I've often wondered this. I wonder how kids, who were born 2000 and beyond, will think of our past century (the 20th), the one that a good portion of us were born in and remember fairly well?

Jason (b. 2005) to me (b. 1979):

"You mean there was a time when there were no Xbox consoles?"  :o :o

:D

I've often wondered this. I wonder how kids, who were born 2000 and beyond, will think of our past century (the 20th), the one that a good portion of us were born in and remember fairly well?




Probably the same way we looked at our grandparents.  They remembered when an airplane was a time to stop work and look up at the sky thinking it might be the only time in there lives they would get to see one, forget all that absolutely insane talk of a man walking on the moon.

Probably the same way we looked at our grandparents.  They remembered when an airplane was a time to stop work and look up at the sky thinking it might be the only time in there lives they would get to see one, forget all that absolutely insane talk of a man walking on the moon.


Yeah, every generation has those same burning questions... I guess I just find it interesting I am born a century earlier than the kids now being born in the 2000's. They may just never know how freaked out we were about Y2K  ;D

"This place is not a place of honor.
No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here.
Nothing valued is here.
This place is a message and part of a system of messages.
Pay attention to it!
Sending this message was important to us.
We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture."

They'll wonder, when they dig deep enough, what some of the symbols mean, and why the people who dig deep enough keep dying.

They'll figure it out around 50-100 years later.

Sometime, I wouldn't be surprised if a kid asked me what life was like before DVD's.

Jason (b. 2005) to me (b. 1979):

"You mean there was a time when there were no Xbox consoles?"  :o :o

:D


;D

I think stuff like that will be just from the dumber/less informed ones. If anything, I think the presence of the Internet and so much other tech makes kids smarter on things like this (although this depends on the individual more than anything - whether they decide to research it or want to, etc).

Even as a kid, I knew the basics about previous eras, despite being off on certain details.

The '60s and '70s were familar enough territory for me (I did listen to classic rock and liked The Pink Panther movies) and I had a passing knowledge on the first half of the 20th Century. The Gold Rush/Wild West periods I was able to grasp too (even if the '50s and before seemed ancient to me around the early-mid '90s when I started knowing more about the past).


I think the "late 20th century" (around the late '60s and up, although mostly the 1980s and '90s) will be sorta in their understanding, even if they'd think living without the Internet was like caveman times (then again, I sometimes felt that way about the pre-TV era when there was no rock and roll). :D

They'll probably see most '70s, '80s and early '90s born people as "older and parental, but still somewhat cool".

;D

I think stuff like that will be just from the dumber/less informed ones. If anything, I think the presence of the Internet and so much other tech makes kids smarter on things like this (although this depends on the individual more than anything - whether they decide to research it or want to, etc).

Even as a kid, I knew the basics about previous eras, despite being off on certain details.

The '60s and '70s were familar enough territory for me (I did listen to classic rock and liked The Pink Panther movies) and I had a passing knowledge on the first half of the 20th Century. The Gold Rush/Wild West periods I was able to grasp too (even if the '50s and before seemed ancient to me around the early-mid '90s when I started knowing more about the past).


I think the "late 20th century" (around the late '60s and up, although mostly the 1980s and '90s) will be sorta in their understanding, even if they'd think living without the Internet was like caveman times (then again, I sometimes felt that way about the pre-TV era when there was no rock and roll). :D

They'll probably see most '70s, '80s and early '90s born people as "older and parental, but still somewhat cool".



Yeah, I think the latter part of the 20th century wont be too far out of reach to someone born in the 2000's. I think it'll be more like people born in the 2020's and on that'll see anything before 2000 as totally ancient. Even though I do believe that those born 2000 or later will defidently see the 20th century as old.

As we've discussed ad nauseum here, it's a part of life.  Everyone gets older and finds out that generation gaps can go two ways, cause when you're a child and teenager it's primarily a one way deal.  i.e. you're young and everyone else is older and talking about stuff from kinda before you.  I think the shock of getting older is that you're surprised it wasn't going to stay that way, and that you get pushed onto other side with each passing year.

As we've discussed ad nauseum here, it's a part of life.  Everyone gets older and finds out that generation gaps can go two ways, cause when you're a child and teenager it's primarily a one way deal.  i.e. you're young and everyone else is older and talking about stuff from kinda before you.  I think the shock of getting older is that you're surprised it wasn't going to stay that way, and that you get pushed onto other side with each passing year.


Of course there are generation gaps when you're younger, but anyone more than 2 or 3 years younger are basically little kids up until you're 16, so it doesn't matter until you're older.

I always thought outside the box, but this is one thing I was wrong about. I figured aging was gradual. Growing up, I pictured people in their 20s and up to about 35 as acting like rock stars or the cast of Wayne's World. This is based also on babysitters, younger school staff and other real people in that age range I knew.

So yeah, it shocked the hell out of me a few years ago suddenly being perceived as "older" when it seemed like two seconds ago I was this Beavis and Butthead-esque punk in everyone's eyes (well not me personally, but those at my age).

I know you've said this happened to you when you were 24 or so. Although it was slightly different for me, I totally get what you mean. I'm not as shocked by being older now. I'm honestly a pretty laid back, cool guy, so it's not like I suddenly turned into the stuffy preacher John Lithgow played in Footloose just because I'm now 25. But I also do realize it'll never be quite the same as before either.

As we've discussed ad nauseum here, it's a part of life.  Everyone gets older and finds out that generation gaps can go two ways, cause when you're a child and teenager it's primarily a one way deal.  i.e. you're young and everyone else is older and talking about stuff from kinda before you.  I think the shock of getting older is that you're surprised it wasn't going to stay that way, and that you get pushed onto other side with each passing year.


I was posing a different way of looking at it... yes, it's only a number when looking at the 20th and 21st centurys, but I guess what I'm pointing out is that the world will look or seem different to this batch because this is not one decade we're discussing, but the passing of a whole century - which is rare in one's lifetime to witness.

I was posing a different way of looking at it... yes, it's only a number when looking at the 20th and 21st centurys, but I guess what I'm pointing out is that the world will look or seem different to this batch because this is not one decade we're discussing, but the passing of a whole century - which is rare in one's lifetime to witness.


Yeah, sorry I forgot to answer your question. I think they will have an exaggerated view of us and who we were/are.  I thought about this a lot back in 1999 and 2000.  They will say we come from another century, and for them it will actually be right!  We may have thought that about our parents, but for those kids/people it will totally be right.  We do come from another century. 

I think kids of the 21st century will blend in the mid and late 20th century decades, and think that someone who grew up in the 80s or someone who grew up in the 90s, must have still known the 60s or 70s really well too.  Or even 50s. 

No seriously, I think they will think this, I already see it mildly happening with some young kids.  Around 2030 (probably much earlier) or so they'll watch an I Love Lucy rerun or something from the 60s and think, "oh yeah, guys were around for this back then right?".  Then we have to correct them and say, no we were about later in the 20th century.  "Yeah but this is how it was for you right?  It was only 15 or 20 years before you, so a lot of things had to be the same right?"---I think they will keep on with it like this.

Real 21st century people are likely going to tack on the '00s with the late 20th century in their minds, despite the protests of of people born in 1992 or something.

Marty, you are at a better state then I was at 25.  I didn't get to your peace and contentness with the loss of those years until about age 28.  Today it is part of life that hardly phases me.  But I remember being really upset when I was 24 and 25, about "going into old".

Oh come on, nobody else wanted to respond?   

Did my opinion what 21st century born people will think of us hit too close to an uncomfortable reality?  Or did you think I was way off base?

Oh come on, nobody else wanted to respond?   

Did my opinion what 21st century born people will think of us hit too close to an uncomfortable reality?  Or did you think I was way off base?


I'm a bit confused about it, but nevertheless, I think you're a bit right about them shoving together certain decades and maybe thinking that things were just as similiar for '50s born kids as they were for '80s born kids. Yet, as they'll grow and mature, they'll realise every decade has it's differences and you can't mish mash them together.

See, sometimes people look at that big chunk of the Victorian era as a time where nothing seemed to change as far as fashion, technology and world politics, but the thing is - a lot was happening and a lot was changing, but we just look at it as one long blur. 

We're all moving so much faster through.

My father was born in the early 50's but I just sorted him out with his internet connection and he's having a great time and picking it up so fast. He does half the stuff I do already.

100 years ago this wouldn't have happened.

I think in the future we'll progress even faster. Yeah sure.. somebody my age in 2040 will be better equipped for the technology than my 60 some year old self.. but I think because I'll have been around high-tech machinery when I was younger I'll be better adapted to use the new technology of the time.

That make sense to anybody?

I'm a bit confused about it, but nevertheless, I think you're a bit right about them shoving together certain decades and maybe thinking that things were just as similiar for '50s born kids as they were for '80s born kids. Yet, as they'll grow and mature, they'll realise every decade has it's differences and you can't mish mash them together.

See, sometimes people look at that big chunk of the Victorian era as a time where nothing seemed to change as far as fashion, technology and world politics, but the thing is - a lot was happening and a lot was changing, but we just look at it as one long blur. 


Yeah, I admit I used to blend alot of things between the two World Wars together. Like 1910 to 1945 was basically one big decade to me. Now, I was smart enough to know key events like the Depression or the Chicago gangsters in the 1920s, but the basic culture and way of life seemed the same. I guess this could happen in the future, but I do think the presence of so much tech makes the world seem smaller/less of a mystery. I could however seem them listening to an "oldies" station where they played an early Rolling Stones song followed by Huey Lewis and not differentiating too much.


We're all moving so much faster through.

My father was born in the early 50's but I just sorted him out with his internet connection and he's having a great time and picking it up so fast. He does half the stuff I do already.

100 years ago this wouldn't have happened.

I think in the future we'll progress even faster. Yeah sure.. somebody my age in 2040 will be better equipped for the technology than my 60 some year old self.. but I think because I'll have been around high-tech machinery when I was younger I'll be better adapted to use the new technology of the time.

That make sense to anybody?


Older people adapt to changes easier now, I agree. I've heard about middle aged people in the early 20th century feeling weird about cars and electricity and not really taking to it very well. Whereas, even if some stuff becomes alien for us, our lives at least always had some tech in it, so it'll at least be accessible to us.

Imagine how a 45-year old in 1920 must've thought about how futuristic and sci-fi the world looked compared to their youth! :D


Yeah, sorry I forgot to answer your question. I think they will have an exaggerated view of us and who we were/are.  I thought about this a lot back in 1999 and 2000.  They will say we come from another century, and for them it will actually be right!  We may have thought that about our parents, but for those kids/people it will totally be right.  We do come from another century. 

I think kids of the 21st century will blend in the mid and late 20th century decades, and think that someone who grew up in the 80s or someone who grew up in the 90s, must have still known the 60s or 70s really well too.  Or even 50s. 

No seriously, I think they will think this, I already see it mildly happening with some young kids.  Around 2030 (probably much earlier) or so they'll watch an I Love Lucy rerun or something from the 60s and think, "oh yeah, guys were around for this back then right?".  Then we have to correct them and say, no we were about later in the 20th century.  "Yeah but this is how it was for you right?  It was only 15 or 20 years before you, so a lot of things had to be the same right?"---I think they will keep on with it like this.

Real 21st century people are likely going to tack on the '00s with the late 20th century in their minds, despite the protests of of people born in 1992 or something.

Marty, you are at a better state then I was at 25.  I didn't get to your peace and contentness with the loss of those years until about age 28.  Today it is part of life that hardly phases me.  But I remember being really upset when I was 24 and 25, about "going into old".


Yeah, this sounds accurate. While I'm sure the 1960s seemed way more old in the 1990s than the '90s will seem in the 2020s, there's bound to be some misconceptions. Like, a kid might see a movie from the '80s where someone is driving a 1975 car or their house has '60s furniture, it might throw them off into thinking that stuff was still "cool" then, or it was closer to previous generations than it really was.

Although I'm sure if someone was quick to remind them, "Hey, the family car is a 2008 Ford, you still listen to music from the early '10s and we got this couch 6 years ago. It's not exclusively 2021 stuff just because this is 2021", they'd probably understand. ;)


Yeah, I went through that "shock of being older" as you did more when I was 18-22, and I even felt it approaching at 16 and 17 (being on the older side of the crowd at school and knowing I was about to be a legal adult). When I graduated, that really cemented it for me. Sometimes I do still feel it, but it's not the shock it was five years ago.

Was it ever like this for you? It did slightly freak me out when older people suddenly talked to me like I was "one of them" more than a kid. That's not to say I didn't want to be associated with a 40-year old (hell, I always had older friends) and I sure didn't want to hang out with 13-year olds when I was 18, but I hated being thought of as suddenly so different.

I used to babysit for a couple acquaintances (their kids were around 10 or 11 when I was 19). One day I was talking with them when they were complaining about their oldest son and said to me "Oh, kids can be such a pain, can't they?" Just the way they were talking to me, it was as if I was in their league more than a "big brother/cool mentor-type older buddy" to the kid. I knew it was a totally innocent comment, but stuff like that did weird me out when I knew even older people stopped seeing me as "kidlike".