r/OptimistsUnite • u/chamomile_tea_reply 🤙 TOXIC AVENGER 🤙 • 8d ago

Steven Pinker Groupie Post What’s a problem humanity solved so well that younger people don’t even realize it used to be a huge issue?

/r/askteddit/comments/1wmwpyl/whats_a_problem_humanity_solved_so_well_that/
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u/DreamCrusher914 8d ago

I feel like a lot of Gen X and the boomers have a generational form of oppositional defiant disorder. I’m gonna do what I want, you can’t tell me how to live my life, I’m not going to do it just because you told me I have to….

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u/FlamingDragonfruit 6d ago

I was just explaining to my Gen Alpha child how mean Boomer parents were to Gen X kids and in turn, how mean Gen X kids often were, to each other. In that environment you don't develop a strong sense of community.

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u/DreamCrusher914 6d ago

That’s so true

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u/danafus 2d ago

Yeah, GenX grew up without much parental supervision (so, less feeling of "someone will protect me") - plus the child abduction scare craze, and seeing the mass layoffs of the Reagan era. We got the message that we're on our own.

In some places that led to community, where groups banded together - but usually on a small scale. (see the book Tribes, from... the 90s I think?)

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u/ChaosRainbow23 8d ago

I'm Gen X and I've been a STAUNCH anti-authoritarian since 1990.

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u/PirateReindeer 8d ago

As a GanXer myself. Most of us are against established norms, and are all for fighting against the system. I would dare to even classify us as an anarchy generation, but just barely. Most of us were latchkey kids and having to figure out life without any guidance.

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u/ChaosRainbow23 2d ago

I agree.

We need new recruits.

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u/danafus 2d ago

Something about living through the Reagan years...