The Lost Generation

I spent some time with a friend this weekend who I talk a lot to about evolution, the future, etc.; things you talk to friends about after you’ve had a few drinks or it’s really late at night. While talking about figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives, I started thinking about Generation Y and how it is getting labeled a second “Lost Generation.”

Generational trends have always interested me. There is not a set amount of time between each generational cohort, it is typically about 20 years but is mostly grouped based on common life events and experiences. It varies by country as well. In the states, we have 5 commonly known generational groups and the idea is that these generational trends repeat themselves over time. My generation, generation Y, follows generation X, and will give birth to another silent generation if this theory holds up.

What made me think of this is, I’ve struggled a lot with my beliefs in God and evolution and reason versus faith. I’ve spent the past few months talking with my peers about it and I started noticing trends in how the came to their current belief system. I’ve also noticed that a surprisingly large amount of my peers are at a loss as to what to do with their lives, career wise as well. I’ll come back to this in a minute.

So generational trends, in a very general explanation look like this: We start with the Seniors who were born 1926 or earlier. This is the generation that survived World War I and had a deep sense of the cost of freedom and the need for responsibility. This generation gave way to the Builders. The Builders survived the Great Depression and World War II. This generation looks a lot like the Seniors but are split by the original “Lost Generation” of the 20’s. The original Lost Generation was between wars and seemed to lack the sense of purpose that the Seniors exhibited. Jobs were at an all time low and the Lost Generation, realizing that bad things happen to good people, did not have the same understanding or need of spirituality as the generations sandwiching them.

…So I never finished this. Sorry. Maybe I’ll revisit it a little later.

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