Millennials

[John23]

I find it hilarious that inane uses of technology define my generation.

I see as many people in their 40s and 50s faffing around with their phones these days as any age group. And that's fine. Most of the older folks who aren't watching stupid videos on youtube or sending you barrages of emoticons after just discovering them are those too scared to try and learn how to use modern tech.

I use my phone for reading the newspapers (mainly sport), sending n receiving work related emails n talking sh1te on this forum with fellow blues born in the 20th century. I have n never will be a member of facebook twitter etc. Once the latter got invented society went downhill

 

[johnnydawg68]

Paul who?

Go sit in the corner.

 

[johnnydawg68]

I find it hilarious that inane uses of technology define my generation.

I see as many people in their 40s and 50s faffing around with their phones these days as any age group. And that's fine. Most of the older folks who aren't watching stupid videos on youtube or sending you barrages of emoticons after just discovering them are those too scared to try and learn how to use modern tech.

mate I'm worse than your average 22 year old when it comes to that stuff now.

But as Fury In The Slaughterhouse sang when I WAS 22...Every Generation Got It's Own Disease

 

[canuckblue]

Ok mate, what interactions exactly do you have with Millennials? I sense a deep embittered soul within you

I work with a shedload of them. Almost all of them stand around and talk when they should be working, or they're busy looking at their cellphones even though they know full well the workplace rules forbid it except when they're on break or lunch.
As well, I live in an area that's become overrun with university students. By and large, they have no respect for private property or a person's right to a good night's sleep. They leave trash all over the place -- mostly beer bottles, cans and those ubiquitous plastic cups -- and yet have the temerity to lecture us "old farts" about protecting the environment.

 

[canuckblue]

Why would you do long division when you can use a calculator, though? When would you ever have to do that in the real world?

Why would you write an essay without spellcheck when the technology is right in front of you and there to help you? It saves you a lot of time and potential embarrassment.

I'm a 'millennial' and make the effort to use correct grammar and punctuation even if it's just a quick text to my friend's. I may not get it right 100% of the time, though.

You've made some rather sweeping statements there mate. If anyone looks as deep as piss here it isn't me.

All that technology means not having to actually think for yourself. Something a lot of the younger generation seem incapable of doing. They want someone else to do all the work for them.

 

[RFUS]

I use my phone for reading the newspapers (mainly sport), sending n receiving work related emails n talking sh1te on this forum with fellow blues born in the 20th century. I have n never will be a member of facebook twitter etc. Once the latter got invented society went downhill

Yes, Twitter is killing us all.

Forget about the foundering economy, the state of the environment and the petulant, hateful manchild at the helm of the most powerful nation on the planet. Twitter is what we really need to put in its place.

 

[Connor]

Yes, Twitter is killing us all.

Forget about the foundering economy, the state of the environment and the petulant, hateful manchild at the helm of the most powerful nation on the planet. Twitter is what we really need to put in its place.

All put in place by previous generations, leaving us with the consequences. Never let them forget that.

 

[RaleighBlue]

All that technology means not having to actually think for yourself. Something a lot of the younger generation seem incapable of doing. They want someone else to do all the work for them.

A counterpoint would be that I am free to do far more creative thinking and problem solving because I have tools to handle the basic computing.

I can do long division in my head. Do I? No, I go to a calculator, because it is faster as well as being more precise and more likely to be accurate. But I suppose basic calculation is more important than being able to apply all of my thoughts to the things computers can't do, like lateral thinking.

The truth is, like many things before, a lot of the things you mention have been made obsolete by technology. Just like many of the older generation never learned Morse code - because they didn't need telegraphs anymore.

Should the fundamentals be forgotten? Of course not, that would be a shame and quite dangerous - but we're not at risk of 'losing' long division. Your complaint is that things change.

 

[RFUS]

For the record I hate loads of things about young people these days. I don't really use social media. I type in full sentences with boss SPAG, which rarely falters. Ironically, if it does, it's usually due to autocorrect. Most of my music is older than me. It took me years to realise what "fade" was; unsurprisingly my hair has never looked like an island floating above my ears. I hate clubbing and would rather play darts in an old boozer. And so on.

Ultimately I think it's just laughable that people highlight and judge the differences in generations as they do. Nostalgia is strong and the integrity of memory is weak, so a lot of older folks seem to think that back in their day they simultaneously had everything harder and also did everything better. But you were all once stupid children, disillusioned teenagers and stumbling young adults. And I'm sure the older generation at the time said similar, negative things, but maybe about rock music or going out with someone who wasn't white like you.

The adherence to the cycle of life is one of the most simultaneously impressive and depressing things about people. And I'm sure in 30 years I'll be moaning at young people too. Because we're all more alike than we like to believe. Something worth remembering given the recent revival of hate-fuelled labelling and ideological segregation.

 

[canuckblue]

A counterpoint would be that I am free to do far more creative thinking and problem solving because I have tools to handle the basic computing.

I can do long division in my head. Do I? No, I go to a calculator, because it is faster as well as being more precise and more likely to be accurate. But I suppose basic calculation is more important than being able to apply all of my thoughts to the things computers can't do, like lateral thinking.

The truth is, like many things before, a lot of the things you mention have been made obsolete by technology. Just like many of the older generation never learned Morse code - because they didn't need telegraphs anymore.

Should the fundamentals be forgotten? Of course not, that would be a shame and quite dangerous - but we're not at risk of 'losing' long division. Your complaint is that things change.

My complaint is not so much that things change, but that many of those changes seem to be "dumbing down" each successive generation. Social media being a perfect example.

 

[RaleighBlue]

My complaint is not so much that things change, but that many of those changes seem to be "dumbing down" each successive generation. Social media being a perfect example.

That's been going on for many, many generations though.

Go read letters from the front in the American Civil War and compare them to letters from the front in Vietnam even. It's not a dumbing down so much as a massive globalization in which there is far, far more data to process. That means things that CAN be handled by technology often HAVE to be handled by technology - or other critical information gets lost. It also doesn't help that the (general, historical, quote-unquote) oligarchy has become far more efficient in its application of bread and circuses.

So while some of these kids cannot do long division (or spell, which is also a pet peeve of mine - though I've found it to be cross generational...overuse of asides is obviously not a pet peeve), they often have a much greater understanding of things going on across the world than kids did in the 60's and 70's - because they have access to that information.

Yes, there are vapid, stupid, hateful, utterly abhorrent Millennials - just like Gen X'ers, Boomers (forgive my American generational terms), and Silent generation members). It wasn't the youth that elected Donald Trump, outside of the fact that they're too big of a-holes to even vote - once again like every previous generation. And give them time. Like half of us are still under 20. I'm on the upper end (in my early 30's) myself, and suspect that most of my peers will swing around into normalcy a bit later than previous generations just because they spent their 20's under crushing debt.

 

[Librarian]

we rode their ma's

 

[rascal]

I work with a shedload of them. Almost all of them stand around and talk when they should be working, or they're busy looking at their cellphones even though they know full well the workplace rules forbid it except when they're on break or lunch.
As well, I live in an area that's become overrun with university students. By and large, they have no respect for private property or a person's right to a good night's sleep. They leave trash all over the place -- mostly beer bottles, cans and those ubiquitous plastic cups -- and yet have the temerity to lecture us "old farts" about protecting the environment.

That's been the case for many a year. As with most things when it comes to kids, it's the fault of the parents and the parents generation.

Anyway, which age group largely voted for Brexit and which age group largely votes Tory? It sure as hell isn't the kids. The problem with the older generations is they lack the comprehension to look at the bigger picture. Everything has to be easy for them and they need to have easy access to blame without looking at things from a logical point of view, or in any great depth. They get their opinion from the Daily Mail and are then set in their ways, whereas myself and others my age that I know will always look for things that challenge our opinion. Take me for example, it's not a stretch to say that if you put me in a room with someone born before the 1970s, I'd easily outshine them with my intelligence and devilishly handsome looks.

 

[jaycee]

we rode their ma's

Some of us still do

 

[John23]

Yes, Twitter is killing us all.

Forget about the foundering economy, the state of the environment and the petulant, hateful manchild at the helm of the most powerful nation on the planet. Twitter is what we really need to put in its place.

Go to bed you millennial