Not too long ago I was very skeptical about the current generation.. Their work ethic, demeanor, how they interact with other people, and their overall sensitivity to other’s commentary. As I have tried to delve into the human experience, history, and a greater understanding of myself my views have begun to change.
Below are some views I used to have as well as reasons why my perception has changed…
People have become dumber, previous generations were smarter
I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching this statement and its validity. From a perspective of how society functions it’s not that hard to quantify due to the amount of available data points, but there are so many categories that CAN be quantified its hard to know which one makes the most impact regarding what constitutes “smart”.
Our world has become more complicated, due primarily due to the amount of variables that have been introduced into the life equation. What’s the life equation? I just made it up… but take a math equation- 1+1=2, simple right? Take a more complex equation- 1+(1*A)=4, one variable, also only one answer… so not that complex. The life equation is not constrained to one form of math, it uses addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, exponents, logic, addition by subtraction, long division, extremely long division, etc… you get the point. The more variables, the more complex the equation. Now apply that to your life. The amount of variables is astounding. They also vary from one person to another. The end of the equation is usually a variable as well. Probably isn’t even static. Its dynamic equation, that is constantly evolving and this is due to the amount of information we are able to process during our lifetime.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that just as information is more easily available, so is misinformation as well. Not only do you have all this additional data to process, variables to add to your equation, you also need to be able to filter out the stuff that doesn’t matter, is incorrect or malicious.
People have become more sensitive.
The way we communicate today is vastly different than it was 10 years ago, even more different than it was 20 years ago. People’s voices have become more easily heard through the internet, social media, online gaming and different group/text apps. With these types of communication forums the voiceless, meek, quiet can have a very loud voice. They can reach a lot of people and raise awareness to issues that otherwise would have gone ignored.
Thoughts have changed on how we approach social issues and how we deal with them.
It is more socially acceptable to speak up instead of stay quiet.
People have become more disrespectful.
I have a lot of thoughts on this one.. many theories and assumptions. I have been struggling which one is correct, or maybe they all are correct or maybe none of them are. Could it be that once again, society has just been able to place a stronger magnifying glass on itself and we are able to see these warts in HD instead of suppressing them with silence?
But there is no respect for elders today! Anyone that was worth respecting never expected it (in my opinion)
People have become more lazy.
Working/doing a job- in relation to how we gain income has changed. We do not “work” the same way as previous generations due to technological advances. Career paths are far different today than they were in previous generations. In fact career paths today are not straight any more. They are actually not even clearly defined in some cases. Trade school or hard skill jobs are still around and will never go away, but their entire industries have changed a bit. There are even new industries that have emerged.
There have always been lazy, sensitive/insensitive, uninformed, ignorant and disrespectful people in this world.
If you take a random group of people and stick them in a room there will be a lazy person, disrespectful person and more likely than not, an asshole among them.
Today’s society is hyper focused on each others behavior, primarily due to the advent of social media, TV trying to keep up with social media as well as society trying to understand how to process this fire hose of information being sprayed at us.
Using them as examples to discredit entire groups of people as well as a generation of is not a logical thought process to defend your ignorance… life wasn’t better and we weren’t smarter, now go ask your kid how to download that app.