Submitted by [deleted] t3_114kq3q in Showerthoughts
cheesyvoetjes t1_j8xvp8r wrote
Reply to comment by calliope720 in In 2025, Gen X will have their first elderly person. by [deleted]
The gap between 1981 and 1997 shows how arbitrary it actually is. If you were born in 1981 then by the time you were 12 Windows 95 was not even a thing. If you were born in 1997 the Iphone was already a thing by the time you were 12. Totally different worlds.
calliope720 t1_j8xxhws wrote
I'm not arguing the logic, only how it is defined in culture.
Millennials across the board have one thing in common, which is that whether you're at the beginning or tail end of it, you experienced more and faster technological change than any generation before and also more than Gen Z has so far.
happyrabo t1_j8ykhnr wrote
How do you figure that millennials experienced more technological change than any generation before when the silent generation, boomers, and gen x all lived through the exact same technological changes?
calliope720 t1_j8ykomy wrote
*during their formative years. That's the distinction between generations, the experiences during formative years prior to adulthood.
happyrabo t1_j8yls1p wrote
I see. So you’re arguing that “rotary phones and rabbit ears to the internet” is a smaller technological change than “dumb cell phones to smart phones”.
You might be right about that, but I think it’s debatable.
calliope720 t1_j8ypa6k wrote
I literally just said during their formative years. Older generations didn't go from rabbit ears to the internet (at least at-home internet for regular use) during their childhood and teenage years. Millennials were the first to experience change while growing up rather than as adults.
Writeforwhiskey t1_j8yzfsi wrote
It depends on the year for GenX, that's why there's Xennial (1977-83/85). My siblings and I (2 Xers and a Mil) grew up with rabbit ears, then cable, by high school, some households had internet or we used it at the library.
In the span of my high school years, I looked up info in an encyclopedia and printed my papers on Dot Matrix paper from a Word Processor to asking Jeeves, and laser printing from a computer by senior year. It was a weird moment in time because I had to fill out my college apps and FAFSA by hand but check out colleges websites for information. Many baby GenXers went through this.
happyrabo t1_j8zy5er wrote
Some GenX literally went from rotary phones and rabbit ears to home internet during their formative years. I know, because I was there. I am describing the years between grade school and late high school for me. My formative years.
> Millennials were the first to experience change while growing up rather than as adults.
Now you’re just being silly.
calliope720 t1_j905fm4 wrote
I mistyped, I was trying to say "experience this change."
But at any rate, you're picking an argument with the wrong person. I'm not defending the definition, I'm explaining what the definition is. I don't have a strong stance on this either way, I'm just clarifying why in popular culture the lines are drawn the way they are.
If you feel the lines should be drawn differently based on your experience I have no issue with that at all. It just isn't the way it's commonly defined. I don't make the rules
[deleted] OP t1_j90cx76 wrote
[deleted]
calliope720 t1_j93mirq wrote
Man, I'm not sure you understand either, but I can't be arsed. Like I said, you're arguing with nobody. I was in the thread earlier to clarify the common delineating landmarks that are used broadly to define the generations. I do not have a stake in your personal opinion of them.
Do you just need somebody to validate your personal experience? Cuz I can do that. I believe that you are telling the truth. Rotary phones to bedroom internet! Wild! What a ride! An experience you have in common with, in general, some proportion of gen X and some proportion of millennials. A single person's experience doesn't necessarily represent the average of a population, but if you just need to be told you're included in the data set, I'm probably the wrong person to ask but I'd say yes?
Anyway, sorry for making this confusing for you. Don't shoot the messenger.
happyrabo t1_j94jngn wrote
So, great. Glad we got that out of the way. I accept your belabored concession that millennials don’t have anywhere near exclusive claim to “the most technological change during their formative years”. Which is what this whole conversation was about.
I’m still not sure why you brought up the delineating landmarks used to define generations, which I never expressed an opinion on, but that misunderstanding is behind us now that this conversion is over.
Talasko t1_j8xye5p wrote
We need to change the name then, because i think of millenials as people younger than me and more annoying. I was fifteen at the turn of the millenium so like i dont associate my real childhood with it, more with nirvana and shag carpetting and a wood panelled station wagon
calliope720 t1_j8y14fj wrote
I don't discount your experience, but in fairness, 15 is still a VERY formative period in a person's life, and it's still accurate to say that your development was heavily affected by what was happening at the turn of the millennium. The generations aren't defined by young childhood only.
I would agree though that the way we divide generations right now isn't especially helpful for making meaningful inferences about lived experience besides development of technology and wartimes. Things move too fast, and have since the 70s.
But it's also unhelpful to make too many micro-generations. I was born in 90, and I feel like my experience was vastly different than that of someone born in 95 or 85, but it's because I'm focusing too closely on my own personal experience instead of population averages.
Talasko t1_j8yfjsz wrote
Sigh, of course you are right about the averages, maybe its more of a misnomer then, like call us anything but millenials, i really would have thought 1995-2005 would be millenial
SadLaser t1_j8yu7ur wrote
It doesn't get named based on your personal experience. It's a generic age range. It doesn't need to be anything else. What you stereotype a millennial as (being younger than you and more annoying) isn't part of what a generational grouping is. It's your own preconceived notions and ageist opinions.
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