Author Topic: Interesting Test - Perception of generations (Read 757 times)

Matthew · « **on:** March 17, 2011, 09:04:46 PM »

Quick, picture a 41 year old man. Any random guy who happens to be 41 years old.

Now, without thinking too much, answer the following question in 1 second or less:

Is this man an Internet whiz?

.
.
.
.

How many of you answered "no"? I bet a lot of you did.

But here's the catch...

If you answered "no", you would need to update your conception of what a 41 year old is.
41 years old is NOT a baby boomer anymore. That was the case maybe in the 80's, but not today.
I'm in my mid 30's, and the Internet came out right as I graduated High School. Sure, I remember modems and online bulletin boards, but I learned the Internet right as it came out.

Anyhow, a 41 year old would only be a half-decade or so older than me -- hardly a guy who remembers poodle skirts, Elvis, and drive-in burger joints with girls on roller skates. That would be SIXTY year olds, not 40 year olds.

Matthew

TraceG · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2011, 09:14:24 PM »

Where do you find this stuff, I think you surf more than me :kick-can: Really this :geezer: is me compared to most fellow college students by age alone(I'm 34)

Matthew · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2011, 10:45:19 PM »

I didn't find it anywhere...I wrote it.

Sigismund · « **Reply #3 on:** March 18, 2011, 10:23:19 PM »

Well thanks for making me feel really old. :cool:

Daniel · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2011, 04:43:15 AM »

I am 41 and really should spend far less time than I do on the internet.

stevusmagnus · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2011, 08:30:21 AM »

Thanks for depressing us, Matthew!

Matthew · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2011, 11:09:56 AM »

Along the same lines --

Picture a 70 year old lady. You see her at a dine-in restaurant during the evening dinner rush. She gets up to leave, and you notice that she's leaving behind a bunch of french fries and other items on her plate.

You think to yourself:
"I thought people who lived through the Great Depression had a hard time ever wasting food, since they learned the value of food during the Great Depression."

...except a 70 year old today would have been born in 1941, well after the Depression had ended!

Matthew · « **Reply #7 on:** March 19, 2011, 11:14:18 AM »

I thought of another way to describe my original post:

41 year olds remember the death of Kurt Kobain, not Elvis or Marilyn Monroe.
A 41 year old today would have been 7 years old when Elvis died.

Likewise, a 41 year old would remember the Challenger shuttle accident, not the Moonshot.

Matthew · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2011, 11:20:06 AM »

There's a small "hometown" grocery store in the small town closest to me (I don't live IN any town). It's not a mom & pop store anymore -- it was sold recently to a chain, which likes to still keep the hometown feel. Anyhow...

As part of sprucing the place up after they bought it, they installed Muzak.

The first few days they were open, they played Country music (yay!) but almost immediately they settled into Oldies -- and stayed there.

It got me wondering, is the place really patronized exclusively by senior citizens? I mean, really! To remember a song from 1960 you'd have to be born in 1945 at least, which would put you at 66 years old! Pretty soon, the only people that will be nostalgic for "Oldies" music will be in nursing homes or deceased. But how soon? Another 10 years maybe?

I know they've been playing Oldies music AS "Oldies" for a long time, but the music really isn't that good. It's everything that's bad about Rock and Roll. Although younger people have learned many Oldies songs after they were "Oldies", you won't have the same attachment to it. After all, nostalgia is the real issue, and a 30 year old isn't nostalgic for the Oldies.

They weren't playing any Oldies songs when that 30 year old went on his first date, or his second or third date for that matter.

Matthew