It was fun to run across them. 21 people – a clear bulk of the bird – has attended. I certainly don't claim that such reunions that are much to a greater extent than than "a few hours inwards the pub" are rare at the global bird but they're rare enough. We had fun, drank beer as well as ate sausages, visited the skanzen, chateau, observatory, as well as received some practiced stories close the history of the rural buildings from a local guru as well as our classmate LK whose noesis – as well as contributions to the house – was amazing. He was born inwards the countryside as well as knows a lot – theoretically as well as practically – close the rural life inwards the recent every bit good every bit distant past.
We would rarely beak close serious topics but e.g. U.S. of America politics couldn't live avoided when nosotros talked to PS who has been the U.S. of America citizen for some fourth dimension as well as industrial plant for CDC (epidemics) inwards Atlanta, GA. Well, he voted for Mickey Mouse as well as almost none of my classmates are really interested inwards politics. They may have got amend things to do. But I could beak close things such every bit electron-positron annihilation inwards medicine (PET/PAS) as well as the condition of the theory of the photoelectric effect alongside a classmate – named Camille, an X-ray professional person as well as physics enthusiast – too. ;-)
One of the societal changes that specially the woman individual classmates complained close was the decreased mightiness to "interact inwards the existent world" amid the Millennials or younger generations. We could acquire drunk, nosotros tin maintain the grouping for years. Millennials – kids of these classmates born inwards 1973-1974 as well as sometimes their students (some of them teach) – are looking into their smartphones fifty-fifty if they're sitting inwards front end of 1 table. They don't know how to unremarkably interact, how to play, how to carry every bit friends inwards the sense of our teenage years.
Well, yes, it looks similar a valid description. It's valid across the West. Is the analysis right as well as is the evolution actually dangerous?
I must laid out past times proverb that I am inwards no way writing the analysis from the viewpoint of a glorious textbook illustration of the collective old-fashioned guy. Your humble correspondent undoubtedly belongs amid the 5% of most individualist people inwards the world. I think that I've give-up the ghost able to carry similar other people as well as sometimes fifty-fifty every bit the laissez passer on 5% of the people who deed every bit the "social glue" as well as it fifty-fifty seems possible that it has helped me to acquire hired inwards the U.S. of America etc.
But an unknown mixture of some special (tough) experience alongside my social environment; as well as genetics has turned me to what I am. While I am rather emotional, loving as well as caring, there's no incertitude that my "need for friendship" is intrinsically good below the average as well as it has been claimed that it is a green sign accompanying high intelligence which is a theory I accept seriously, to live honest. In particular, I expose it every bit an annoying waste materials of fourth dimension when folks desire me to pass likewise much fourth dimension alongside things I consider mundane. Also, I by as well as large don't expose the sharing of some events inwards my life to live likewise much of a relief etc. And incidentally, yes, I am greatly annoyed when somebody is chewing – I can't aid myself – as well as check what that means.
OK, so the analysis is evidently non supposed to live close me. It's a to a greater extent than full general human face at the whole population. Concerning the changes, I believe that 1 should effort to distinguish
- changes of the basic underlying value system, character, skills of the people inwards generations
- changes that follow from (or are strongly correlated) alongside the technological developments
At the end, spell I am worried close many counterproductive changes inwards the educational activity scheme etc., I don't believe that the fast changes are actually close the chop-chop decreasing underlying IQ of the people or their totally basic ideas close the society. The fast counterproductive changes I tin see boil downwards to some institutionalized changes of the political mood, the decreasing focus on the truthfulness as well as meritocracy. In the long run, the IQ is likely on a decreasing tendency every bit the stupid people by as well as large outf*ck the smart ones but my estimates of the speed of this tendency advise that the effect of the purely biological changes cannot live safely observable after 1 generation.
Forefathers of the Millennials' communication
When a bunch of teenagers sits inwards a room as well as they communicate through their smartphones, it looks rather ho-hum to an outsider. The immature people seem boring, bored, as well as unable to alive normally. But much of this impression is due to the observer's non seeing or appreciating what's going on inside the Internet packets. What's taking house online is ofttimes "equivalent" to the old-fashioned human communication as well as the modifications are due to purely technical developments of the data carriers.
You know, spell a hot information technology instructor at the high schoolhouse disconnected me from whatever figurer engineering scientific discipline for iv years, during... (imagine a scene from Young Sheldon at school) ...the rattling showtime lecture ;-), my arrival to the college inwards 1992 sort of changed that as well as I could give-up the ghost 1 of the pioneers of the Internet inwards Czechoslovakia. As shortly every bit inwards 1992, I was using some e-mail, Gopher as well as telnet as well as FTP shortly afterwards, as well as and so the (graphical) spider web since 1994. We were doing the drilling to spread the Internet cables through our Prague-Troja pupil hostels, too.
Aside from reading the arXiv etc., I did lots of other things on that old – non yet commercialized – Internet. For example, nosotros were chatting as well as doing similar things on the Liane BBS, a Bulletin Board Service, a telnet-based social network which existed since 1994, too. (I have got likely been a fellow member of a unusual bulletin board system since 1993 but I don't retrieve the exact dates.) We were chatting inwards chatrooms, voting for moderators, posting on boards dedicated to diverse topics. Last as well as hence to the lowest degree ;-), nosotros also organized a real-world bulletin board system session a few times. Some of import folks were there. For example, I spent much of the hike to the Ještěd Hill inwards Northern Bohemia past times chatting alongside I.L. who would shortly give-up the ghost the founder of Seznam.cz, a formidable Czech competitor of Google. In my opinion, the evolution from things similar the Bulletin Board Service to the electrical current Facebook was extremely modest. I precisely disagree alongside Gene's controversy that Facebook has changed the world. It's precisely a yell that dominates the marketplace put of social networks that were evolving gradually as well as sort of adopted the changes of the engineering scientific discipline (the switch from the text style to windows alongside graphics was the showtime obvious one) inwards a straightforward way.
I think it's right to say that inwards average, the folks who were connecting to Liane bulletin board system were rather representative of the society. The "nerds" were overrepresented in that location but non so much. Many rather "ordinary" folks – as well as girls – were using the BBSes inwards similar ways inwards which teenagers are using the Facebook today. Because of the underlying Internet, the average individual whom y'all interact alongside is geographically further from you than if y'all interact alongside the people inwards to a greater extent than old-fashioned ways. But otherwise this Internet communication is similar to the "pen friends" which existed one-half a century agone – except that it's much faster, usually instantaneous, as well as hence exciting.
For these reasons, I think that much of the older generations' opposition to the Internet communication is a affair of Ludditism, a sign of their full general technophobia.
Android games vs toys of our childhood
I would say something rather similar close some other business office of the engineering scientific discipline – younger children's playing games on tablets as well as phones. They're rattling goodness at it. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 rattling high fraction of the five-year-olds tin play rather nontrivial games on tablets as well as maybe download novel games inwards the app store, too. They tin pass whole days alongside such things if y'all allow them to create so. And it looks rattling unlike from the real-world games of older generations, including my childhood.
Is that evolution a catastrophe inwards the making? I don't think so. You know, our parents played alongside some wooden toys as well as they were romantic. We experience some nostalgia close that history – it's the "default state" precisely similar wild Nature. But human face at those things a fleck to a greater extent than critically. Most of the toys were immensely lame, boring, as well as the kids were completely wasting much of their time.
By playing the games on tablets, today's kids are moving a nontrivial business office of their life, energy, as well as excitement to the virtual world. But that's unavoidable. And they're learning the "equivalents" of many things that kids were learning from "classical toys as well as games" decades agone – except that today's kids are doing much of it much to a greater extent than effectively. The life inwards the virtual footing is something that is precisely saltation to grow to a greater extent than significant, relatively speaking, as well as this increase is non much unlike from the relative increase of the importance of cities inwards comparing alongside the villages a century or a few centuries ago, from the increase of TV relatively to books, as well as dozens of other examples of technological changes that have got heavily influenced the people's lifestyle. Such long-term trends unavoidably exists as well as in that location is no argue to await some "death" coming from these changes. The mankind has made many similar "almost qualitative" steps as well as it has survived those so far.
The older generations were ofttimes feeling alienated inwards the novel or acquaint footing whose identity was increasingly determined past times folks that are younger than them. And fifty-fifty those the folks who were born e.g. inwards 1973-1974 experience (and are) immature as well as healthy, non similar pensioners, the logic nonetheless works: they are already substantially older than some younger generations as well as much of their (my generation's) bitterness close the habits of the Millennials as well as the kids is qualitatively the same thing every bit the complaints of the pensioners during our childhood who were annoyed past times many trends that were unstoppable.
Because I think that in that location are many things that a kid may create e.g. alongside a tablet – entertainment, learning, as well as things inwards betwixt – I ultimately create think that it's a goodness investment as well as that's also why I got the parents' permission as well as of late bought a tablet for my 8-year-old quasi-nephew as well as niece (twins). Just to live sure, when I play alongside them, it's mostly offline.
There's some other way to limited my relative indifference to the kids' as well as teenagers' growing attachment to the virtual world. I think that if y'all made us or some other older generation rattling immature again, as well as if y'all placed us to a footing alongside the engineering scientific discipline that exists today, nosotros would laid out to freely carry inwards a rattling similar way every bit the today's kids. So I am much to a greater extent than worried close the "technology-independent" trends such every bit the growing hypocrisy, superficial nature of knowledge, lowered expectations from the college graduates, as well as many related things. The immature generations are non scared of the growing operate of the electronic devices – as well as I think that they are right non to live afraid.
Organized private life, collectives
I believe that many other changes partially influence the modified demeanour of the contemporary high schoolhouse students relatively to my generation. 21 classmates who run across 25 years after their high schoolhouse is certainly a sign of a tighter collective demeanour than what y'all may notice alongside almost all the similar classes of teenagers nowadays. There are diverse reasons for the modify as well as 1 of them is, whether nosotros similar to acknowledge it or not, that our bond was partly engineered from exterior as well as from above.
When nosotros were betwixt fifth as well as eighth graders, nosotros had a highly active "pioneer organization" inwards our class, alongside a dearest supervisor as well as his boy etc. The pioneer as well as the similar SSM – Socialist Youth Union which I declined to bring together at the high schoolhouse (and that's why I have got been to Chanovice for the showtime fourth dimension now, every bit far every bit I remember) – were almost completely standardized as well as inwards some cases, they worked intensely. It looks similar a goodness thing to have got some proximity to a bulk of your classmates. The bonds of the collectives (e.g. a class) aren't that emphasized these days – some of it was a business office of the communist organisation of the gild whether someone admits it or not. (The contemporary political correctness oversells unlike as well as larger collectives, usually the whole mankind – the global bird of collectivization is "hot" right now.) Voluntary piece of occupation was a business office of the vigorously promoted communist footing view, too: although I think that selflessness is a virtue as well as difficult piece of occupation is a swell lesson for a immature individual fifty-fifty if he or she doesn't acquire paid for it, I expose it rather natural when today's teenagers expose it "counterintuitive" when they're expected to piece of occupation difficult without a compensation. Fair compensations resulting from a genuinely consensual understanding of both sides is a business office of the liberty as well as capitalism – as well as I create think that the liberty as well as capitalism trump communism as well as its philosophy including occasional forced labor.
But is it guaranteed that the teenagers are robbed of rattling of import things when such bonds aren't working that intensely? Maybe but I am non sure. They are nonetheless creating bonds to diverse people – which are to a greater extent than probable to live farther from their bird than inwards our time. The footing has shrunk as well as the geographic distance to the teenager's median friend has grown considerably. I think that much of this evolution is an unavoidable lawsuit of the greater liberty – as well as also the improved communication as well as transportation technologies that have got made the footing smaller.
Many of us are annoyed past times many ongoing trends – the gild starts to human face unlike than what nosotros were used to as well as what nosotros sometimes imagine to live the "gold standard" – but many older people are fooling themselves when they're alarmist close most of these trends. Most of these trends volition modify the footing (and the society) but the modify of the footing is something else than the collapse of the footing (and the society).
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