The generation of Now
A post on the TED conversations board, ‘The Culture of Want; the Now generation‘ sparked a lively debate among the TEDxBrighton committee the other week. There being a generation gap theme to it, it resonated somewhat with our upcoming TEDx event.
“It is becoming more and more clear that my generation, the generation that is starting to graduate from high school and enter this world, has become a generation based on instant gratification. (from Kieran Preissler)”
The original post has a clear leaning towards exploration of materialism, and the comments tend to follow this vein. However it’s worth noting that (if we wish to label it as such) a culture of immediacy, instant gratification and ‘now’ could apply as equally to knowledge and experiences as it does to products.
A reply on the thread sketches out further thoughts on the question of generational difference,
“… the game was set long before your generation was born, the western economies were already consumption oriented and you are now realising this led to changes in society as well. Your generation’s behaviour is just the result of the society you have been educated in. Things will not change soon enough because old habits die hard.” (contributed by Erik Danziger)
Bleak outlooks and sweeping generalisations aside, the role of different generations in addressing social concerns is a subject of great importance. As is a critical appraisal of where we’re going in order to decide where the biggest concerns lie. Generational differences naturally loom large in each because the changing generations also track the passage of history.
With that in mind, we’ll be exploring this idea of a culture of instant gratification from the perspective of the generation gap over the next few weeks, roughly following the mind map-esque scrawling pictured above. Is any difference observed between generations to do more with different attitudes or with new technology? If it is a difference in attitude, then why might this be and what responsibility do different generations bear for the current reality and future of society?
As ever, we’d really love your thoughts on this and hope someone (or some-several?) will be itching to share their tuppence worth as we go through this short series of posts.
10 Responses to “The generation of Now”
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For most of human history, the world in which you were born into would look very much like the world you depart at death. The technology experienced every day – plough, windmill, waterwheel, cart – changed very slowly.
We are currently experiencing unprecedented rates of change in terms of technology, resource and energy consumption and of course population. The thing is, we were born into this period of exceptional change. Consequently it often seems totally unexceptional. In fact, lack of change, the delay in a new version of an iPhone or an insufficiently advanced upgrade can leave many people frustrated and even outraged.
There is definitely a generation gap here – both forwards and backwards. Older generations can feel increasingly cast adrift in a world that they no longer recognise. Younger generations can have a sense of entitlement with respect to new technology and products. But the people we are affecting most are those that are yet to come. Our over-consumption of finite natural resources means less for future generations who will also struggle with the climatic consequences of our fossil fuel based economies.
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Hi James,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I completely agree that an increasing pace of consumption of new technology and related products leading to over consumption of finite natural resources is a pressing concern and an insightful take on the generation gap.
I agree with you that younger generations tend to have a sense of entitlement with respect to new technology, but I don’t think this is entirely a bad thing.
James – I found your use of the word ‘entitlement’ interesting. As an employer of the next generation, I often come across this in interviews. With younger applicants feeling that they are entitled to the job and that we have to sell our company to them rather than the dance, as we see it, to find the perfect match between us and them. Those Millennials that get this dance tend to win out and be the most fantastic assets to our team.
Completely different to the days of my parents who were after a job for life and relieved just to be earning a wage. My father-in-law did a bachelors in Butchery just to get the holy grail of a degree to ensure him a place in the civil service. In fact he ended up an entrepreneur and inspired his son in the process. Jay has now launched 3 businesses – always on the cutting edge of marketing. Surely a fractal of the journey of the generations through employment!
I like this recent blog post by edelman which has some great advice for millennial job seekers http://www.edelmandigital.com/2012/08/10/friday-five-millennials-can-become-more-strategic-thinkers/
And isn’t it amazing that most of the top career choices for graduates now didnt even exist 10 years ago!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/05/11/10-jobs-that-didnt-exist-10-years-ago/
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Hi Kate,
Thanks for sharing your perspective on the generation gap. I can empathise well with the changing world of employement & careers! My own thinking has changed a great deal even just since I graduated (in 2005) on the relationship between graduates and potential employers and what the most productive mind set is for both sides.
Thanks also for the links – really interesting reading!
I’m struck by something James said in the first response ‘the technology experienced every day’ – and I wonder if we do experience technology or whether we just use the commodities it produces? There are two definitions for technology: A – The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, esp. in industry: “computer technology”; “recycling technologies” and B – Machinery and equipment developed from such scientific knowledge.
I think that most of our experience from say, the 1960s onwards, has been B, not A. My grandfather could service his own car, built a motorbike from scratch, installed the electricity in his cellar and ran a light to the outside loo at my great-grandmother’s house. My father could create engineering tools to help create other machines. My son designs virtual reality computer games – all three use technology. However, the range of applications narrows in each generation.
So, to try and extrapolate, it seems to me that the demand for gratification may not stem so much from greed or entitlement as from disengagement with the process – if you’re not part of the development, you’re only part of the purchasing chain and your role is to wait (impatiently) for the outcome!
Perhaps the issue is not technology but alienation from technological advancement? Each generation seems to express anomie and then be followed by enthusiastic exploiters of the very developments (horseless carriages, TV, internet) that the previous generation thought caused separation and selfishness!
With technology comes speed. First we had to wait days for the postal service to deliver letters. Then came the phone, and then email, and then instant messaging.
Millennials, and I am one, are used to getting things quickly. This is a different outlook to that of our parents, who were brought up with unavoidable delays built into just about everything.
With respect to the jobs market, I haven’t got the “entitlement” perspective, nor have any of the people in my age bracket that I know. We’re not entitled to a job, but we do expect the company to do something for us as well as just pay our wages.
I think that the other side to all of this is the sense that if we don’t do what we want to do today, the rug could be pulled out from under our feet tomorrow.
The future’s a pretty bleak place, right now. The UK economy will not recover until the end of the decade – if that – and with work pressures plus other stresses, there is a feeling that we need to grab fleeting moments of enjoyment while we can.
I’m not saying that it’s the right mindset, but it is a real one I believe.
Neil
Hi Louise, nice discussion going on here. I was going to put my thoughts in a comment but it got a bit longwinded, so I blogged about it at http://www.robinhoughton.com/2012/08/does-the-generation-gap-exist-and-is-technology-a-red-herring.html
Looking forward to hearing more details about the conference, the last one was great.
[...] from our previous post on The generation of Now, by taking our relationship with knowledge and experiences as a starting point how might we [...]
Hi and with apologies for not getting back to you all sooner 
Kay – thanks for your thoughts, really interesting. I have never before considered disengagement from technology or its process. Thanks for the insight.
Neil – I agree with you about “entitlement”. I don’t believe I have an entitlement perspective, but I am looking for more than a job that simply pays me a steady wage. I feel that, as a millennial, my mission is to take on a gift of greater choice and a wider perspective on my options within the horizon of careers and career options and make the best of it that I can. This is sometimes scary and the responsibility of making the best choices I can sometimes weighs more heavily on my than I would like. Yes, I have different (greater?) expectations than my parents had about their careers, but I am also prepared to approach my career differently and possibly with greater flexibility than they were.
Robin – thanks for the comment and I will definitely go and have a read of your blog post. Glad you are looking forward to hearing more about TEDxBrighton 2012 – it’s shaping up to be a cracking event!
Thanks to all the commenters for your time and thoughts.
[...] After an excellent debut event last year, TedX Brighton is back under a new steering committee and with a theme of ‘the generation gap’. Already, a fair bit of discussion has been going on about what this means, the demands of ‘generation now’ and the cult of instant gratification, especially in rel… [...]
For most of human history, the world in which you were born into would look very much like the world you depart at death. The technology experienced every day – plough, windmill, waterwheel, cart – changed very slowly.
We are currently experiencing unprecedented rates of change in terms of technology, resource and energy consumption and of course population. The thing is, we were born into this period of exceptional change. Consequently it often seems totally unexceptional. In fact, lack of change, the delay in a new version of an iPhone or an insufficiently advanced upgrade can leave many people frustrated and even outraged.
There is definitely a generation gap here – both forwards and backwards. Older generations can feel increasingly cast adrift in a world that they no longer recognise. Younger generations can have a sense of entitlement with respect to new technology and products. But the people we are affecting most are those that are yet to come. Our over-consumption of finite natural resources means less for future generations who will also struggle with the climatic consequences of our fossil fuel based economies.
Hi James,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I completely agree that an increasing pace of consumption of new technology and related products leading to over consumption of finite natural resources is a pressing concern and an insightful take on the generation gap.
I agree with you that younger generations tend to have a sense of entitlement with respect to new technology, but I don’t think this is entirely a bad thing.
James – I found your use of the word ‘entitlement’ interesting. As an employer of the next generation, I often come across this in interviews. With younger applicants feeling that they are entitled to the job and that we have to sell our company to them rather than the dance, as we see it, to find the perfect match between us and them. Those Millennials that get this dance tend to win out and be the most fantastic assets to our team.
Completely different to the days of my parents who were after a job for life and relieved just to be earning a wage. My father-in-law did a bachelors in Butchery just to get the holy grail of a degree to ensure him a place in the civil service. In fact he ended up an entrepreneur and inspired his son in the process. Jay has now launched 3 businesses – always on the cutting edge of marketing. Surely a fractal of the journey of the generations through employment!
I like this recent blog post by edelman which has some great advice for millennial job seekers http://www.edelmandigital.com/2012/08/10/friday-five-millennials-can-become-more-strategic-thinkers/
And isn’t it amazing that most of the top career choices for graduates now didnt even exist 10 years ago!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/05/11/10-jobs-that-didnt-exist-10-years-ago/
Hi Kate,
Thanks for sharing your perspective on the generation gap. I can empathise well with the changing world of employement & careers! My own thinking has changed a great deal even just since I graduated (in 2005) on the relationship between graduates and potential employers and what the most productive mind set is for both sides.
Thanks also for the links – really interesting reading!
I’m struck by something James said in the first response ‘the technology experienced every day’ – and I wonder if we do experience technology or whether we just use the commodities it produces? There are two definitions for technology: A – The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, esp. in industry: “computer technology”; “recycling technologies” and B – Machinery and equipment developed from such scientific knowledge.
I think that most of our experience from say, the 1960s onwards, has been B, not A. My grandfather could service his own car, built a motorbike from scratch, installed the electricity in his cellar and ran a light to the outside loo at my great-grandmother’s house. My father could create engineering tools to help create other machines. My son designs virtual reality computer games – all three use technology. However, the range of applications narrows in each generation.
So, to try and extrapolate, it seems to me that the demand for gratification may not stem so much from greed or entitlement as from disengagement with the process – if you’re not part of the development, you’re only part of the purchasing chain and your role is to wait (impatiently) for the outcome!
Perhaps the issue is not technology but alienation from technological advancement? Each generation seems to express anomie and then be followed by enthusiastic exploiters of the very developments (horseless carriages, TV, internet) that the previous generation thought caused separation and selfishness!
With technology comes speed. First we had to wait days for the postal service to deliver letters. Then came the phone, and then email, and then instant messaging.
Millennials, and I am one, are used to getting things quickly. This is a different outlook to that of our parents, who were brought up with unavoidable delays built into just about everything.
With respect to the jobs market, I haven’t got the “entitlement” perspective, nor have any of the people in my age bracket that I know. We’re not entitled to a job, but we do expect the company to do something for us as well as just pay our wages.
I think that the other side to all of this is the sense that if we don’t do what we want to do today, the rug could be pulled out from under our feet tomorrow.
The future’s a pretty bleak place, right now. The UK economy will not recover until the end of the decade – if that – and with work pressures plus other stresses, there is a feeling that we need to grab fleeting moments of enjoyment while we can.
I’m not saying that it’s the right mindset, but it is a real one I believe.
Neil
Hi Louise, nice discussion going on here. I was going to put my thoughts in a comment but it got a bit longwinded, so I blogged about it at http://www.robinhoughton.com/2012/08/does-the-generation-gap-exist-and-is-technology-a-red-herring.html
Looking forward to hearing more details about the conference, the last one was great.
[...] from our previous post on The generation of Now, by taking our relationship with knowledge and experiences as a starting point how might we [...]
Hi and with apologies for not getting back to you all sooner
Kay – thanks for your thoughts, really interesting. I have never before considered disengagement from technology or its process. Thanks for the insight.
Neil – I agree with you about “entitlement”. I don’t believe I have an entitlement perspective, but I am looking for more than a job that simply pays me a steady wage. I feel that, as a millennial, my mission is to take on a gift of greater choice and a wider perspective on my options within the horizon of careers and career options and make the best of it that I can. This is sometimes scary and the responsibility of making the best choices I can sometimes weighs more heavily on my than I would like. Yes, I have different (greater?) expectations than my parents had about their careers, but I am also prepared to approach my career differently and possibly with greater flexibility than they were.
Robin – thanks for the comment and I will definitely go and have a read of your blog post. Glad you are looking forward to hearing more about TEDxBrighton 2012 – it’s shaping up to be a cracking event!
Thanks to all the commenters for your time and thoughts.
[...] After an excellent debut event last year, TedX Brighton is back under a new steering committee and with a theme of ‘the generation gap’. Already, a fair bit of discussion has been going on about what this means, the demands of ‘generation now’ and the cult of instant gratification, especially in rel… [...]