Do YOU believe that the younger generation has gotten worse

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gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

or better in terms of taking responsibility, being accountable, possessing a work ethic, strong morality, and ethics? Why? Why not?
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I believe they are simply learning by example. So, if they are perceived as 'getting worse' we, as a society, only have ourselves to blame.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Actually thinks Kids today are smarter, Harding working and have it tougher today than ever before.
  
  Tougher because of family breakups, (throw away conspiracy). Along with working longer hours for less pay for people for most part, Corporation who care more for their greed than for them. Corporation who own most of our jobs, home, and own most of us (lucky not me)
  
  You and I were smarter at age 30 than when we were 20. Smarter at 40 than when we were 30 and so on. It's the same for the next generation are smarter, stronger, they have more opportunities and less wars (per capita) then ever before.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... smarter does not seem to be the subject ... mankind is no "smarter" today than it was at creation ...actually its intelligence is diluted but it has more toys ... ... but as to courtesy, work ethic, direction, personal accountability ... and personal responsibility ... they are sadly lacking in everything but personal arrogance ... and with their help, or should i say indolence, in about 10 years or so, America should join the ranks of nations known as third world countries ...
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If we join the ranks of third world countries I'd chalk it up to governmental indifference to the citizens and corporate greed. Not the next generation of Americans. This generation is confronted with less full time jobs available, amoral decisions by corporations where profit is the only consideration and a government so deeply stuck in their pockets that it will not change any time soon.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Frankly, historically speaking, I really don't think the world is any more adversely affected now than it has been in past years by corporations and their buying influence (Teapot Dome, anyone?) That one waxes and wanes.
  
  But I agree, I think that as far as the basics go, the kids are just as smart and hardworking today as they've ever been. The culture among a lot of them sometimes takes me a bit by surprise, but they've grown up with different technology and it makes a difference, just like the technology I grew up with was so very different from that of my parents.
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I agree. It does wax and wane. But, as corporations grow and the world gets smaller, their power increases. Also, considering the damage done in the past; why does it wax and wane. You'd think we'd learn.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  We do learn, but we learn "too well" so to speak. We never find a balance, we always go too far in one direction or the other. That's why, in a very direct way, the competition-stifling regulations of the 70's led to the competition-killing deregulations of the 90's.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Sure there were Roman's like Michelangelo or L. DA-Vinci living three TIMES longer than average person back then. i said average person's life span up to mid 1800's.
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  Zelkiiroposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  What's this, then?
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... academics do not measure true intelligence ...
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  This can largely be attributed to an increase in education (including social education, such as tv and/or the internet.) A real test (which is, of course, impossible,) would be to take young people of similar age (say, sixteen year olds) from each decade (and this is only tracked since the 1930's, less than a century as of this writing) and place them in identical situations and see which group, as a whole, is the most clever (IQ generally being measured as the ability to solve a problem, at least when I took these tests back in the 1970's as a middle schooler.)
  
  So, put 90 sixteen-year-olds (ten from each decade since the effect was first mapped) on: 1) a farm, 2) a factory, 3) an office without computers, 4) a computer workstation, 5) a jungle...etc and see which group does the best in aggregate. If the it goes on a steady scale from teens from the 1930's up through 2010's, then it's actual intelligence is truly increasing.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... wow, a day toofers ... chris i like your take on iq and i'm probably one of those folks that used to say that kinda "crap" ... still do ...
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Please don't tell us Adam was the smartest man who ever lived and man could live as long as 969 years old - myth. Lets us just go back to biblical times were the average man could not live longer pass the age of 4o until the mid 1800 were science and evolution took us out of the great ignorance age. America is not in the ranks of third world nations, yet due lack in ethics and happiness to the standards of northern European and many Latin countries.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... 938 years of mortality for adam ... and who knows how long adam lived prior to that ... 969 for methuselah ... but it's been downhill ever since ... evidence our society of gimme ...
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I can imagine you believe every detail of Noah Myth too. If you have some friends who think like you, when they go to the next End of the earth party or bar. If they own land, ask them if they would sell me their land cheap, because they will not need it because they have faith they are going to Heaven.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  To say that people could not live past the age of 40 until modern medicine is also a myth. The fact is that history is full of people who lived into their 70's or 80's back in the Roman times. What's happened is that the median age somehow got translated into the maximum age which can be easily proved false on any number of sites.
  
  Back before a lot of modern medical practices, death in childbirth (both the mother, who tended to be young, and of course the child) was much, much, MUCH more prevalent that it is now and that skewed the average life-expectancy. If you have hundreds of people who live into their 90's and MILLIONS who die before the age of two, of course that lowers the average life expectancy. But to say that humans were incapable of living past their 40's back then is just not true.
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  Cat333posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  My thoughts on it exactly - all the early deaths would skew the median age.
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  JoanCAposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Kids today have to be smarter. The academic demands placed on them are so much greater than their parents generation. They have to involve themselves in more activities and volunteering because it's become more difficult to get into good schools without a long list of accomplishments. Teens are the most stressed of all age groups. In terms of morality, today's young people are more open-minded and accepting of differences in others. Some people might see that as a bad thing though. Teen pregnancies, teen abortions, and teen drinking rates are at historic lows.
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  gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  +1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... liberal drivel ... young folks today only excel in 1) getting out of any physical labor and 2) whining ...
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  JoanCAposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  But this is conservative drivel. Always wanting to believe the youngsters will be the downfall of society.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... hhhmmm "joanCA ... if that means joan of california ... then i would expect this kind of retort, laced with a lack of originality ... Hebrews got the land of milk and honey ... Israel ... Americans got the land of fruit and nuts ... california ...
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That strongly resembles a personal attack. If you have nothing positive to add, why bother typing?
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... two items for you also emile ... 1) use some sunscreen to thicken your skin 2) get a sense of humor ... you sound like those whining "young people" ... think i'll stick around awhile ...
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I didn't suggest you leave. What I was hoping was that you would contribute something other than insults.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... well, did your hair stand up or did you have to stifle a smirk ...
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ?? I have no idea where you are going with that one.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Check this guys Id for his age
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  JoanCAposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  By every measure young people are behaving better. Teen abortions are down. Teen pregnancies are down. Teens are delaying sex. Teens are drinking less. Youth violence is way down. School violence has dropped from something like 42 homicides per 1000 students in 1993 to 2 homicides per 1000 students today. That's a massive drop. I'm also an employer. All my employees are teens and college students. 80% have given us no trouble over the last years. I'm confused why you're so upset. Shouldn't you be happy that young people are more responsible? Why does better behavior among youth upset you so much? I have young kids and I'm glad they're growing up at a time when young people are less troubled.
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  Doc Youngposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ... do you know what a "ucr" report might be ... do you know they are use to manipulate statistics which are disseminated to the public ...
  
  ... and lets analogize your statistics in a well know market place ... i used to by gasoline for 30 cents a gallon ... raw figures suggest this is about an 1100% increase ... however, using the cpi, gnp, population increase, and so on, the spin doctors could show a drop in the price of gasoline ... or that i was over paying at 30 cents a gallon ... and $3.50 a gallon is in fair price for today ...
  
  ... statistics such as you present would have to begin a a "0" base, factor in time and population change, among other things which are above me, before one would get a true reading of change ... i am confident that that "0" based change would show a significant drop in percentages as you have indicated, but only for ranged timed frames of the recent decades ... however the overall raw figures would show an increase in all levels of those items you pointed toward ...
  
  ... these are not nice things so the politicians spin um and the news parrots spit um out ...
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I don't know how old you are but I'm in my late 40's and this is the same crap I was hearing (some) older folks say when I was in my teens. And also in my pre-teens. And also when I read things from before I was born, sometimes by centuries.
  
  Just goes to prove, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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bBereanposted 9 years ago
All of society is so much more distracted now, and for the kid's, it's all they've ever known. Nary a minute to sit and ponder. "Muse" means to think. "Amuse" means to distract, divert, occupy attention, or if I may sum up "to not think", at least not an original thought. We are constantly being amused or seeking amusement. Even in cinematography they have had to make each shot shorter because of our increasingly poor attention spans. We are bored in seconds. It is a difficult environment for kids, but so fascinating they may have it no other way.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That is because we have moved from the information age to the entertainment age. Next we are slowly moving toward the spiritual age. A better place of balance and happiness, more people today will say they are spiritual rather than Religious.
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  bBereanposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Doesn't it seem a lot more like training, or programming...no time to think for yourself, lots of peer pressure to go along, each seeking individuality only in superficial and approved ways...so if your goal is a collective consciousness and control it is a wonderful thing. If not, it sounds like hell.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Most of us acknowledged the system is ridged by brainwashed by the greedy, controlled by fear more so than love.
  On the contrary the true leaders in human history have always been the the collective consciousness of the people's love and freedom. There is 99% of us and only 1% of the greedy that owns most of us. We can take them!!! a few of us may get killed because they own most of the military backed by religion.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That's a red herring, IMO. Define the actual differences between "spiritual" and "religious" ages. Most people are pursuing the same basic thing in the same relative way. We are no closer to the dawning of some age of 'great spiritual enlightenment' now than we were back in 1969, when all things seemed possible.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Spiritual is observing/creating and you are what you think, from the 99% unknown.
  
  Religion is words from a book that keep repeating themselves over and over, millions of times untill you are what they think you are by fear of the unknown
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I don't agree with either of those definitions. Aside from the second being far too simplistic, it also fits far too neatly into whatever someone who wants it to be that way says.
  
  The first one is, I guess, "spiritual" if you define spirit as in some way more like an energy. But in reality what you're describing is self-help, which is far more mental than spiritual.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  What, would you like me to add to the 99% spiritual unknown, I know the one's who claim to know the source of the 99% are incorrect. This energy of good intention is the highest energy to tap into that I'm aware of. The Christians war, natural environmental and ethic pass record of energy is not what I would want to tap into.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Nor would 99% of Christians. So again, you write the definition to fit what you want.
  
  And are you really so sure that 99% of 'spiritual energy' is truly unknown?
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  It's not a simply defination, more of a observation from the many Christians behavior experienced or from relieable sources. Christian are far more concern about how we all have sex or how we cheat on taxes than the natural enviorment or war.
  
  One example how ignorance mankind is, including self. Humans do not know that much about the 1% surrounding earth's surface crust in which is 6 km.in deepth. Let alone about the earth's 99% inknown interior mass on fire . Let alone again the Universe unknowns, the Christian claim they know where the 99% to 100% unknown are coming from - their God, let alone out of millions of Gods out there, many claiming the same thing..
  
  The only honest answer for Atheist or Religious people is to say "I don't know the 99% unknowns" To claim to know where the 99% unknowns sources are coming from- is a lie or living a lie.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  So in other words, Christians are more concerned that people be honest and ethical and righteous than they save a tree?
  
  I mean the two can go together, but since you characterize it as one or the other, would you prefer honest, upright people who may not be as concerned with trees or lying cheaters who care more about trees than people?
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  The Governments and Religions gives us un elusion that we are free, we are not. The greatest threat to mankind is the nature environment and nuclear war, they both are too busy helping the greedy rich get more and the rest of us less. They really care about what's protecting us. The main reason many people are force to cheat on their taxes, is because jobs, housing and paying bills are not sustainable. Houseless people out number the public servants.
  
  Christians fight more with each other domination than any other group. Christian care more about what their groups think about them than thinking for themselves first. I can't imagine the lord choosing Christian for the only group for heaven with their war/imprisonment and environmental record here on earth, let alone the lord destroying the earth because most people on earth are not even aware of this Yahweh lord. What an unreasonable and dumb and dumber idea.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  The government and religion, at least in North America, are not the same thing. Those are different subjects and if you want to complain about government while saying it's about religion, I'm going to just remind you to please stay on topic.
  
  But at least you aren't given to bias or sweeping generalizations (he says with a sardonic touch.)
  
  Got any facts on figures on that "Christians fight among their groups more than other groups?" And even if true (which I find a bit hard to believe) perhaps you would prefer we dial it back the way, say, ISIS has?
  
  And you don't have to imagine it. God will choose those who follow Him. Many who call themselves Christian will find themselves in hell (that's Biblical). As to your idea about why God destroyed the Earth, I'm not following you. If you're talking about the flood of Noah, that's not why He destroyed the Earth. If you're talking about the ultimate destruction in Revelation, that's not why He will destroy the Earth.
  
  So which idea do you have the dumber misinterpretation of?
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Yes did get a little off topic.
  Still, if nonbeliever wanted to get election to HIGH OFFICE in North America he better be a Christian and never tell anyone he is gay or atheist. GOD FORBIDS!!! The US is the most populated Christian country in the world and if ½ the world’s war budget and ¼ the world’s prisons in the world, is enough facts or right aim to fight, OR…I’ll eat my shorts.
  If God chooses me, and he can’t answer most of the hard questions, the same question I ask Christians, he is a fake too. There is simplifying good reason to destroy us or things, when God calls his perfect creations.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I'll try as best I can to respond, but some things I just didn't understand. This is not meant as an insult, I think sometimes that French might be your first language (I know you are Canadian) and sometimes I have difficulty with what you say, especially when you get excited or upset.
  
  It's becoming more and more NOT true that you 'need' to be Christian in order to get elected in the US. Two of our best known Congressmen, Barney Frank and Al Franken, are not now nor have they ever been Christian. Franken is Jewish (he wrote a rather funny book about what it would be like if he were elected president and how Jewish the cabinet would look) and Barney Frank is an openly practicing homosexual who survived a scandal about two decades ago to become one of the longest serving members of Congress. Even inside the 'Bible Belt" (and I live inside the 'Bible Belt') it's becoming less and less of an issue whether someone is even nominally Christian.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Thomas Jefferson,[1] Abraham Lincoln,[2][3] William Howard Taft[4] and Barack Obama[5] were accused of being atheists during election campaigns,
  
  Almost all of the presidents can be characterized as Christian, at least by upbringing. Some were Unitarian or unaffiliated with any specific religious body. Some are thought to have been deists, or irreligious. No president thus far has been openly an atheist or an adherent of any non-Christian religion.
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  Emile Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Openly an atheist. What does that mean? Someone who would wear their atheism on their sleeve?
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That doesn't cancel out what I said at all. Just because the Presidents still 'need' to be 'Christian' (although even Mitt Romney's Mormon faith was not as big of a deal as it would have been twenty years ago), in lesser offices it's become almost a moot point.
  
  Being able to point to one example does not mean that my whole argument collapses. If anything, it just proves me right if you actually look at the true history.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Do you think a non christian person can get elected President in America?
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Actually, yes. I think it would be very, very difficult right now, but I expect that in my lifetime it will be possible for a Muslim or a Jewish person to be elected President. I expect that within my children's lifetime it will be possible to elect an atheist, or at least agnostic, to the office.
  
  At the beginning of the twenty-first century, most people did not think a black man could be elected President.
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  Castlepalomaposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  A half black dose break up the white house a little bit. A woman elected would be a bigger step, and an Atheist and Muslim most likely not in my lifetime. I will not be long before most of us will be brown and more spiritual.
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  Chris Nealposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Dude. you are racist.
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WillStarrposted 9 years ago
The 'younger generation' had vexed adults since the days of ancient Greece. Youthful moral standards have varied widely through the centuries, and the wildness peaked last century during the Roaring Twenties. I think we're due for another period of rising standards.
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Cat333posted 9 years ago
I think the younger generation has their own strengths and weaknesses, so in many ways they've gotten BOTH worse and better.

Some areas of improvement: less racist, less sexist, less judgmental.

Statistics do show a decrease in violence presently, but I wouldn't yet jump to any definitive conclusions about this because 1) we need more time to determine if this will be an ongoing trend or simply a normal fluctuation, and 2) this doesn't necessarily reflect truly better "hearts" of this generation, but may reflect other factors such as more fear of getting caught as our technology and such advances, and/or a more passive group (which would translate to both less good and less bad being done) due to the tendency of youth now to be content to be passively entertained.

Some areas in which they're getting worse: More Narcissistic (as revealed in studies) / more self-absorbed, entitled, greedy, disrespectful to parents, etc.
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