Sadly, most people aren’t readers. I saw an article the other day stating the percentage of people who read for pleasure has declined into the low teens
The true story of Chernobyl isn’t going to land with folk today. We’ve lost the attention span for anything longer than a slick miniseries with A list actors. Even then, most people I know haven’t seen the show, which is amazing.
Books are taking a backseat to Movies. Movies are taking a backseat to Mini series. Mini series are taking a backseat to Video Games. Video Games are taking a back seat to Youtube.
There are only 24 hours in a day and no one gets more. This results in shifting preferences for consumption patterns over time.
I hear boomers spend all their time in movie theaters instead of sitting down and reading a good book. Don't they know movies are evil and are going to rot their brains?
I hear Gen X loves to watch TV. What a bunch of 'slackers'. What's with these shows like Sienfeld? Its a show about nothing! Why would anyone watch that?
I hear millennials are spending all their time playing video games instead of watching quality TV. What is it with this PlayStation nonsense? Its a TOY!
I hear Gen-Z loves to just sit around and watch people play games instead of playing them. Have their brains completely rotted?
I hear Gen Alpha does not even bother with people playing and just watches the output of game engines as the old kids would say 'I don't even': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WePNs-G7puA
Long story short: Cultural preferences change over time. My view is Let them cook :)
Sure. And historically, major such changes also often came with meaningful societal consequences. Shifts in power, wealth concentration, equality, capability, liberty, resilience, stability, cohesion, ingenuity, all sorts of thing.
You can hold whatever view you'd like, but assuming a cultural change is inherently for the best just because its a big or widespread one might leave you a little blindsided someday.
Well I am not saying that it is automatically good, I said Let them cook ie. Lets see how things turn out, the journey will certainly be interesting.
I will concede that I default to the positive view that generations will find a way to figure things out for themselves.
For example Gen-Z seems to be growing up with a lot of anxiety caused by screen time + a mean towards more demanding expectations growing up.
This is leading towards a greater acceptance towards 'disconnecting' from all tech as they age and a greater acceptance for treating hallicugunans as a form of medicine that makes sense for some people and not as a thing to fear. And these people are only in their 20s. Who knows what they will eventually turn out as.
Although it's sort of ironic that the living generation most famous for radically questioning the demanding society they were growing up into and opening their minds to escape and growth through hallucingens is the same one that's since been assigned a pejorative name by those same kids and cast by them as the great villian of our age.
So maybe something like that, if history repeats as much as it seems to.
The true story of Chernobyl isn’t going to land with folk today. We’ve lost the attention span for anything longer than a slick miniseries with A list actors. Even then, most people I know haven’t seen the show, which is amazing.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12496190/