"Kids today" musings

[breakinglight11]

Was thinking today about the mentality I'll call "kids today"-- the idea that the new generation is in a state of decay from the abilities and values of the previous one. We know people have been doing it since Biblical times, so it's pretty safe to say we're not suddenly all going to hell in a hand basket. It seems to have to do more with how people fear the world changing away from what they know and what makes them most comfortable.

So it's not that things are getting worse, just different. When I think about it, I do, however, believe that with that changing of circumstances and values comes new personal strengths and weaknesses. What we value in the culture of our generation influences the things we're good at the and the things we're not so good at.

An example would be the emphasis the current youth generation places on caring about the self. Older people are quick to deride kids for it, railing against things like "selfies," saying it's a symptom of their generation's narcissism. But everything is a two-edged sword, and your strengths are the flip side of your weaknesses. Focus on the self does sometimes lend itself to narcissism if it extends too far in one direction. But it also means we're better at prioritizing our own wellbeing, embracing our individual identity, and seeing ourselves as important and worthy. This quality of our generation gives us different propensities, but they are not uniformly better or worse.

I think this means one generation will be better at some things than others were, given their different values. I think of the way my father, a little over sixty years old, approached caring for my mother during her illness, and frankly somebody with a more modern concept of "self-care" likely would not have been able to do as good as a job. But he is not as inclined to some of the other virtues that accompany the current mentality.

I believe it's important to keep in mind that just because something is different doesn't mean it's worse. And that goes both ways-- as some people change, and as others remain the same.