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Work ethic? Mission in life? The role of goals in life? Life, the universe and everything?
I'm looking for input on the pulse of a generation. I've been reading the tea leaves and just thought I'd put it out there. My 2 youngins are 18 and 21 and I'm feeling a bit lost in the woods. I came of age at at time where "change the world" was a bit of a mantra, but I confess that my generation has only had limited success. No world peace yet. No environmental revolution. No Age of Aquarius quite yet.
Where are you and your peers - you folks in the 18-25 age bracket - at in interpreting the world, entering the workforce?
Are you able to segment your demographic? What percentages would you apply to things like "Clear about (whatever)?" "Have a positive outlook about (whatever)"?
Maybe no one will respond and that will be my takeaway? Hmmmm . . . Let's see.
Somebody talk to me about yourself and your world. I'm getting old and still wish to be in sync. I'm all ears (for a change). ;0)
The answer to that is 42?
As for the rest, you should leave it alone to develop.....
Maybe I'm wrong....But, you have a desire to change the future?
No one has a real grasp on World Views....it is impossible to achieve. We are all diferent, and anyone wishing to change that instead of appreciating the reasons, has to be an idiot!
If you want to appeciate young people and World Views then go forth and learn.....when you return tell us about it!
IMHO the young of today will do just fine, with less help from there parents!
The Golden rule is not to interfer with evolution. It did okay before you, and will achieve more after you....So why leave it alone to do its thing all over the World!
"at in interpreting the world"
- This world is a messed up place and i think it is fair to say that my generation in general has become quite indifferent to it. I care about me first and foremost. Selfish hey?
"entering the workforce?"
- I had no time after school to go to college as studying was the last thing i wanted to do with my life. I think the internet has given people a lot more freedom in the deciding of "what you wanna be when you grow up." So loving the web, I went straight from school into a junior SEO role for a tourism company when i was 18. It was the best decision i ever made! The web is my classroom and places like WW have only enforced that attitude and thinking.
As for life the world and the universe i have only one thing to say: SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Not much insight there :P
[edited by: Skylo at 3:02 pm (utc) on Jan. 10, 2007]
Webwork, you should read the book "Generations" by William Strauss.
One common theme among others, particularly those entering the work force post-college, seems to be life balance, i.e., having a career that does not consume one's life.
A fair number (at least in my motivated community) have some kind of a personal passion, like art, that they hope to pursue without any clear idea of the career prospects. That's not always a bad thing (unless you are that kid's parent).
Spend some time on Myspace, which hits the generation you are looking at quite well. You'll see a broad cross-section of personal expression. Most of it seems surprisingly (and perhaps depressingly) shallow, but perhaps those with more to say gravitate toward other blogging venues.
All of these are staples upon which we were raised, drilled into our heads again and again, and if we didn't do these four things we were destined to be losers, addicts, and at best to endure a lifetime of dead-end jobs.
All of these concepts are no longer valid today, and are a straight track to hypertension, depression, and suicide - if not of our bodies, of our spirits. "Living outside the box" is the ultimate path to survival for our youths, for our world. Another great short read, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Is it really another 'me' generation? Maybe. I'm 29, just on the cusp of the generation webwork is referring to, but not a part of it.
I think the decentralization of authoritative information has played a large role in redefining the viewpoint from which young people think. There used to be a handful of news sources, and a defined hierarchy of authority (in terms of imposable influence) - parents, teachers, peer group. Because of this values trickled down fairly predictably... cultural, familial, social.
Now there is no center. Kids are bombarded with value sets from every corner of the earth with no implicit hierarchy with which to evaluate, and no base set of principles with which to compare. In the face of all of this, combined with standard teenage apathy, you get kids who care about nothing, since they don't know what to value. Hence, care only about themselves.
They believe they are the center of the world, just like every previous generation of young people, except now, they are constantly reassured by the world at large that they are correct in thinking this. Raising a humble child must be harder and harder to do.
The new world of instant gratification breeds a new generation of kids who.... demand satisfaction.
If I had my way, I'd ship all of them off to live in Brazil for six months when they turn 18. Get a sense of life outside of the cozy confines of the uber-rich first world (brazil would be taking it easy on them, trust me). Force some perspective on them.
wow I feel like a very old 29 year old all of a sudden.
I see a whole generation, that is being lost in online fantasy worlds.
Pretty soon the slogan going to be "play in our world, live in our world"
The next generation will be Generation-V (V for virtual)
M ..you gotta quit eating from Rummies fridge ..and GW's koolaid ..or you're gonna grow up to wanna wear a tie
I is a college graduate.
