Episode 65 - Blithering Thoughts about Generations

The Hopeful Humanist Cafe

Welcome to Episode 65 of the Hopeful Humanist Cafe. In this episode, I hope to provide a definition of generations, share a cautionary note about the limits and dangers when talking about generations, and raise some questions about the benefits of continuing to talk about these socially-constructed things called "Generations."

Video Resource Library for our discussion Generations:

1) "The Generations:" The creator of this You Tube channel has created a comprehensive series about the generations spanning from the Lost Generation to the new kids on the block, Generation Alpha (coined by Mark McCrindle). Click here to supplement your current understanding about the generational continuum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPDm91SferM

2) William Strauss & Neil Howe: These two thinkers are the authors of "Generations: The History of America's Future 1584 to 2069" (1991) and "An American Prophecy: The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny" (1997). I was fortunate enough to access the books at my local library. If you not interested in directing a lot of time and energy to such a significant reading project (and learn about peer personality, generational constellations, generational archetypes and eras), you can click her to a summary video of their pulse-rate theory about generations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-qXpE1bCJs

3) Karl Mannheim (1893-1947) was a German Sociologist who wrote an essay in 1928 called, "The Problem of Generations." Terms he used to talk about generations included social location, generations in actuality, and fresh contact. He defined a generation as a group of individuals of the similar age and a shared social, economical and political experience who share a noteworthy historical event in a specific span of time. Watch this You Tube video for a summary account of his ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjlmYCAL7Cs&t=5s

4) Are Generations Real? The History, The Controversy. I very much enjoyed this You Tube video as it looks at the discussion of generations through a critical thinking lens. Click here to learn about the difference between a "pulse-rate" theory of generations compared to the "imprint" theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Cj5PJPsEI

5) Looking forward with Mark McCrindle and Generation Alpha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Cj5PJPsEI

6) This interview with Gabor Mate and the host of Sunday Magazine, Piya Chattopadhyay is a must listen to. Gabor Mate gives us a fuller look at the challenges we are currently facing. We are not just in a pandemic - we are trying to stay a float in a convergence of pandemics called a syndemic. Click this link for a soul with an amazing mind: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-magazine-for-june-20-2021-1.6070909

Books worth reading:

1) "Generations" by Strauss and Howe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjlmYCAL7Cs&t=5s

2) "The Fourth Turning" by Strauss and Howe - https://www.amazon.ca/Fourth-Turning-History-Americas-Rendezvous/dp/0767900464/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KMRCBPS7DFP5&dchild=1&keywords=the+fourth+turning&qid=1626030889&s=books&sprefix=the+fourth+turn%2Cstripbooks%2C233&sr=1-1

3) "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture" by Douglas Coupland - https://www.amazon.ca/Generation-X-Tales-Accelerated-Culture/dp/031205436X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=douglas+copeland+generation+x&qid=1626030989&s=books&sr=1-1

Please email me at [e-mail] to share your cool tool resources for others to consider for their spiritual tool boxes and/or any activity that you think can nurture the human need for creativity.

Thank-you for joining me for a blithering tip-of-the-iceberg conversation about life. The conversation is ongoing and continuous!

Peace, take care, be well, and share