Do you turn a deaf ear to your parents’ requests because they seem far-fetched? Are you intolerant of your younger friend because they sound naïve? Do your grandparents’ quirks rankle you? Don’t.
We live through different circumstances from our previous generations and other people. We hold any value or belief in the context that makes sense to us, and so do others. Most children who went through poverty grow up with an inclination to pinch pennies. They have the propensity to value a dollar more. Merchants who earn a bit of cash treat money differently than those who easily earn a hefty sum.
Our credos were mostly influenced by events that happened during our first five years of our lives, when our brain plasticity was heightened.
Millennials firsthand experienced the advent of technology boom and the wonder of Internet. The lightning speed Google made information very accessible for the first time. Suddenly it seemed the world sped up at a great rate. The children grew up with an impetus for freedom of expression. They brazenly aspired to put a dent in the world. It became easier to view their parents’ opinions as passé, and discredit all of their parents’ preconceptions.
Zillennials witnessed COVID-19 crisis during their childhood. Their anxious parents entreated them to wear a mask and avoid touching things unnecessarily. The news broadcast many death cases daily, and everyone looked despondent. When they grow up, they may recoil from uncleanliness, and be less itinerant in fear of uncertainty. They may value family cohesion more than their previous generation did.
Our childhood experience inculcated our perception of the world. You act this way because of your past experience. It is not necessarily better than your parents’ or your grandparents’. Their past ideologies mold the world into how it is today. Your ideas will be part of what change the world today, but they too will be dissented by your children and grandchildren.
We shall not repudiate the tenets that our forefathers accepted, because we did not see the world through their eyes. When we get old, we, too, shall not assume that our beliefs are superior to our children’s. As the pendulum swings with time, new outlooks will become more appropriate in the future, and some past values may be reestablished to adjunct the existing ones.
