I was skimming Wikipedia about Millenials
and then the Gen X and then started thinking
about the concept of generations as a whole.
I never really thought about it very much,
and had not thought of which group I am
supposed to be a part of. But now as I was
looking at it, it just felt wrong. And not just
because the whole thing smells like ad
agency hype (although, that is probably a big
part of it).
So here's my theory: There are no generations in the form it is
suggested in Strauss-Howe theory. Instead there are very rare
huge events that have an effect of dividing two different
worldviews according to people's expectations of what is normal.
It seems to me that these events should be the largest that can
be observed. To me it seems during the past century these were
1) The Second World War
2) The Migration to Hyperspace
The second of which may not have happened yet. By this I mean that
in the same way as the WWII started with WWI and before that, the
migration to hyperspace is a long process and I think the climax
might be ahead of us.
But there is a definite point that was passed, and I think this
point defines the beginning of the shift of generations: The
first people without "grounding" came along. What I mean is,
there have always been more and less abstract individuals,
but even the most introverted of them have been forced through
a sort of school of group dynamics. In order to socialize you
had to go through a lot of practice and error. Nowadays you can
kind of fumble along without really much pressure to adapt to
the social reality around you.
I just realized this might not even translate to people a bit
younger than me: In my childhood (before internet was available)
there were only a handful of kids my age in my town. To belong
to a group meant overcoming some mental obstacles, like shyness,
for example. I could not just pick a computer of a phone and
find fellow nerds across the globe. It was a profoundly different
reality.
I may sound like I am overplaying this moment. Maybe. But also,
as I said, I don't think that we are pass the climax. I think
there is something bigger ahead of us. That is why I would
not put too much weight on the term "Millenial" but rather
wait and see what the kids who grew up on virtual reality
look like.
I do feel like in a way I am the last of the old world. The ones
who grew up in physical reality. Of course there still are plenty
of countries where people are offline by default. I suppose they
will be my refuge if the future turns out too weird on the
western front.
