🤔

[solarpsychedelic]

Speaking of generations…

It’s just WILD that I’ve lived long enough during a time of rapid change to see this much history. All of the post-WW2 generations have.

But what gets me now is that particular run of events from the Great Depression to 9/11 that shaped this world and our perception of it is now receding into ancient history.

Receding into time is of course part of the natural tendency to keep moving on. Buuuuuut I also think there’s a deliberate dumbing down and detachment at work.

We don’t seem to have the emotional and moral attachment to events like we used to, with agreements that certain experiences and certain people are, y’know, kinda bad. That was the role of the Greatest Generation for a long time: they reminded us of the sacrifices they made for our freedom and safety.

Now that the members of the Greatest generation have passed on, that consensus opinion has gone with them. Instead it’s now fragmented into niche opinions that get warped by echo chambers.

And there’s a clear break between the older gens and Gen Alpha, the first truly digital citizens, the 21st century generation whose outlook will be toward the future.

And it’s wild that I can still think about the Great Depression and realize, fewer people anymore understand what that event did to people, physically and mentally.