Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The big question (no, not Sammy or Dave)


Had an interesting conversation come up in a recent discussion in a community group I was part of. We were taking a look at the generations (millennials, greatest generation, baby boomers, etc.) In this particular conversation we were talking about my own age group... for the sake of this illustration let's say those born between 1973 and 1983.

The question was.... do we ask "The Big Question"?
Obligatory Monty Python reference...

That is to say, does my generation preoccupy ourselves with --- or at least discuss --- What's it all about? Is there a higher power? Why be moral? 

My answer at the time was, generally speaking, no. These are not priorities for my generation. I said we care about two things:

1) Being distracted/entertained... we want the latest games, electronics, Netflix, etc. to occupy our attention and amuse us.

2) Having our individuality recognized and celebrated... well we were raised for decades being told how we were each a beautiful snowflake full of potentiality etc. etc.... we got in the workforce and even if you're 22 with a BA in English, we are special and wanna be heard and challenged and patted on the head, dagummit.

What do you think? Does the 30-40 set think much about "dear 8 pound, 6 ounce baby Jesus"?

If not, is it just because most people don't think about such weighty issues as they start off on what's supposedly adulthood? Or is there more?