Are Baby Boomers The Dumbest Generation?

Originally posted by Germanicus
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

geriogynist to a t.

I dont know what that means but Im sure it isnt as bad as it sounds.

Then perhaps the Babyboomers aren't the dumbest generation after all? Sorry, had to do it.

reply to post by Germanicus


I think we rely too much on gadgets and computers now. In some ways we are smarter, but I bet most would freak if those gadgets were suddenly taken away.So ......I wonder....does that REALLY make this generation smarter? Or.....does this generation SEEM smarter because there are so many things to think FOR them?

Personally, I think every generation has their share of stupidity. Every generation blames the one before it for all the problems. As a race, humans evolve and learn, so the current generation will always think they know more than the previous one, simply because things have advanced.

What's funny is....one day, this generation's grandchildren will be asking why their Grandparents were so stupid and blame THEM for THEIR problems....and so it goes......

Originally posted by StealthyKat
reply to post by Germanicus

 

I think we rely too much on gadgets and computers now. In some ways we are smarter, but I bet most would freak if those gadgets were suddenly taken away.So ......I wonder....does that REALLY make gen y smarter? Or.....does gen y SEEM smarter because there are so many things to think FOR them?

Personally, I think every generation has their share of stupidity. Every generation blames the one before it for all the problems. As a race, humans evolve and learn, so the current generation will always think they know more than the previous one, simply because things have advanced.

What's funny is....one day gen x's grandchildren will be asking why gen xers were so stupid and blame THEM for THEIR problems

....and so it goes......

very true..However Gen X's were also reliant on gadgets...we were the original inventors!

ps stealthykat - is my avatar the before one and yours the after...lol

reply to post by smyleegrl


Ha! A vocabulary doesnt equal not dumb. Not that Im saying you are dumb. Or that Im not Thats a good word. Im not sure if I would let you use it in scrabble though

reply to post by Jomina

They've had internet access for the greater portion of tier lives as opposed to all the other generations

I agree.....this plays a big part. It has both enlightened (access to more ifo and education)....AND had negative consequences (ego inflation, bullying because you feel anonymous etc) at the same time.

Originally posted by StealthyKat
reply to post by Jomina

 

They've had internet access for the greater portion of tier lives as opposed to all the other generations

I agree.....this plays a big part. It has both enlightened (access to more ifo and education)....AND had negative consequences (ego inflation, bullying because you feel anonymous etc) at the same time.

I had internet right from its inception...I'm 49....was with computers right from the punch card era?...I guess you might not know those...ahem moving swiftly on am married to a geek / nerd so I totally grew up with Apple Macs etc (had a real cute one and I thought it was so cool having a 20meg external hard drive) They are in museums now...

Its not affected me in any way...yes I am sad about the bullying...BUT that came with the advent of the cell phone...That's where the trouble started IMHO

I think it's pretty obvious the Gen Y is the most "intelligent" generation (maybe because I am one? okay, enough self pop shots) because we've had access to instant information for some time now. It's easy to be educated when you live in a world where if you have question, it's keystrokes away from an answer (though, hunting deeper than the first link is always a good idea. Most of my generation are familar enough with the net to know this though and how to work it). When any world event is at our finger tips pretty much in real time. The previous generations simply wern't privy to that. But they did build the infastructure to make it so. We simply innovate and improve on them in ways that are mind boggling.
So maybe intelligent isn't the right term, as it's realitive. After all, the farmers of my wife's family make me look pretty dumb on the farm. But let's see how well they handle a computer. See, it's a diffrent kind of knowledge, really, is all. Our education backgrounds are diffrent.
That being said, my 87 year old grandfather can work a comp as well as any kid of my day and age, so there are always exceptions with the generations, too. That WW2 generation is a hard working never say die lot.
The Baby Boomers did bring us social revolution, which in itself is a high sign of intelligence.
Much as the Baby Boomers had to know how to operate machinary of their day and age, our machines are now more brain based, instead of body based. We're moving into a world where manual labor just isn't going to make sense (I firmly believe robots will soon replace more than just the autoworker). We already are seeing this transformation in the military. While man will always be present on the field, why risk a pilot or a solider when I just send in a drone with a big enough bomb to blow the whole spot away? All the sudden all that video game time that our parents told us were a waste are paying off. We're smart enough to build a society to suit our needs, with the tech we have, just as they were in their day and age and yadda.
Now, this in no way suggests Baby Boomers are ignorant. And I believe their wisdom shows in their influence in politics. It takes a clever soul to build a system of acceptence and social care that they have built. It has it's bumps, but that's okay. Every generation improves upon the last one's work. Atleast, that's the goal, the human drive right?
I know there are moments of "civilization falls" that could contridict that, but we always rebuild from the ashes, and keep truckin forward.
If anything, I think the Lost Generation was the dumbest. They had alot of things going for them, and all they managed was the Great Depression, a world war, that once they "won" it, led to well, another world war. That's not even touching on how they treated the desposed of thier time. The infirm and uneducated. Heck, you needed more workers, that seven year old seems fit for the mine. Good job guys ^.~

reply to post by Lasr1oftheJedi



"If anything, I think the Lost Generation was the dumbest. They had alot of things going for them, and all they managed was the Great Depression, a world war, that once they "won" it, led to well, another world war."


We're almost if not already in a great depression and if TPTB have their way WWIII is just around the corner but all we can do is claim those who came before us are dumber???? Lets solve our problems, invent our inventions, build our monuments and prove to our descendants that we were smarter.

Originally posted by XcytaBill
reply to post by Lasr1oftheJedi

 

"If anything, I think the Lost Generation was the dumbest. They had alot of things going for them, and all they managed was the Great Depression, a world war, that once they "won" it, led to well, another world war."


We're almost if not already in a great depression and if TPTB have their way WWIII is just around the corner but all we can do is claim those who came before us are dumber???? Lets solve our problems, invent our inventions, build our monuments and prove to our descendants that we were smarter.

We're no where near Great Depression levels. That's media keeping you scared and your money in the banks of those that just got done ripping you and the rest of the world off for billions...trillions. Totally different. The Great Depression had many causes, one namely being a huge drought in the mid-west. It was the dust bowl, and destroyed alot of land and lives. Shortage of crops plus less people spending (hard to buy luxeries while you're homeless) had a huge negative effect on the economy.
This bank heist (which is what it was) was an intentional lie and ponzi scheme to screw people out of their money so banksters could buy their mistresses (or..what is the male equivalent? I'd look it up, but the idea of what sites will come my way extinguished that desire quick) another car and house. One is never enough.
Secondly, those in charge of that scam, wern't Gen Y'ers. Maybe like, a few, but most those people were over the age of 35. Those about to start WW3...again, most people in charge of politics and motions in the world today are over the age of 35, so that falls back into Gen X's lap as well.
Take a survey of Gen Y and see how we feel about going to war in Iran. Could've swore we (gen y)even started the whole "Israel loves Iran" on the twitter, and "Iran loves Israel". There are even a few threads about it here on ATS. We're already trying to clean up the mess that our fathers made. It's what we do. We just know how to do it without starting a fight, you see (Egyptian revolution)? We're a peaceful kinda generation, but our voice will be heard, trust that.
Besides I would rather not have to worry about the bomb while I'm trying to pwn a noob on CoD3 (I kid I kid, I would never play CoD ^.~).

reply to post by Jools


I hope it is "before"!

As a baby boomer I feel qualified to respond.
As a generality I agree - most of my friends were once politically active but have since fallen in to apathy and if they do vote it's for a major party - but it's a rarity they even vote at all.
Their cynicism is deserved though, we grew up with Kennedys and MLK being shot down, Vietnam, Watergate and Iran/Contra. They feel helpless and have since just worried about their own.
I understand but disagree and still try to convince people that we can change things for the better.
Of people my age I know quite a few that really are homophobic. racist and misogynistic.
I have no idea why but they're certainly not anyone I'd want for friends.

Are they any worse than any other generation?
Dunno about that but calling my generation a "burden" is reaching quite a bit.
Blaming people for aging is no better than being racist or homophobic.
Does that make you an "ageist" ?
Given today's attitudes of the superiority of youth I can envision this trend as being just as dangerous as any other blind hate against groups of people.
Think about it.

It's probably already been said but I will anyway.

Baby Boomers are the most likely to be racist,homophobic or predjudice. Baby Boomers have more apathy. Baby Boomers are the least open to change. Baby Boomers have ignored, and want to continue to ignore the politicians and bankers.

Dude, who do you think set the stage for your generation? Baby Boomer have been fighting for equal rights of Gays, minorities, women, etc for over 40 years. Also started looking after ecology.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I guess many of them would feel as though politics is futile. I guess many GenX/Y feel the same way. I guess with the future looking so bleak as far as the world economy goes I just find it odd that the baby boomers are not the loudest as far as protesting the government. I dont think it mattters if you blame poor people for being lazy or rich people for being greedy we all need to be saying what we think and making sure that we let Governments know that we know they are doing a crap job. I think Greece is what the entire West will look like before too long. I guess I wish more baby boomers were more active and involved as far as politics goes.

And yeah,I guess Im being ageist. I think that the strain that baby boomers put on the Health System in the future will add a new dimension to the Public Health debate. Many baby boomers do not have adequate health cover or savings. Many will rely on a public health system. There is no promised 'public option' in Obamacare. Obamacare is corporatism. Im worried about baby boomers to be honest. Many will lose their savings and will have retirement robbed from them. Inflation and Austerity loom. There doesnt sem to be any real solutions either. We are never going back to the happy times of the 90's. The world economy is a mess. The countries of the West are the worst off.

I guess Im a bit ageist but Im not the first and a sure wont be the last.

Originally posted by intrepid
It's probably already been said but I will anyway.

Baby Boomers are the most likely to be racist,homophobic or predjudice. Baby Boomers have more apathy. Baby Boomers are the least open to change. Baby Boomers have ignored, and want to continue to ignore the politicians and bankers.

Dude, who do you think set the stage for your generation? Baby Boomer have been fighting for equal rights of Gays, minorities, women, etc for over 40 years. Also started looking after ecology.

Well they started out ok Then they got greedy and forgot about all the important stuff. It almost seems like the West was bribed with all the riches in the world from the 80's through to the GFC. I guess we had nothing to protest because we had it so good. Its not like people were not exploited to actually gain those riches though. I think earlier generations were smarter in many ways than any of us. We are the first to buy a cheap Chinese product or Asian car to save some bucks. Earlier generations had more consumer control. I also think throughout history earlier generations took less crap than us and were more informed.

But you are right,the baby boomers did do some important things as far as protest goes. Thats why its so strange to me that most baby boomers seem reluctant to protest now.

Originally posted by Germanicus
But you are right,the baby boomers did do some important things as far as protest goes. Thats why its so strange to me that most baby boomers seem reluctant to protest now.

Age my friend. I'm one of the last of the BB's and I'll be 50 in a couple of weeks. The energy is not there any more. There are still things one can do though. I don't remember the last foreign car I owned for example.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by Germanicus
But you are right,the baby boomers did do some important things as far as protest goes. Thats why its so strange to me that most baby boomers seem reluctant to protest now.

Age my friend. I'm one of the last of the BB's and I'll be 50 in a couple of weeks. The energy is not there any more. There are still things one can do though. I don't remember the last foreign car I owned for example.

Yeah,I think stuff like that is important as far as the future goes. We will all have to support our local industries and push for legislation that protects and nurtures them.

And yeah,I know what you mean. Im no spring chicken myself

reply to post by Lasr1oftheJedi

Sorry when I said "we" I was referring to gen x as I am one. Unemployment is at levels near the great depression if you use the same method of calculating unemployment as they did back then. The main point I was trying to make is each generation has its own challenges blaming or belittling another does not solve present day issues. With the Internet, smartphones, advanced computing, and other modern tools of business this generation in charge (mine) shouldn't be having the problems that we do have. The previous generations did the best they could with the tools they had in the world they lived in.

reply to post by Germanicus


Lest you forget...one day, the current younger generations will be old, and be criticised by younger generations for all the problems in the world .....just a polite reminder......