The Millennial Question

[GoldenRivet]

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.

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by Platapus

?????

I am confused. What exactly is dangerous about non-ionizing radio frequency radiation?

Other than heating, which cell phones simply don't have the power, what are the risks? We are hit with a lot more non-ionizing radiation for much longer periods of time than any cell phone and we do just fine.

It is ionizing radiation that we need to worry about.

The medical community has suggested a link with Incidences of brain Cancer and the use of Cellular phones. Gioma is the most common type of brain tumor. The common denominator was cell phone use. Right handed people tend to develop Cancers on the right side of their head while left handed tend to develop cancers on the left side of their brain. Obviously this is because people who tend to favor their right or left hand will ultimately hold their phone against their ears with that hand.

It should come as no surprise that the manufactures of Cellular phone and the associated technology's have tried to dispel the connection but the medical community has stood fast on the association of Gioma brain cancers and cellular phone use.

Quote: The recent worldwide increase in use of wireless communications has resulted in greater exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). The brain is the main target of RF-EMF when these phones are used, with the highest exposure being on the same side of the brain where the phone is placed. These are just a few of the websites that are saying there are risks from cell phone use. Please note that one source is the Mayo clinic, which is world renowned.

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/...nes-fact-sheet

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834888

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-li...r/faq-20057798

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...ncer-risk.aspx


To be fair, there are arguments on both sides. Some researchers are split on the dangers which cell phone may pose. That may well be because of who signs their paychecks. Ionizing radiation would cause immediate damage but researchers are more concerned with long term use with non ionizing radiation. Researchers are more concerned with EMF or Electromagnetic radiation present in Cellular phone technology and WiFi devices, just to name a few.

http://www.earthcalm.com/emf-dangers-2

You may dispute the findings as much as you like but prudence would suggest that because of the links, Cell Phones do pose a significant health risk and according to the articles, the most susceptible are those under the age of 20. If people are aware of even a casual connection, they can take precautions such as limit their cell phone use or use ear phones or buds. A number of cars today have built in cellular phone technology. How much this helps is yet to be determined.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com...radiation2.htm

[AVGWarhawk]

[vienna]

@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]

Originally Posted by vienna

@GoldenRivet...


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>

And yet I get sent traffic alerts to my phone while driving!

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

The medical community has suggested a link with Incidences of brain Cancer and the use of Cellular phones. Gioma is the most common type of brain tumor. The common denominator was cell phone use. Right handed people tend to develop Cancers on the right side of their head while left handed tend to develop cancers on the left side of their brain. Obviously this is because people who tend to favor their right or left hand will ultimately hold their phone against their ears with that hand.

...

You seem to be read up on the matter, so a question: is there any evidence, researched or anecdotal, of similar incidences of tumors on persons who store their phones on other parts of their bodies, such as a back pocket or shirt pocket, or on a belt? It would be interesting to see if the effect is not present on other body areas; the correlation would not be so much solely the radiation but, rather, the disposition of brain matter to the radiation...

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

...You may dispute the findings as much as you like but prudence would suggest that because of the links, Cell Phones do pose a significant health risk and according to the articles, the most susceptible are those under the age of 20. ...

Still looking for a way to get those whippersnappers to put down their mobiles, eh?...




<O>

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

And yet I get sent traffic alerts to my phone while driving!

Our's is not a perfect world; failing all else, you can blame the youngsters...



<O>

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by vienna

You seem to be read up on the matter, so a question: is there any evidence, researched or anecdotal, of similar incidences of tumors on persons who store their phones on other parts of their bodies, such as a back pocket or shirt pocket, or on a belt? It would be interesting to see if the effect is not present on other body areas; the correlation would not be so much solely the radiation but, rather, the disposition of brain matter to the radiation...



Still looking for a way to get those whippersnappers to put down their mobiles, eh?...




<O>

As I said, the connection is at least a " casual " one. To be honest Vienna,
I know a little bit about the cell phones but certainly not enough to say one way or the other . You mentioned having the Cell phone somewhere else on your body and I have wondered the same thing. If there are dangers in WiFi use, I would think the dangers would increase exponentially if the phone's are in close proximity to the body. Wearing them in a belt clip comes to mind.

Research is ongoing and the connection is contested. I do think that if there is at least a casual connection, Prudence suggests people understand the dangers and enact safety measures.

whippersnappers eh ? I guess we are all guilty of having and using them.


Leave it to you to be the voice of reason, as always Vienna.

[vienna]

Well, if you're going to insult me and accuse me of being reasonable, I'll leave in a huff...make that a minute and a huff...

I don't know if it has any real effect in the avoidance of possibly harmful radiation, but I do make it a practice to turn off the Wi-Fi and mobile data functions on my phone and I usually carry the phone in a sort of day bag I sling over my shoulder, along with my other items, books, etc. After I finished my prior post, I had a vague recollection of seeing something some months back on a TV news report about breast cancer cases in women who stored the mobiles in their bras. I found this link on that subject:

http://ehtrust.org/key-issues/cell-p...breast-cancer/



<O>

[Commander Wallace]

QUOTE=Schroeder;2455132]Those are known as smombies...smartphone zombies...[/QUOTE]

I like that @ smombies. I have never heard that one. Mind if I use it ?

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by vienna

@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.

i too can recall that, probably because i grew up in a small town and all the local broadcasts would show a fighter jet flying across the various landmarks of the USA while playing the national anthem. and when the music stopped and the screen faded to black you got this guy



with a long and annoying "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" until about 4:30 am when local news would start ramping up

Originally Posted by vienna

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...

fortunately, no, i never had to deal with party lines, however i was very familiar with them at an early age and knew about having to wait to make a call or possibly getting listened in on.

Originally Posted by vienna

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.

You and i have something in common there. My grandfather was in the Merchant Marines and by his sheer diligence and efforts worked his way up as well, he retired as a captain for American Heavy Lift shortly after i was born, he retired to Florida and my family lived here in Texas which afforded us little time together, i had a lot of respect for him and enjoyed what little time we had together and would have liked to have known him better.



He captained the MV John Henry and the MV Paul Bunyan

Originally Posted by vienna

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>

i'm in absolute agreement with such laws, my vehicle is totally bluetooth hands free - so was my last one, but i owned the vehicle for 2 years before i figured out how to work the thing. distracted driving, texting and driving, using PEDs while driving... its the new drinking and driving and is pretty much just as fatal

[GoldenRivet]

Regarding the picture above, according to the caption on the website where the image is hosted, that is one of the ships he captained entering new york harbor in 1979... could very well be my grandfather on the bridge.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

I like that @ smombies. I have never heard that one. Mind if I use it ?

It's not my creation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone_zombie

So feel free to use it.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

i too can recall that, probably because i grew up in a small town and all the local broadcasts would show a fighter jet flying across the various landmarks of the USA while playing the national anthem. and when the music stopped and the screen faded to black you got this guy



with a long and annoying "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" until about 4:30 am when local news would start ramping up

Well, you were all fancy and had color TV; for most of the 1950s and even on into the 1960s, all we saw was something like this:




This was preceded by a picture of something like the Statue of Liberty and the obligatory National Anthem, although a couple of stations played other songs in addition; one station in San Francisco played "America The Beautiful" sung by the glorious voice of Mahalia Jackson...

One thing about early TV I remember is how some stations showed movies; before the advent of video recording, programs broadcast live were often filmed by means of placing a film camera in front of a TV monitor, a process called Kine-Scope; conversely, films were broadcast by placing a TV camera in front of a film screen; I recall times when a movie on TV would suddenly freeze and the picture frame would either tear to shreds or melt down; these occasions would be immediately followed by a "Please Stand By" card. IIRC, KRON-TV in San Francisco had a particular problem with self-destructing films...

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

You and i have something in common there. My grandfather was in the Merchant Marines and by his sheer diligence and efforts worked his way up as well, he retired as a captain for American Heavy Lift shortly after i was born, he retired to Florida and my family lived here in Texas which afforded us little time together, i had a lot of respect for him and enjoyed what little time we had together and would have liked to have known him better.

...

He captained the MV John Henry and the MV Paul Bunyan

My Dad started out as a teenager on small freighters and tramp steamer in Central America. As I said, he started as a wiper, the lowest rating on merchants at the time. He worked hard, scraped up his savings, got into Merchant Marine school, eventually (IIRC, it was called the Calhoun School or Academy), and worked his way up to his Chief's License. Not too bad for a guy who had only a few years of formal education. You can"t really do that sort of bootstrapping, nowadays; I have real respect for anyone, in any field, who came up the ranks in the Old School manner. My dad tended to work the Pacific Coast, mainly; I remember him shipping out on a variety of lines, both freight and passenger; some line names are long gone and some still hang on: American President Line, Matson, Grace, the Bear Line, etc. He kept up on his dues paying for a couple of the unions he passed through in his work history, mainly the Oiler's and Fireman's union, just in case worked dried up and he need to fall back to a lesser rating; only people who have lived through poverty could have that sense of foresight...

Growing up in San Francisco, I could tell what line a ship was by the paint on her stacks. I only had one real conversation with my father and it was just about the last; it was quite amicable and I learned a bit more about him than I knew before and it opened my eyes to things I had been unaware of before. When I last spoke with him, he had just gone through a bit of a dilemma; he actually had been a crew member of the SS Mayageuz when it was captured by the Cambodians at the end of the Vietnam War; he spent a couple of days as a prisoner before Ford sent in the Marines to free the crew. Given all he had to endure in his life up to that point, I really do hope he found peace and happiness in his later years.; he deserved at least that much...

Thinking about phone service in days gone by brought to mind a particular oddity of service in San Francisco: a special phone exchange was set up in Chinatown and staffed with women operators fluent in Cantonese dialect; this was when they still had plug switchboards and the ladies were highly knowledgeable about Chinatown and its inhabitants; very often, particularly with the elderly Chinese, they would be asked to be put through to a party, not by number, but by something like, "Please connect me with Mr. Wong on Waverly Place, you know, Fan Wong's eldest son", and the operator knew exactly where to route the call...



<O>

[Gargamel]

Platapus has it right, this generation gap thing happens every generation. Multiple studies have shown this, and it's all based upon observer's bias. Basically, people will remember the negative things you see, rather than the good. You see younger people acting differently then you remember doing so, and opposed to how you think they should act, and you remember that. You see just as many younger people acting they way they are expected to act, and you don't remember them as well because they don't stand out to you. Younger people are faster to adopt new technologies and cultural shifts, so they appear different, mysterious almost.

No generation is any worse off than the previous, relatively speaking. There will always be those who bring down each generation, there will always be those who lift it up. In today's world though, it's much easier to see, and remember, the former, while taking the latter for granted.

I see it too, I have caught my self saying "Those damn kids". While it may be a recurring thing, it still occurs to every generation, and still affects us.