SAM ALTMAN - LISTENING TO OLD PEOPLE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE

 

SAM ALTMAN - LISTENING TO OLD PEOPLE BIGGEST MISTAKE 

Sam Altman is an American entrepreneur, investor, and the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and DALL·E. As a key figure in the AI boom, he has led OpenAI toward for-profit status, secured massive investments from Microsoft, and predicted the rapid advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Recently he has stated, “Listening to old people is the biggest mistake young people make. In the age of AI, following parental career advice (or even trusting the Open AI CEO) might be riskier than rewriting it. For a predictor of what the world is going to be like going forward, I don’t think you should trust me for having good intuition of the rate of change. Young people always figure this out the best, and the world you are all inheriting is going to be very different, and you’ll have to be very different, and you’ll have to quickly develop your own intuitions.”

The Times of India of 26 February 2026 has come up with an editorial on the statement.

Quoting excerpts from the editorial:

The explosion of Indians’ careers post 1991 liberalization took a lot of saying, “no, no, no” to the family who were scared of every new fangled choice. Parents, who have lived a “just stick to this job and you’ll own a home” life, are forever trying to rein back their children’s career adventures, even when economic reality has literally become unrecognizable from one generation to the next.

There are uglier sides to this paternalism, as when elders try to drag the next generation inside the cage in which they have lived. And living by someone else’s code, a person never gets to discover what their own, true self is.  This is a life lived incompletely. It stops society from healing its open wounds. As the critical role of mentors in Altman’s own life indicates, elders’ life experience, resilience and practical wisdom can be invaluable. The real harm is when generational authority overrides individual agency.

The real mistake is not listening to old people, it is listening uncritically.

Let me dwell on certain scenarios.

Our children are uncomfortable if we are present where they assemble along with their young friends. The elders are unwanted there. 

Even little children gravitate to little children. You find age bars you from them.

Recently when a mother  and  daughter  visited a CDC with their child, the consultant did not like conversing with the elderly woman.  The consultant appeared to be holding the view that the lady was ignorant. When she mentioned a contrasting view by a 60 year old senior Pediatrician the young consultant didn’t like it. The consultant ridiculed the view of the senior doctor with the comment, “It is a misconception.” The daughter rooted for the consultant. Similarity in age propels the branding of young as the smartest in the world.

When a young man wanted to tread an unorthodox path, the family was initially against it. The elders in the family had been brought up by conservative traditions. It was difficult for them to shake off the culture ingrained in them by their predecessors  But as the family was progressive in outlook  to a small extent, they revisited their view and extended support  to the young man. He has gone after his passion. Though overwhelming success is not apparent, the venturer toils hard to establish himself.  

The conclusion is, the elders are an invaluable asset and Sam Altman’s assertion, "Listening to old people, the biggest mistake," sounds hollow. 

Sam Altman must be 100% right in the American or European context. But he is absolutely wrong in the Indian context. While in the former regions, the young do not stay with the parents, in India, the young stay with the parents if possible. The concept of joint family thus prevails in India

There is some kind of pooling of resources there which brings in economic uplifting or upgradation for the entire family. If and when there are grandchildren they are well looked after by the grandparents. 

Shift the scenario to America or Europe. They depend on external assistance for the basics such as the raising of their kids. When the baby sitters are stepping in just for the money it generates for them, the children experience no love and affection. This love and affection is very much essential for the growth and development of the children.  It emanates from the parents alone and to a great extent from the grandparents who can never be bland like those on hire.

As the children grow up, they learn quite a lot from the elders that they inculcate. 

When the children grow up and step into the world, the elders are the steadying force when they are in a crisis. The experience elders have is on hand. It is the perfect scaffolding. 

The biggest tamasha is, when the young emigrate to foreign countries, they do not have anyone to take care of their children. 

They manage Visas for their parents to visit the land of plenty. Once the parents are there, they are not allowed the freedom to freely move around or roam the countryside. They are made to confine themselves within the four walls that is the home. Their lone assignment is to take care of the children. It is cheaper for them as the parents are not employees. Mind you, these elderly might have been leading a healthy and productive life at their own place.  They are experienced. They think. They have analytical minds.

The sojourn abroad literally kills them. What they really hope is to somhow get back to India and resume their days of happiness.

It is obvious,  casting off the elders into oblivion is going to be the biggest mistake  we would ever commit by falling in line with Sam Altman's views on 'OLD PEOPLE'