Everyone starts out dumb in life and learns more and more as life goes on, in most circumstances. It could be that the middle aged women and men are looking at the younger generation in a painfully accurate fashion, remembering all too clearly how dumb we were at that age. One sure way to confound anyone who looks down on you for not yet knowing much would be to agree conditionally, like this: "I may not know much yet, because I'm young and haven't had as much time to learn as older folks, but I sure do want to lean. What do you suggest I need to learn most"?

By the way, I am not a perfect speller, and my posts are not always perfect, but if you are bothered that folks might think you are dumb, you should proof read your posts more carefully. You need the verb "do" between the first and second word, you need an apostrophe to make the word "were" (which is the past tense of "to be") into "we're" (meaning "we are"), and you need a question mark to end the sentence. All three errors are subject matter covered by fourth grade, and could have been easily avoided with a little care. No offense intended, in fact, if you want to look smarter, you have to be willing to take a little advice and criticism from time to time.

Truth be told, the older I get, the more I realize I don't know. It should be that way for everyone. If it isn't, then something is terribly wrong with you because you aren't learning anymore.
But on a (semi)serious note. The older generation looks down on the younger not because the younger is dumb, but how blissfully ignorant the younger generation is of being ignorant. Those of us that are older are quite a bit aware of just how stupid we are in the grand scheme of things. The younger generation hasn't gotten there yet and maybe the older might be resentful that they DO know this.

I don't think that middle age people (as you refer to them) think the younger generation is dumb. They may not understand a lot of their decisions, or agree about how they approach things, but they may feel that they are not mature enough to carry through certain things. As older people have had more experience in certain things, they might like to give advice, this does not mean they think you are dumb (as you put it). Advice has always been handed down through the generations, and it's up to the individual whether they want to listen or not. For example, loads of young people know so much more about technology and computers, than a lot of the older generation, does this make them "dumb", because they are slower to pick it up? I think it's not wise to have a chip on your shoulder about such matters, as this is just part of life! Every generation has something to contribute, young and old!

I'm 45 - which qualifies me as "middle aged" and I am impressed by the ease with which younger people turned digital. So it's not like I think young people are "dumb" I am disappointed however, with how they seem sort of shallow. For example I don't "get" why girls like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian and Snookie are heroes to emulate, it seems like the dream of every prepubescent is to have a skanky over-sexed reality TV show.

I am sad that insightful thinking and the sort of soul searching kids of the 60's valued is out of fashion.

This is opinion base really, however I find my opinion to be 100% true. That is just be though. The reason i think that they look down on us is because that we play too much and we have fun. Plus if you were asking this question, you would probably be younger than them and this is usually true because if you are young you really dont understand until you get older. Thats why when parents say that you will understand when you grow up that is the same.

Usually older people know more than younger people and why they try to explain it is hard for them to get into the younger people head because they are ignorant.