Are 20 somethings and younger shallow?

As father to some that fit your age group, I would say, on balance, no.

The writing is better than ever, especially the short timed pieces they practice in high school over and over. Think at least as deep as my generation.

Since when were most under 20's overly concerned about the world around them anyway?

With the way the "news" is run in this country, I would say that not watching it is the better idea.

Our news outlets, no matter which one, are either far-left or far-right. But the most disturbing thing is that the "news" they report is based 99% on what drives ratings.

Papers are even worse.

No need to listen to megalomaniac pundits "analyze" the story of the day.

I think you are wrong, though I will say the technical conveniences available will wind up being a bad thing for most younger generations. This is coming from a guy who works in a tech industry.

Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Grouper, LiveLink, etc... They all play a part in glorifying and normalizing sex, violence and materialism.

From what most of us see, it may appear that they're more shallow, but I hope that is not truly the case. I am an old geezer, over 50, and I remembering how upset I was that the mass media, by design or accident, totally misunderstood and misrepresented my generation, and 20somethings must feel the same way today. There's no doubt the "icons" foisted on us by the media are horrendously shallow, but I for one was never asked if I wanted to read and hear about these miscreants.

I think that people are becoming cynical/jaded at much ealier ages due to the ridiculous media (both in what it shows and how biased it is) and you are reading the response to that as a lack of "depth."

Many comments seem to blame the media. While the media, can guide, it also to a great extent reflects cultural interests. The media puts out many types of shows. Those shows which are not watched are dropped and those that are popular are replicated. My point is that the media puts out the product that our culture desires to see.

I do think the quantity of information flooding our youth creates a need for a different type of thinking. You need to scan and process much quickly but deeper reasoning skills might in some respects be a disadvantage. Its kind of MTV thinking.

There has been a greater emphasis on writing in the school DBQ activities but society is emphasizing other skills.

A. Kaufman wrote:

You need to scan and process much quickly but deeper reasoning skills might in some respects be a disadvantage. Its kind of MTV thinking.

Your thesis is cute if nothing else, but I don't think that you have to worry about the above. In some sense, yes, you get the sense that the people care less about others, but I think that's only because of the multi-faceted nature of our society now. If one were to look at the average college, many, many students are volunteering their time and effort to fight for/against issues that hold a specific interest to them. Unfortunately, it they appear less unified because there are so man options for an aspiring young humanitarian. So I guess that I would describe the current generation, not as people who don't care, but as people who can't decide what one thing to care about.

Also, I think that the protest culture has been somewhat assimilated into our society, so big demonstrations hardly make waves in the way that they used to.

UGH!!!###$$$ wrote:

Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Grouper, LiveLink, etc... They all play a part in glorifying and normalizing sex, violence and materialism.

Uh....sex IS normal. The fact that we've created such a taboo about it is why people end up being so secretive about it, and why young kids are so desperate to find out about it (and subsequently try it out).

ah crapped mah pants wrote:

Uh....sex IS normal. The fact that we've created such a taboo about it is why people end up being so secretive about it, and why young kids are so desperate to find out about it (and subsequently try it out).

any chance of you mentioning your age :o)

As somebody who falls into the aforementioned age group (21 years old) but who also feels as if he has very little in common with others of his generation, I would be tempted to say yes. Sure, not all of us are idiots but many of us are. I don't know if it's any more then previous generations but I get the feeling talking to many of my peers that there is not much going on upstairs. My views may be influnced by my close proximity to Long Island, which can tend to be a bit of a cultural wasteland and tends to breed a feeling as if the whole world exists on their island and anything outside of the island and NYC is inherently inferior.

You said it. Young people were always out of it and had other interests besides what's going on in the world, etc. But, now-a-days there is so much more to make you look stupid. When I was young we did stupid things, but there was no internet to let the world know just how stupid we were. We probably would have been just as preoccupied with modern technology as today's youth, but we didn't have it.

We did not have hundreds of tv channels at our disposal. We couldn't listen to "music" through cheesy headphones as we walked went through our lives.

Everyone watched Sixty Minutes because there was nothing else on- so we talked about it. We had a shared experience in the major events. Now, there is so much to see, listen to, so that very few experience the same thing.

I am not knocking young people at all. I see them more as victims of modern technology.

We can't filter it for what is could. For example, despite all the losers who post here, I think it's a positive aspect of modern media because it can bring many people together in an experience- like this one.

I think it's more a matter of biological development in the brain rather than characterizing a 'generation'.

As a mid-20-something grad student who grades the papers of 18-21 y.o. students, I believe they write very well, esp. when challenged and encouraged to do a good job. They haven't quite developed their frontal lobe and the ability to rationalize/reason/think deeply, but otherwise they write creatively and decent.

I've noticed that my older classmates (30+ y.o.) 'think' differently. While I can easily process technical information, my older classmates struggle with this. On the other hand, they often 'see the big picture' and can explain 'what this all means', while I'm still trying to develop this skill. Put our brains together and it's amazing what we learn from each other!

Again, you shouldn't be quick to judge the younger people, as they simply can't 'think' like you quite yet. Rather than shun them, maybe you can learn from them.:)

Interesting topic!

I don't know that Baby Boomers care more about the news than younger generations. I think they cared when it was hip to care (Vietnam era), but they seem to be far more divisive politically (i.e. less informed, more blindly partisan) than whatever this generation is called. Perhaps it is because younger people are more jaded about politics having never really experienced political idealism that actually WORKED (JFK, MLK Jr)... they've had a movie star president, a b****** president, and two out-of-touch Texans.

If you mean by "superficial", you mean less likely to get married young or have serious long-term relationships, however, I think that is DEFINITELY true.

The biggest generational difference I notice is that the "Greatest Generation", for all their talk about the way things used to be, are more often rude and impatient.

1. news sources are at best opinions, and at worst propoganda.

2. the older you get the more shallow you become.

older folk concentrate on their jobs, and their mortgage. they pretend to care by letting the news tell them how to think about certain issues.

remember they are the ones who have the wealth and the power to change things, yet they never do anything about the world. why? because it might hurt their career.

Interesting post and yes there are developmental and biological differences but do not diminish the role that environment and enrichment plays in guiding neurological development. The learning environment that 20 somethings were raised in is quite different than that of 40 or 50 somethings.

The effect that can have on cognitive functioning I believe is quite profound and underappreciated. It makes a difference and has resulted in generations that think and process somewhat differently.

bingo.

Many are, a surprising number are very objective and informative

I'm sure it probably seems that way from where you are on the generational divide but from where I am (40) I don't think older people pretend any more than younger people. They are however quite a bit more beaten down with "crisis" fatigue. Everything is a "crisis", everything needs fixing now. At least that's the message you get from much of the media. Decades of exposure to this type of sensationalist media simply wears you down.

But unfortunately the reality is, no one person can possibly worry about ALL the bad crap that's out there and still live their lives. It's simply too exhausting.

We'll see how proactive you are when you hit 45 or so. The real world is a quite bit more sobering that you know yet.

Quickly provided reasons for not taking an interest or becoming informed include things like, "All politics are corrupt" "All media is biased" "It doesn't make any difference". I think these are all just rationalizations.

I much prefer the more honest comment, "Who cares".

I see a lot of young people who accept the conclusions of others as fact, yet they never examined how the others came to that conclusion. We were taught in school to approach things with a healthy dose of skepticism, and to research an issue and come to our own conclusion. Perhaps this isn't the way kids are taught anymore?

...yes.