posted April 08, 2009 01:25 PM           

For myself...
Personally from observing my parents. I believe that my family is more practical and potentially hardwilled in bad conditions. There is a need for security.

On the flip side I think that our generation is more wanting to achieve what's best for our personal development. You get more idealism with "Do what you love" and all that...

posted April 10, 2009 04:07 PM         

I also recall on another board how someone posted this thing congratulating people born before the 80s because they were more independent, respected authority (like "when a child got in trouble at school, the parents took the teacher's side"), etc. When some complained over a chain letter being posted, and I recall asking why if it was so good then why was that same generation the one to change it, she had a total temper tantrum, raced to another figure of authority and then left in a huff when that authority wouldn't back her up, too. IOW, she was just as bad as the newer generations she was decrying. But if you look at what was said about the new generations for thousands of years, the older generation almost always thinks the next gen is worse (and no doubt the new gens think the older ones are behind the times, at the very least).

I also see parents who watch shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, the L Word and such complain that kids watch such trash as Gossip Girl (or even READ the books) or play violent video games. To me, there's no real difference, though there is a superficial generational difference. Another is how parents often like to berate their kids for being shallow and out of control with money--all the while the said parent is living beyond his or her own means, getting cash advances and even loans for new entertainment systems, golf clubs, and even (I kid you not) monster tires for a truck or a gucci handbag. Again, the differences between the generations are superficial, IMO.

*

Offhand, the only real difference that comes to mind is that I think the younger gen can multitask and process info faster than the older gens...but the older gens are more likely to do a better job at what they do and/or understand more about what they focus on.

I've especially noticed this with movies. When I saw some movies with a woman in her 50s, I often had to explain what happened because the scenes went by too fast for her to process so that it was like a big blur in her head. She wasn't stupid, she's one of the smartest people I know. She just can't process too much too fast, probably because her generation never had to learn how. (She also does a lot better if she sees such a movie on dvd where she can rewind, pause, etc.)

In contrast, movies her gen (she's in her 60s now) grew up on were very slow...so very, very slow...and people not only stated the obvious but had a tendency to REPEAT the obvious, over and over again, even when it was extremely unlikely for a person (like a bad guy confirming the warnings of a good guy) to do so. And it didn't matter how boring it was either (as just one example, watching the old b&w Dracula with Bela Lugosi as Dracula walking down the London sidewalk...and walking...and walking...and walking some more!)

Yet if you read magazines, stories, etc, the reader was obviously expected to have a better education and attention span than today. Even a zine I saw issues of put out for people doing psychedelic drugs in the late 60s-early 70s would be a challenge for many of my generation (born 82) and after to keep up with, given it's small print, length, complex thoughts, and big words. But our gen, though used to handling more info faster, gets more of a "cheat sheet" summary of anything, as most aren't interested in anything else.