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Second of all, the easy mistake is to assume that all of those old and cranky voters ranting about gays and minorities used to be open-minded progressives in their youth. That's not the case. They are simply from a time in which those were the prevailing attitudes. Society has gotten more tolerant over time (see the racism line graph above), and old folks are a little slower to come along on some issues. But they do come along.

A study was done which looked at polls performed over the course of 30 years, on everything from gay rights to gender equality to racial segregation. What it found was that society's movement toward tolerance wasn't due to bitter old people dying and getting replaced by shiny new liberals. The attitude changes moved in the same direction within groups as they aged. If you like graphs, here's one on weed legalization. Focus on the puke green line at the very bottom:

Pew Research Center

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That's the oldest of the old people. See how they are always at the bottom in terms of support, but are also almost always edging up? The stereotype from the supposed Churchill quote would suggest the opposite -- that former pot-smoking hippies grow up and come to their senses (or if you prefer, become bitter and forget what it's like to be free). Here's a graph showing support for gay marriage. Again, the oldsters are the line at the bottom:

Pew Research Center

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Exact same result. Their support for the issue has doubled in the last 15 years. They just lag behind because they were starting from the lowest point, because they grew up in an era in which a gay marriage was considered a sign of witchcraft. If anything, your perception of old people as angry Neanderthals shows how much the world has changed. Some day, kids may see you the same way.

There's probably all sorts of untrue nonsense floating around in that brain of yours. We're willing to bet a lot of you think artificial sweeteners will pretty much shut your body down. But not so fast. See why that isn't true in 6 Ridiculous Myths You Believe About Stuff You Use Every Day. Or maybe you think Amish people shun technology. Nah. Just read 5 Myths You Probably Believe About Major Religions and get educated.

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