The Millennial Question

Kptlt. Neuerburg · 12-29-16, 11:31 PM

@GoldenRivet I agree with a lot of what you. I've seen plenty of it myself everywhere but no more so then at work. I had to tell on guy I work with about three times, "If you want to get out of here at 10 tonight put the phone away and pick up the pace." Then when he thought I wasn't looking he'd take the phone out and do it again, and that was just tonight.

Another instance was when some family friends came down from the Northwest for a visit and one of the kids might of well had his face glued to the monitor of his cellphone, and rather would of played candy crush then go swimming in the pool. I could see that a couple of generations down the road will be called "Generation Duh" at the rate things are going.

ikalugin · 12-30-16, 04:59 AM

I am a milennial (born in 1992) and at the moment I do not own a smart phone. And when I do have a smart phone I mostly use it for various services ie taxi order, camera, navigation, wifi-modem.

I do always take my laptop with me though.

Jimbuna · 12-30-16, 06:56 AM

Both my kids were born in the eighties and I'm pleased to say that whilst they have smart phones, ipads and laptops etc. none play a major part in their daily routine, they don't have those items high on their list of priorities.

I have seen it differently in public settings on a daily basis elsewhere though.

Platapus · 12-30-16, 07:52 AM

Seems like every generation feels that the following generation has problems.

My Great Grand Father's generation probably thought that my Grandfather's generation would not amount to anything because they spent their time reading trashy novels.

I imagine that my grandfather thought my father's generation would never amount to anything due to them because they spent their time staring at the radio.

Pretty sure that my father's generation thought that my generation would not amount to anything because we spent our days staring at the TV.

Now my generation, evidently, thinks that the younger generation won't amount to anything due to them staring at their smart phones.

But, ya know what? Every generation seems to do OK. Ya know what is also true? Every generation had its slackers.

I tend to reject these generational generalizations. At work we have some old codgers who are going fantastic work and other codgers that are "roadies". At the same time, we have fresh outs that are fantastic, and others just putting in the time for a paycheck.

My father has some stories about slackers in the "Greatest Generation".

Kids!
I don't know what's wrong with these kids today!
Kids!
Who can understand anything they say?
Kids!
They a disobedient, disrespectful oafs!
Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy, loafers!
While we're on the subject:
Kids!
You can talk and talk till your face is blue!
Kids!
But they still just do what they want to do!
Why can't they be like we were,
Perfect in every way?
What's the matter with kids today?
Kids!
I've tried to raise him the best I could
Kids! Kids!
Laughing, singing, dancing, grinning, morons!
And while we're on the subject!
Kids! They are just impossible to control!
Kids! With their awful clothes and their rock an' roll!
Why can't they dance like we did
What's wrong with Sammy Kaye?
What's the matter with kids today!

It is the person, not the generation... but would it kill them to get a haircut once in a while?

Von Due · 12-30-16, 08:12 AM

Trust the source as much as you feel like but the youth of today has indeed been a worry since the dawn of time
http://mentalfloss.com/article/52209...ing-everything

Von Due · 12-30-16, 08:14 AM

A couple more found on this widest of webs

Quote:

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

ATTRIBUTION: Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato, according to William L.
Patty and Louise S. Johnson, Personality and Adjustment, p. 277
(1953)."

Quote:

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[disrespectful] and impatient of restraint" (Hesiod, 8th century BC).

August · 12-30-16, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

Seems like every generation feels that the following generation has problems.

While that may be true it does not mean that there aren't actual issues and problems created by the way these people were raised.

GoldenRivet · 12-30-16, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

Seems like every generation feels that the following generation has problems.

I do not think that "picking on the current generation" is the purpose of the video, and it is certainly not the purpose of my OP

I cannot speak for other nations, but my experience with young 20 somethings here in The US is that they are prone to Apathy and there is a wave of entitlement and a general feeling that the results of their efforts should be almost immediate, and they tend to feel dissatisfied, disappointed and at fault when the results are not immediately recognizable.

I also refuse to continuously paint millennials with a broad brush stroke because i know several people who are 10-15 years my junior who are hard working people who have the vision to see a long term goal of perhaps 3-4 years in length or longer through to fruition - though these sorts of millennials are often the exception rather than the rule

additionally, the video makes the point that technology has impacted the current generation more so than any generation previous to them. it is verifiable fact that the areas of the brain stimulated during use of personal electronic devices, social media and video games are the same areas stimulated during the use of illicit drugs. But then again, so does sex.

i am not making the argument that society will crumble if we dont get these meddling kids off their pesky cellular phones and reduce their use of the new fangled myfacespacebook (because i am a daily user of Fb) - i am simply saying that the video makes some interesting observations, and provides some verifiable data and cause / effect relationships to explain those observations. Whether you stand on one side of the fence or the other does not matter here... what matters is that the man in the video makes points about millennials in a way that is interesting, tangible, understandable and perhaps most importantly not derogatory.

it is undeniable that the last 20-30 years have made society into an "instant" society. things that used to take hours or days now take minutes or seconds.

and, largely as a result of technological advances of the last 15-20 years the generation gap experienced between me and my parents, was not nearly as large as the generation gap experienced between my children and I.

For example. My dad and i can sit for hours and listen to music from the 50s, 60,s 70s etc without batting an eye. We can occupy a space with little stimulating activity and keep ourselves entertained with mild chit-chat. We both know what its like to have to wait all day to call someone after 9pm because of long distance charges. We both know what its like to order something by catalogue and wait a week or two for it to show up, or write a letter to a friend, colleague or family member and wait a week or two for a response. We both know what its like to spend a week in a library researching for a biology paper.

When it comes to my kids, 5 minutes of the rolling stones is a punishment.

They also need near constant stimulation, generally of the electronic caliber.

if you want to talk to someone anywhere in the world, all they have ever known is to just call from the phone in their pocket. Children actually made special trips to my house to see a rotary phone in action when i plugged one in here. one of whom lifted the receiver to make a call and simply put their finger into the holes as if pushing a button (without rotating) to make a phone call and wondered why the phone didn't work.

my kids want to buy a movie, rent a movie, buy a product online? just get on steam and download it and its ready to play in hours. just get on netflix and press play. there's no waiting. and if you do have to wait its never more than a day or two.

want to write a letter to a friend? send them an e mail, they will get it in two seconds and respond within a minute generally

and libraries... i cant understand how such places still exist to be honest. virtually all of my kids' homework is done online. i busted at least one or two backpacks per year at the seams due to the amount of text books i had to carry around in school.

vienna · 12-30-16, 02:14 PM

@GoldenRivet...

I see you were born in 1979; I was born in 1950; you're the younger generation my generation complained/complains about; it all goes full circle. A few nights back I was dealing with some chronic insomnia and I turned on the TV at about 4:30 AM. Every station on the set was actively broadcasting and my mind flashed back to when all stations ceased to broadcast by about midnight, a few even earlier. All you got on your sets was either a test pattern, with an annoying signal tone or static snow. Thinking about the difference made me think about all the other vast changes, just in my lifetime. You mentioned rotary dial phones and waiting to make calls to take advantage of lower rates; did you ever have to deal with party lines, where several households shared the same line and you could only make a call if none of the other parties to the line were not using their phones. (Incidentally, if you did make a call, the other parties to the line could very well just listen in on your conversations, a sort of 'pre-historic' hacking or Blu-jacking.) Virtually none of the then current technology of my youth exists in its original form today...

Generational differences will always exist. My parents were immigrants and had a very rudimentary education. My father was in the Merchant Marines and, by sheer diligence and effort, worked his way up from a wiper to a Chief Engineer. We were never close, but he could deal with changes easily because he was in a technical occupation. I respected him and wish that I had had more of an opportunity to know him. My mother, with whom I spent all of my childhood and adolescence, on the other hand, was a mixture of religious belief, wild superstitions, and a keen distrust of anything she didn't understand; explaining anything to her was a chore because she would tend to take whatever explanation I gave as an effort to deceive her; coupled with a keen insistence that she was always right, even in the face of full evidence to the contrary, there was little I could do to remedy the situation. Given that I was a bit precocious and voracious about learning new things, I must have seemed like a Martian to her. In my house there wasn't a Generation Gap; it was a Generation chasm. That's why, whenever I feel the impetus to wag my finger, scowl, and intone "Young whippersnappers! Why in my day...!", I make a conscious effort to restrain myself because that means never worked in the millennia before and very most likely never work in the future. The youngsters? They're all Martians and the best we can hope for is they come in peace. And, they better not be here for our women: I may may want to work my way through another ex or two...

Regarding the cell phone use, the local news has been doing stories on all the new laws and regulations taking effect on Jan 1, 2017. One new law will penalize any driver even holding a handheld cell phone while driving; you don't even have to be using it, just holding the phone; if you are behind the wheel and driving holding a phone, you get dinged. This may seem extreme, but the number of death and injury accidents caused by mobile phone distraction in California now exceed, on an annual basis, the number of accidents caused by DUI. Of course, if you get dinged enough for illegal mobile usage, it could drive one to drink...

<O>

Buddahaid · 12-30-16, 02:25 PM

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