From Baby Boomers to Generation X and Y

**kmguru** · 12-27-07, 06:24 PM

As the world gets more complex from human perspective due to technological evolution, is there a diiference between generations as to how each group copes with change and do the new generations have the capacity to manage that change as it is happening much faster (the rate of change).

With the information overload, are we making mistakes faster and larger and solving issues to manage change? Is there a trend as to where this and the upcoming generation is heading? Like Global War, Economic Disaster, Man on Mars, Cure for Cancer, Man made Black hole engulfing Planet Earth (ref: Paul Dixon)...etc...Would future generation be better off or worse than the past or the human society is running out of steam?

Any thoughts?

**kmguru** · 12-27-07, 06:30 PM

From Wharton:

Cristina Simón: Although there are differences from country to country, we can generally identify four generational groups that are currently active professionally:

Traditional workers (born before 1946): They value loyalty and discipline, and they respect authority and hierarchy. These workers played the key role in their companies when economic development was strong.

Baby Boomers (1946-1960): Their critical years for joining the work force – between the mid-1960s and the end of the 1970s – were a period when most European countries enjoyed significant progress. This led to great expectations of success. Currently, this group occupies positions of higher corporate responsibility, and has the largest proportion of workaholics in history. This is also the generation that gave birth to the “Yuppie” phenomenon.

Generation X (1961-1979): This generation has the best academic training and international experience in history. They have begun to make a break with traditional patterns of behavior, demanding a more informal environment and abandoning hierarchical authority in favor of a more horizontal and flexible structure. They have pioneered policies that involve flexibility and conciliation. This generation is rich in entrepreneurs because personal initiative predominates within a context of skepticism toward large enterprises.

Generation Y (starting from 1980): Generation Y is the first in history to have lived their entire lives with information technology. It is not easy for them to understand the world without it. Like members of Generation X, their childhood was comfortable and prosperous. They are more individualistic than earlier generations and demand autonomy in their opinions and behavior. They emphasize personal activities above social and labor considerations.

**cosmictraveler** · 12-27-07, 07:15 PM

...Would future generations be better off or worse than the past or the human society is running out of steam?

They stopped using steam long ago and now are radioactive!! That lasts forever you know. Just different times with different problems. Everyone had problems and will continue to have them until the end of humanity. It may seem like more but there's more humans living today than ever before and they live allot longer.

**kmguru** · 12-27-07, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by cosmictraveler

They stopped using steam long ago and now are radioactive!! That lasts forever you know. Just different times with different problems. Everyone had problems and will continue to have them until the end of humanity. It may seem like more but there's more humans living today than ever before and they live allot longer.

So, you are saying....the more things change, the more they stay the same?

BTW: They still use steam to generate electricity. Those electron generators are pretty neat...

**francois** · 12-27-07, 10:12 PM

This is an extremely interesting question, and I would agree with kmguru's sentiment: that change is happening too fast for there to be a smooth and stable transition to whatever the next paradigm may be. Technology and science are advancing at ever increasing rates. We've never before been where we are now in human history. We're constantly sailing unchartered waters, and worse, uncontrollably at ever increasing speeds. Can't really know what's going to happen, or how people will deal with it. What are the GNR revolutions going to bring us? I don't know, but the changes they will bring humanity will be vast and on a large scale, and likely it won't be a smooth and graceful transition.

**cosmictraveler** · 12-27-07, 10:15 PM

Just keep cool man , lay back, don't fret. Things happen and they are ment to be. Those who keep their head will come out just fine.

**kmguru** · 12-27-07, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by francois

This is an extremely interesting question, and I would agree with kmguru's sentiment: that change is happening too fast for there to be a smooth and stable transition to whatever the next paradigm may be. Technology and science are advancing at ever increasing rates. We've never before been where we are now in human history. We're constantly sailing unchartered waters, and worse, uncontrollably at ever increasing speeds. Can't really know what's going to happen, or how people will deal with it. What are the GNR revolutions going to bring us? I don't know, but the changes they will bring humanity will be vast and on a large scale, and likely it won't be a smooth and graceful transition.

Excellent post and understanding. I miss those days in sciforum of cerebral discussions that matters to life on this planet, as most of the members left to uncharted waters....a few are hanging around hiding somewhere...

Changes can be positive or we can fall off a cliff...there is no guarantee that life will continue in a comparatively linear rate. Higher the complexity, closer the Chaos as disturbances can amplify at the speed of the internet. Positive feedback can introduce instability.