Study finds widening generation gap in US

So-called mainstream religions have been responsible for most of the bloodshed on the planet throughout history.

Perhaps the younger generation see them more clearly for what they really are, immoral and deceitful institutions who do not represent God at all. That would be a positive 'sign of the times'.

kids today are pampered and catered to way too much...i think it should be mandatory for them to serve at least 2 years in the Military like other countries...i volunteered for 6 and it gave me a sense of direction....kids morals and way of thinking is too greedy....their like future wall street wannabe"s.

To jadewuzlyke. Yes, before the military experience, I and those I knew tended to be fairly well mannered. After the military, I was less well manner. I was always questioning. Spent the next 40 years raising eight kids, none biological, but mine none the less. Also worked with psych impaired kids. Always thought those children needed less meds and psycho babel and more social skills. Frequently suggested to my fellow professionals that Amy Vanderbuilt's "Everyday Etiquette" would be more effective. Tried it in a few treatment settings with good result. Life can be tough. Best rise to the challenge.

I do not suffer fools in my advanced years. I am probably less polite than I used to be.

Capt B

I'm 17, let me give you my two cents...

I think that the hand-holding, over-protective parenting styles of the Baby boomer/gen X parents (having grown up with sex & drugs as openly regarded in society for the first time since the twenties) has led to my generation's most ultimate rebellion- consumerism and idiocy.

having been an HS teacher for 20 years I can say through observation that the youth of today are slightly, mind you only slightly, more tolerant of alternate lifestyles and less bigeted. But they tend to be less considerate on the social plane, mostly because the parent generation has not taught them to be civil. I think they are smarter and more capable, but they also tend to be lazy and expect more often than their grandparents to be waited upon. Their video game thumbs and their intellectual reaction time is incredible and most of them couldn't walk a full mile if you carried them over half of it.

But what hope do we have for change if it is similar to the 60s? I think people's views tend to become more conservative as they grow older. Hopefully, our generation will set the precedent for this change.

I'm glad. It means that young Americans like me (23 yrs old) may make decisions on their own. Its an era of change for everyone whether you like it or not. Just hold on one minute because I'm about to do the unknown...be honest! For young
1.Caucasians, they can decide to base their opinions on people not color like their parents,

2.African Americans, they can go to college, a university, med school, law school etc. unlike their parents

3. Asian Americans may keep educating Americans on their diversity and skills

4. Latino/Hispanics may go to school and find an even better job and educate Americans on their diversity

All of us should welcome this era of change!

We could go on for days about the differences between all of us. However, I believe that young, middle-aged or elderly have at least one thing in common: we're just trying to make a difference. We all want to matter. Can't we just try to understand each other?

I don't get it...so many claiming the latest generation to so great...however, various University entrance exams, psych studies, etc. show

a) shortened attention spans
b) reduced skepticism
c) enhanced response to media
d) lower entrance scores
e) reduced critical thinking and evaluation skills

Look, I'm not saying great things won't happen. What I am saying is that every generation has inadequacies. The generations that do best are those that recognize their inadequacies and overcome them.

btw, yes this is slightly off topic....It is meant more as a reply to some other responders.

Truthfully, I hate our past generations.

"The future ain't what it used to be" I have younger fiance who has younger adult children. Must say, entitlement is an issue. So are manners. Now, I believe my fiance did provide a loving, emotionally supportive, value based upbringing. Maybe a little lite on delegation of responsibility. So, family move under duress from former husband and everyone (except) the 26 year old who has been out on his own since 18 (me too) freaks out. I pack it up and three U-hauls from California to Washington later, my fiance and myself are settled.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." H.S. Thompson. The offspring elected to stay in California. Still whining and moaning. Now I do have a memory and I remember the Nam at 18 and I remember marrying my first wife when I was 20. She had 3 children when I married her. We adopted 5 more. And I remember working my way through college and graduate school. I do not recall the whining part.

Now I am not suggesting one has to go to war or raise a lot of children to get a little hard bark on oneself, but, I do believe I was driven to lead a purpose driven life. That without that, one has very little, accept a lot of time to bitch and moan. Then again, I ain't the 18 year old I used to be. What remains the same for most of crowd is the fear felt in America. Very pervasive. Ah, the "power of nightmares!"

From my abode in Washington, watching the decline and fall of the American empire, I bid you, "good manners, good missiles, good night," (from Kurt r.i.p.)

Capt. Bruce

I think our generation is going to resemble the baby boomers very closely when we get older.

The only major difference I see is that the younger generations are more tolerant of people with alternative lifestyles.

Haha, this story could have been written at any time in history. Older generations love nothing more than complaining about younger generations, and vice-versa. Also, to you teenagers out there, stay off my lawn!

The future will be shaped by our action or inaction.

You really think that the people who were active in the sixties are not understanding the present generation. The main difference in my mind is that this generation hasn't gotten up and done anything. Voting for Obama isn't the only action to take-get those senators out of there and stop being what you really are-programmed consumers-electronic junkies-and instant gratification idiots.

How many 18- to 29- is running The World?

First of All, Young People, Thank your Elders for bringing you into the 21st Century.........We made you, and without our help, you wouldn' be shit !!!

the future is ours.

excellent.

I don't hate old people or aging.

I hate old ideas that refuse to age and die.

As an older person I am constantly amazed with today's technology. Every generation takes their technology for granted because they were born into it. If you can't remember not having a computer you tend not to appreciate the fact that there is such a thing. My dad traveled through Oklahoma in a covered wagon. Then one day someone walked on the Moon and that impressed him more than walking on Mars would mean to the present generation.

True royulery, And if parents got a clue they've done that themselves. then comes re-integration of which family teaches from child hood. and the around goes the merri-go-round. truth is, what need to be taught by the elderly is experiential, not only material.

this is news? this is part of the individualization process, the young must overcome parental programing and established authority to become independant (self actualized, mature)

I hope my children learn from my mistakes but I tell you this you will make your fair share of mistakes also.

What does this mean? It means that people in general are complete idiots. Is that YOU?

education is abysmally structured. In order for Moore's law to be fully taken advantage of, a new breed of academia must be unleashed. As fields become more specialized and the need for expertise is increased the need for an education system that is dynamic and structured around the incrementally increasing technology is needed.

Forward thinking must be acknowledged, and a system of education that teaches students to understand exponential technologies and to apply them to society will undoubtedly release a cultural impact so substantial that modern life will differ exponentially increasing as time progresses.

I wish out generation could rise up like the people of the 60's did. Everyone thinking with one mind one soul, that's unimaginable today. Not just your friends thinking like you BUT kids all around the country. Oh well we rather wear our Ray-Bans and bright colors woohoo?

Yes, so very interesting, upon the genration gap between humans...

This could mean that religion itself could slowly be dying at the palms of newer generation, because they do not listen as much as the older generation did, and older generation will eventually die off, and leaving the newer generation to better overcome this force of religion....

here is far more interesting question to ponder on..

"are we getting smarter or dumber because of technology"....

((you actually have something intelligent to say..let me know and lets talk about"..also read the "decline of why"

*twilight zone background***

As a college student living with my widowed grandmother (to make my commute to school easier), I live this every day. I'm not into politics as much as I should be, but I often find that there is a huge difference in opinions between my grandmother and I when it comes to global warming, health issues, et cetera.

Sometimes it's really frustrating because she is very stuck in her ways so it makes civil conversation impossible, but I would be stubborn and full of fear, too, if the present-day world was completely different than the one I grew up in.

That is a very clever pic, and Eleganza you nailed it!

Uni you find diamonds..this is excellent...the gap is growing because the old are often wrong but never in doubt...They can't grasp the computer so they avoid it, can't see to text, so texting annoys them...it just goes on and on.

We in the ''older'' generation simply adhere to the adage, that ''if it isn't broke don't fix it'', and what the young quite commonly overlook is that we also were young and thought much the same at their age as they do now...because the technology has advanced does not mean that we can't or won't embrace it, but that we often find it not a necessary ''priority in our lives, thereby ignoring it... there will come the time when they too will ''get'' where we elders are, and then they'll be contending with the next generation of ''smart asses''.

Great choice of pic to match this article Unimatrix !

....no good whippersnappers with their iPongs, video playing games, and internets.

It means that young people require more representation now than ever. Currently, there are 60 Senators born before 1950. Never in history has a Senate been so old and out of touch with its constituents. These old-timers will never give up their seats; they've sold their soul a long time ago. They leave a flip-flopping, back-stabbing paper trail decades long. First of all, check out their healthcare plans. When's the last time a Senator got turned down for an MRI? We can't let those responsible for the mistakes of the past, decide our future. The won't retire; they must be voted out in 2010 and 2012.

I'd like to call this progress.

I'm excited! I despise the views of my grandparent's generation.

that or theres just a lot more assholes these days. i tend to think theres just more assholes.

Not demonizing the elderly, demonizing AGING. If we are afraid to age, we will take our fear on the elderly because we would like to believe that aging will not happen to us. We take out this fear and use it against the elderly. Why else do you think there is such an increase in elderly abuse?

check out "The Flight from the Rejected Body" by S. Wendell. It discusses, among other things, the myth of control, and how it relates to people with disabilities, the overweight, and the elderly.

Very interesting data,.....but who can say what it amounts to, how it compares in a societal/historical context to the legacy of human experience overall. Really makes you want to send sociologists to Rome,.....100A.D. or so.
------now about those faster than light radio waves.....

It's not surprising at all. As media and society increasingly demonize aging, the elderly will feel more and more alienated, and younger generations will not stop that alienation.