ideasonideas: Kids these days
Last week I listened to a podcast in which a trends analyst cooed at what a wonderful time it is to be young. She placed special emphasis on how this upcoming generation was somehow more interesting and special than any before it. This seemed like just the sort of thing you’d hear from a trends analyst: more mysterious possibilities to keep the marketing folks at Nike paying for overpriced ‘trends’ data. Forgive me if I’m cynical, but I say it’s quite the opposite.
I think every generation is almost identical to the one that preceded it. Each one experiences a marginally different context that seems immediately significant, but in actuality is only temporarily so. As decades pass, we learn that high-tops, flannel shirts and SMS slang actually amount to very little. These little novelties are curious, but looking upon them to ‘define’ a generation hardly moves beyond the brutally superficial. Universal truths, however, bind us all, even if our vision of them isn’t exactly clear. What are these truths? I think they include the need to be loved, the desire to feel connected to others, the hope that one is relevant, and an arm-full of other similar emotions that transcend any paper-thin trends.
This is a much more eloquent version of the argument I have with myself in my head whenever I’m feeling “old”.
