It is no exaggeration that at the beginning of the 21st century the world accelerated to such an extent that we can no longer keep up with it. The generational division that once existed has also lost its meaning, where are generations X, Y, Z? There aren't enough letters in the ABC to represent them. Clinical psychologist Melinda Hal spoke about this and the consequences at the Civil Academy.
It's not a new thing, it's just a fact that everything we say is modern comes to Europe from America. It is perhaps a bit more resistant in Hungary, because the cultural differences are very big, but it still reaches us. But what comes from America is economy-oriented, capital-oriented and marketing-oriented.
These trends are reflected in so-called generational characteristics.
The other, which is more of a professional aspect, is that it is very difficult to talk about generations these days. While before we could say that there was this and that generation, there were 10, 15, 20 years between them. And now we see that the world has sped up, and generational differences are disappearing according to certain aspects, and according to certain aspects, they are just getting sharper.
Now we have to give a new name to a generation every 2, 3, 4, 5 years, the world changes so much in a few years.
If we were to ask young people now how much the world has changed in a few years, they might say that the world is changing week by week or minute by minute, because they feel it themselves. And this must mean a very difficult adaptation process, just think of the rapidly changing technological environment.
I see no hope that we can hold back this kind of technological progress, and I'm not sure it's worth trying.
There are also many good sides to this, so the process does not need to be stopped, but regulated and controlled. It is hardly possible to turn things back around, we cannot leave it as soon as we entered the world of the Internet. the Alpha generation (those born after 2010 were designated as such - ed.), virtual reality is already natural, they don't even leave the room, they look at everything this way, this is how they find their way around - which of course also means a sedentary lifestyle. It is very difficult to get out of it today. I am not optimistic, because the solution could be to offer an alternative, except that it is terribly difficult. Moreover, because
the nervous system structure of young people has also changed.
It is no longer a question of what the young person wants, but of what his nervous system allows, what his very ingrained schema allows. And this is very important, because if we take this into account, there may be a chance for transformation. It doesn't matter how we think about young people. Now I'm going to say some stereotypical statements: lazy, unmotivated, disrespectful. We hear this very often, especially when, say, several generations separate older and younger people. But if we think of them as having a different brain, a different nervous system, receptive to other things, then maybe we can show them what they are capable of accepting. This can be called an alternative offering.
I work a lot with young people and I see that they are confused and uncertain. This uncertainty is what we could grasp.
Digitization is not a tangible thing, but it is worth regulating and should be regulated somehow. Today, for example, we think of streaming providers, and they represent one of the biggest problems in the lives of young people. (The essence of streaming is that, for example, you can start watching a movie immediately, you don't have to wait for the whole thing to download - ed.)
The majority of the offerings of the largest such streaming providers come from American "hands", but what's worse is that their programs are completely alien to the culture. More than 50 percent of our young people do not understand the content, yet they are glued to the screen because they see content that is a rewarding stimulus for them.
The hormone responsible for reward, such as dopamine, specifically appears as the main addictive factor in their nervous system. It is very difficult for us to think about this issue, but maybe there will be a solution for streaming providers. I know that this is a huge and heroic work, but regulation according to such aspects, this would be a very important issue.
civilek.info
In connection with the situation, the question of education often comes up. We talk about it a lot and it is a huge burden on parents, and this must also be declared. Parents can't be good enough, they themselves are insecure, and they often don't even understand this constantly changing world.
I have a 3-year-old child and I know how many stimuli we are exposed to, which makes me feel that I am definitely not doing well. There are far fewer stimuli that would confirm that I do have good thoughts.
And yes, I may know what we need as a family. So I personally understand the many, many insecure parents who look for parenting tips in all kinds of ways, either by reading books or browsing the Internet, instead of sitting down with the child and discussing or asking how they are feeling right now. We think we know better what the other person feels, and as parents we are especially like that. However, we may feel completely different in certain situations.
It can be very difficult with a teenage child, but I would add that it is not always easy with a 3-year-old either, so it is very difficult to experience these periods and usually parents think that we know better what the other person feels. The same is the case with the interactions between adults. I see a key question in this. Adults often forget to ask each other, how do you feel in this situation? Because we may not feel the same, we may not experience the same thing and we may go astray when looking for solutions. Especially in the case of young people, whose world is changing every day and they themselves are scratching their heads.
Today, research also shows that the biggest problem for a young person of the alpha generation is insecurity. He's afraid of the future, he's afraid of having to constantly change his path, so he has to step out of his comfort zone, he has to somehow get on the new path immediately, and that can be very tiring from a nervous system, but otherwise.
This level of digitization projects this jumping, leaping, attention problem, and emotional problems, so these programs clearly affect the nervous system in terms of content, editing, editing, and their visual world. The goal of the game is to lower the attention span, to think about emotions as little as possible, and to get ready-made content as much as possible, because instant is the simple solution. It's just that it doesn't solve many of life's problems.
Featured image: Hal Melinda / Facebook
