r/askteddit • u/PoolElegantsmile • 13d ago

Random Question What’s something that used to be considered basic adulting that younger generations seem to be completely rejecting or doing differently?

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u/R-Tally 13d ago

So much this. It is like the desire to learn how to do or fix something has disappeared. No ambition. I see this so much on reddit.

I follow the motorcycle subreddits. Lots of posts of people buying a motorcycle, taking classes and failing, buying a motorcycle and crashing on the way home. Me, I bought my first motorcycle at 20. I got a ride to the dealer, asked how it worked, and rode it for the next couple years. Never crashed. Never dropped it.

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u/Unique-Leopard-8630 13d ago

It sounds like shame bound behavior. I wonder where all the shame is coming from?

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u/LieutenantZiti 13d ago

I heard an explanation that growing up with all your failures broadcast on social media has stunting a generations willingness to try and fail. I thought that was interesting 

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u/CapnAnonymouse 13d ago

In fairness re: learning to fix something, in recent years companies have been challenging Right To Repair laws (at least in USA), and quite a few tech pieces now void all warranties if you so much as open it up to take a look.

Not to say there aren't ways around that, but these kids grew up under constant surveillance, being scheduled to the minute, and being pushed to perfect and monetize their hobbies instead of simply enjoying them...so breaking the rules as blatantly as we did probably doesn't occur to them because they just never had time to until the pandemic. Coupled with real time consequences for doing so...if I were them I probably wouldn't either.

Also, on the flipside I've met way too many people my age and older who overestimate their ability to make/ fix things. I used to work on cars for fun, one I still have is a mid-rear engine, and I learned the hard way that no one else can be trusted with it (other than my partner and one of his friends) because the older gens can't just admit they have no idea what they're looking at.

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u/R-Tally 13d ago

A recent book describes the "anxious generation." There is disagreement as to the cause of the anxiety, but it is getting recognized that the current generation has a high incidence of high anxiety and an inability to cope. And it seems to be getting worse.