horizons shrinks the reliable present. (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Social change outpacing generational horizons shrinks the reliable present. #corroborates (0.85)
• Humans become antiquated because meaning-processing cannot keep pace with change #corroborates (0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 432
• Postmodernism theory makes uncertainty about the age into its founding clue #corroborates (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 10
• Social change requires confronting entrenched interests invested in preserving outdated practices. #expands (0.70)