4 ms·

Honest question, has there ever been a generation that experienced youth the same as the generation before them?

by bramgg 12y ago

seanmcdirmid 12y ago
I'm sure it was fairly constant pre-industrial revolution, but maybe change is just accelerating over time.
- thevardanian 12y ago
  No. Rivers changed courses. The levels of rain fluctuated. The levels other important resources fluctuated, namely those like animals, trees, and other raw materials that pre-industrial societies relied on. The environment is fundamentally in flux.
  - gwern 12y ago
    That doesn't change youths very much.
  - vacri 12y ago
    Rivers don't change courses that often, except perhaps in a delta area.
  - coldtea 12y ago
    >The levels of rain fluctuated. The levels other important resources fluctuated, namely those like animals, trees, and other raw materials that pre-industrial societies relied on. For one, these doesn't affect outlook on life and youth as an experience much. Except if they involve huge hardships etc. Second, all those were more or less constant (sure, "levels of rain fluctuated", but they fluctuated thoughtout the life of each generation, and throughout generations). Villages lived the same way of life, with the same rivers and the same kind of weather climate for centuries on end. Heck, in lots of places in rural Europe (Greece, Spain, France, Italy, etc) they still do (distractions of modern mass media and available consumer goods aside).
  - facepalm 12y ago
    And there were lots of wars.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
coldtea 12y ago
Hundrends. For one, "youth" (and being a "teenager") is a rather recent innovation. Children around 13-14 years old were already consider kind of "young adults" for centuries, had to work and help with the family business, lots of them got married, etc. Second, especially in rural areas, nothing much changed for centuries, say between 16th century and 17th century or 18th century in how people lived. Clothing, equipment, food, even music and dance were mostly the same throghout. And their general outlook on life was even more constant. In some more populated/urban places, like Paris or London, there were small differences and some fashion, but even those changed very slowly compared to the era of widespread tv and radio, and they mostly concerned the upper classes.

Honest question, has there ever been a generation that experienced youth the same as the generation before them?

by bramgg 12y ago

Honest question, has there ever been a generation that experienced youth the same as the generation before them?

seanmcdirmid 12y ago

I'm sure it was fairly constant pre-industrial revolution, but maybe change is just accelerating over time.

thevardanian 12y ago
No. Rivers changed courses. The levels of rain fluctuated. The levels other important resources fluctuated, namely those like animals, trees, and other raw materials that pre-industrial societies relied on. The environment is fundamentally in flux.
- gwern 12y ago
  That doesn't change youths very much.
- vacri 12y ago
  Rivers don't change courses that often, except perhaps in a delta area.
- coldtea 12y ago
  >The levels of rain fluctuated. The levels other important resources fluctuated, namely those like animals, trees, and other raw materials that pre-industrial societies relied on. For one, these doesn't affect outlook on life and youth as an experience much. Except if they involve huge hardships etc. Second, all those were more or less constant (sure, "levels of rain fluctuated", but they fluctuated thoughtout the life of each generation, and throughout generations). Villages lived the same way of life, with the same rivers and the same kind of weather climate for centuries on end. Heck, in lots of places in rural Europe (Greece, Spain, France, Italy, etc) they still do (distractions of modern mass media and available consumer goods aside).
- facepalm 12y ago
  And there were lots of wars.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

coldtea 12y ago

Hundrends. For one, "youth" (and being a "teenager") is a rather recent innovation. Children around 13-14 years old were already consider kind of "young adults" for centuries, had to work and help with the family business, lots of them got married, etc. Second, especially in rural areas, nothing much changed for centuries, say between 16th century and 17th century or 18th century in how people lived. Clothing, equipment, food, even music and dance were mostly the same throghout. And their general outlook on life was even more constant. In some more populated/urban places, like Paris or London, there were small differences and some fashion, but even those changed very slowly compared to the era of widespread tv and radio, and they mostly concerned the upper classes.