Penultimate section of a summary of Robert Greene’s Laws of Human Nature.
Seize the moment.
“You are a product of the times as much as anyone; the generation you were born into has shaped your thoughts and values, whether you’re aware of it or not.”
In more ways that we imagine, the generation we are born into shapes our identities. There will be a strong desire within the new generation to forge a new direction, different from the previous generation. New values are formed and absorbed into your thinking as an individual. With age, our minds tend to close off to other points of view, limiting our thinking.
In order to free yourself from the mental restraints, you must do your best to understand this powerful influence on who you are.
The Generational Phenomenon
Each generation has its own symbols, myths, beliefs and mindsets, which constitutes its generational spirit.
Generational Patterns
Each generation inherits beliefs and ideas from their parents, but seeks to find something new. The 14th century historian (?) believed that history occurs in cycles over four generations.
First generation– revolutionaries make a radical break to establish new values.
Second generation– seeks to establish order and discipline after the revolution.
Third generation– seeks to build a comfortable life through pragmatic means.
Fourth generation– cynical and lost in a society that has stagnated. This prepares the stage for a new round of revolutionaries, and it starts over.
You need to understand your own generation, and how deeply the spirit and culture of your generation have affected the way you view the world. Identify the characteristics of your generation in order to gain an understanding of its spirit in the present and exploit it. Think about where your generation fits within the tension of early and middle adulthood.
“We think we are judging the younger generation in an objective manner, but we are merely succumbing to an illusion of perspective.”
How to Capitalize on the Spirit of the Times
These strategies will help you make the most of generational dynamics.
Challenge the Past
Try to see things from a different perspective.
Take on the generation zeitgeist in a unique way. Don’t let your age limit your curiosity.
You can be a childlike wonderer as a grownup.
Increase your interaction with the younger generation.
Read the works of previous generations.
Influence the younger generation, mostly your children, to shape the future.
________________
My own notes:
In case someone doesn’t know- Myopia is clinically an eye condition of near-sightedness. It’s used metaphorically as lack of imagination or lack of intellectual foresight. In other words- being blind to things.
“Do not say: "Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.“ Ecclesiastes 7:10 (written by King Solomon, maybe 950BC)
I figured out through time, and dozens of quotes throughout history, that people have been complaining about the world going to hell in a handbasket since the world began.
For myself, I’ve tried to take some correctives on this:
I DO read from past generations.
I spend time with the younger generations, and actually… quite appreciate them.
I’ve personally found most millennials and GenZ I know to be delightful. They’re intelligent and curious, and open to learning. Like every generation since the beginning of time, they’re exposed to certain sides of things, and given the information they have, they are reacting relatively reasonably to the information they’ve been given.
And like every generation since the beginning of time, no one knows every side of any issues. We will need to give them time to come to grips with more complexity as information becomes available to them through years and experience. That’s natural. Inexperience can’t be a slight on those that haven’t had enough time to experience what the older have.
I recognize that certain complaints my generation has about the younger were consequences of how my generation raised those same kids. I’ve tried not to disengage myself from the collective responsibility for problems too. While I myself didn’t raise my kids the way many of my peers did, I’m still part of my generation so I will say "We” did X and caused this. But seriously, if boomers think millennials are entitled or coddled… we were the ones that raised them. I’m relatively certain it was a lot of the hair-brained ideas WE followed that caused the problem.
Still trying to figure out who exactly the 14th century historian is that was referenced. I couldn’t really understand the name, and typing it out phonetically hasn’t gotten me anywhere. Googling the idea turns up something very similar called the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory- from a 1990 book by William Strauss and Neil Howe, but nothing from the 14th century.