Outside The Collective

Time is a relative thing. When I was in the third grade, I remember thinking that high school and college were things that were a distant journey into a future world that stretched across a couple of lifetimes. From the perspective of a hyperactive eight-year-old, I guess that would be pretty accurate. The generation before me always said that we were moving to fast. Along with everyone else, I couldn't wait to move forward and take on new challenges. In the era of the 1970's, it now seems prehistoric to think there wasn't an internet, standard phones had arcane dials and took some effort to use, and home computers weren't mainstream yet. It was the era of color television and the start of video arcades. For kids and the general populace, e-mail wasn't mainstream, and even if you had access, it was likely that you didn't know anyone else that had an account to which you could send a message. It's amazing to me that as one of the geeks that hung out in the arcades and played with computers, I would be in a decent position to actually understand and keep up with the youth of today.

It's been neat to have had a view into the world of the youth of the 1980's from my era, and 1990's and 2000's as a mentor and guide to various youth. It's been interesting watching people grow, learn, and change. Not too long ago in this very blog, I mentioned the acceleration curve running into the generation gap, and the perplexing view of being stuck between the generations. I've noticed that the youth of today have a constant connection to each other. Granted, they can disconnect from this "collective" if they so choose. The really interesting thing is the fact that we do have a truly global community, with today's youth constantly plugged in and sharing thoughts, ideas, and emotions with their friends. There are a lot of emotions that are shared today on the computer screen that would probably not have been shared in an in-person social interaction. The difference from my generation is that you can now keep up with your friends, even though you are separated by thousands of miles for years at a time, and still keep up with daily events just as easily if they lived next door, with a greater emotional impact. Some of the kids today have told me that they still have their few closest friends. What I have found, however, is that those "closest friends" of today's youth are hundreds or thousands of miles away in many cases.

Do I long for the lost era of the 1970's and 1980's? That's a tricky question. Before we can move forward, I think it's important to look at the past. While I was doing some cleaning, I found several old letters and pictures that reminded me of days past, and absent friends. It didn't provide that instant connection, but it did prompt me to contact several people that I once knew. I still get letters from a few friends -- yes, hand-written letters -- through the mail. I mentioned once before that there is a more personal connection when you send and receive letters. Now, I'm probably one of the worst case examples, as I hardly ever send any letters any more. In fact, it's probably been a decade or two since that was my mainstream form of communications with friends and family. Global communications and the internet are very fluid things. You can use the Wayback Machine or some other search tools to find web pages of the past. But that will only get you back to 1996 or so. Some of the content, when removed from the internet, can truly be lost. If you're a pack rat like me, letters can remain around for some time as keepsakes.

So, I find myself to be one of those antiques that exists between the generations. I can imagine what it would have been like to have this technology in the days of my youth. It would be interesting to have been able to keep up with everyone from my past. I wonder what kinds of challenges this generation will have because of our current progress. It is unprecedented to have a society of youth so connected together through the use of technology. The advent of camera and video phones, text messages, and the internet have allowed instant communication and transmission of data to audiences around the world. Literally, we can be part of someone's daily life and never meet face-to-face in the same room. I'm fortunate to have a view from outside the "collective" with the ability to connect when needed. As this generation moves forward, I'm sure I'll get fully assimilated eventually. Resistance truly is futile.

See ya.