Generation ‘R’ – The REST-LESS
Generation
Watching a video on Facebook, shared
by one of my friends the other day, I started wondering about ourselves. The
video, by Simon Sinek, quite aptly describes what’s wrong with the millenials.
After watching the video (which was
quite an eye-opener for myself), I started reflecting on everything that’s
happening nowadays.
We all have heard the term ‘Generation
X’. It came around the same time when the Y2K problem had sprung up. In 2000s,
we had a new term – the ‘Generation Y’. A generation that doesn’t take anything
as sacrosanct. A generation that questions anything they come across, challenge
it, and accept it only if it passes their own set of tests.
Reflecting on what’s going on today,
I would call today’s generation the ‘Generation R’ – the REST-LESS generation.
Everyone seems to be so restless that they don’t have time for absolutely
anything. The attention span has narrowed so much that nothing is worth more
than a few seconds, or minutes, at the most. Just think about it – Gone are the
days when people watched long musical plays that lasted sometimes the whole
night. Gone are the usual 3-3.5 hour movies. Gone are the 5-6 minute songs.
Why? Simply because the producers know the psyche of today’s generation. Even
the traditional plays are not more than 2.5-3 hours long, nowadays. The movies
are rarely over 150 minutes. Even the songs are as long as 3-3.5 minutes, tops.
(This is also the reason why I’ve
kept my scribble short, too ;))
You would come and say, “What’s new
in what you’re saying? I know it all, dude!” But what I am concerned about are
the grave long term effects of all this.
I’ve already started to get irritated
by anyone who disturbs my ‘Cell phone Meditation’. I’m extremely reluctant to
let go of my phone even while visiting the washroom. I feel Samsung can regain
their original market share if they launch a Smartphone built like the ‘G Shock’
watch. People would absolutely love a Smartphone
they can keep with them even while bathing, bungee jumping, rock climbing or
while doing any other activity that generally prohibits carrying delicate
devices that today’s cell phones are.
Coming back to the gravity of the
issue, what I feel concerns me is the low attention span. I seriously doubt if
any philosophers would come out of today’s generation. For any broad or meaningful
thought, you need to sit on it for a considerable amount of time; a commodity
which has become extremely rare. If you closely watch the inclination of today’s
content; may it be movies, shows or anything else; it’s tilting towards the
same desperation that the generation is showing in everyday life.
Relationships have become shallower.
Gone are the days when children used to stay with parents almost forever. I
accept the practical difficulties and individualistic realities which have
developed over time. What I’m worried about, however, are the strained
relationships that everyone seems to have nowadays. Children are trying to get
away from their parents more and more because they want to spend more time with
their friends/girlfriend-boyfriend. Whether these newer relationships; for
which they’re going away from the older ones; are stronger? Now that’s
debatable. The “FRIENDS” that today’s youth seems to have, seem more like “acquaintances
with benefits”. The depth of friendship is somewhere slackening. The concept of
FUN today means long drives, clubbing, boozing or gaming together. We have
countless ‘WhatsApp groups’ that everyone seems to be a member of. Half of them
are named ‘BFF’, ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S.’, ‘Friends Forever’ or something of that sort.
Are they really deserving of the names they get? I doubt. The issue is
precisely this – People have become more and more concerned about how they’re
connected to others in the form of a “VISIBLE Bond”. It may be ‘friendship’ on Facebook,
membership of a WhatsApp group or something else on some other social media
tool. What they’re forgetting, however, is that they’re not worrying about the
bonding they actually develop.
Words such as ‘trust’, ‘bond’, ‘meaningful
relationship’ are all that take time, attention and a lot of effort. All of
this is missing in today’s relationships. It is thus not surprising that we
have short-lived marriages, relationships, friendships and anything else that
was earlier truly long term.
It seems difficult to overcome these
challenges unless the society as a whole realises the demons it is creating.
The viciousness of this ‘RESTLESS’ cycle is in the fundamental nature of the
lifestyle. When or how would a ‘Generation R’ guy or a girl realise all this
when he/she is so busy shuffling between the windows on his/her cell phone? How
would one realise something that’s likely to happen a few months or years down
the line if everyone’s thinking about ‘Right here, Right now’ or ‘Posting Live’
on Facebook? How would one enjoy any moment if they’re more worried about how
the photograph of that moment would look on Instagram?
The solution to all this, I realise,
is (in today’s language) A REBOOT. A BLACK OUT. A POWER OFF.
Take a “POWERful OFF” from all this
once in a while. Sit down doing nothing. Go cycling without phone or any other
device and sit by a lake staring at nothing. Go camping with your ‘FRIEND’ to a
location where there would be no network (although it’s difficult to find such
a place nowadays). The point is, unplug yourself from all this virtual reality
and sit and reflect about what TRULY matters to you!
Now
I won’t go ahead and be over particular about what to do further. After all, we
all are SMART phone users!
-
Sarang
Tilak
