You have the luxury to choose the shot that best suits the situation for a player with good to great pocketing skills, others may not. As a player I must adjust my shot selection to suit my ability, obviously my perspective on many things on the pool table have changed. When I respond to a wwyd i'm explaining for the most part what I would do, and the readers must understand that's not may be right for them or another player with a different skill level. I try to use good common sense when explaining situations, unlike a few that rebut (like yourself) and don't understand that there are other options that are just as effective than the ones their advocating. (to each his own) depending on who the shooter is.:sorry
What I have that you don't have is the experience of going from a very top player to a decent player, in doing that I have developed the understanding on how to adjust my game (through necessity) This was done through "trial and error" ..the old fashion way.:heh So, I have been every where you have been and then some, plus I have experienced the process of going from 1 to 100, and then from 100 to ? well back to 50..if you know what I mean. So, you need to slow down on your statements about how older players think as being wrong. One day you'll be "the old dog" not the "big dog"
In regard to how players thought back in the day, well the best players back in the 70's and 80's thought and played excellent, don't be fooled on how many people talk about how conservative and careful they played, it's just not true. Players back then played very aggressively as well, and there were many players back then that could have more than held their own against any of the one pocket players of today. Needless to mention who they were.
Dr. Bill