Millenials lack basic life skills

[Katchii]

The bad rap is the same bad rap young people always get; they're inexperienced and make mistakes. Regarding, jobs, money, housekeeping, the works. Big deal, that happens to everyone and every generation, unless people think those born in the 60s or 70s were magically financial geniuses.

And the whole ''lack basic survival skills'' is absurd to me. We're not cavemen, we don't need to know how to gut a fish or light a fire to survive. I'd much rather teach my eventual kids how to cook healthy meals, do their laundry, fill their tax reports, and do tasks around the house such as changing electrical switches. These are actually useful basic skills.

These are the types of skills I refer to when saying basic life skills because I agree, in this day and age, knowing those wilderness survival things are mostly unnecessary. But there are people who don't know the skills you're talking about either, and there are people like this from every generation. It seems like they not only don't know how, they don't want to learn how, but that's a stereotype. As I said before I don't really think the Millenial generation is any different in this respect than any other generation, but with social media it's easier for everyone to see all of their shortcomings and mistakes. This coupled with the greater opportunity for them TO learn just exacerbates the perception that Millenials are inept because the fact that the opportunities are there makes their lack of knowledge more egregious.

[Seirith]

I don't see how catching food or tying a knot is a needed skill in our current every day life, even for those 65+. My parents are pretty tech savy, they both have smart phones, use computers and GPS on their phone to get places and they have never once had to catch their own food or swim to save their life.

I have basic life skills I can cook, clean, do laundry, keep a budget, call a doctor, write a resume, use a computer etc etc..

[Tomac]

Your dumb is showing. This was a quote of socrates. It is used to show, that it is ALWAYS the older generation, that complains about the younger one. And yet, 3000 years of complaining later, mankind is still around. This is an argument FOR the milennials. Not against. Get educated. And no, not you as a milennial, you as a person.

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See above.

Well according to this post you're wrong.

It's not actually from Socrates.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Socrates#Misattributed

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05...ancient-times/

http://www.archive.org/stream/school.../n105/mode/2up

Your dumb is showing ... Get educated.

The irony.

[Garnier Fructis]

I don't see how knowing how to fish or tie a specific knot really qualifies as life skills or practical skills in modern America, where you can pretty much go your whole life without needing them.

As for map reading? Anyone with a map and a little bit of time can figure it out. It's also increasingly useless given that we have navigational systems now. It's pretty much the same when I hear people complaining that we don't know how to do square roots by hand anymore. It's basically pointless.

[Valech]

Well according to this post you're wrong.



http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05...ancient-times/

http://www.archive.org/stream/school.../n105/mode/2up




The irony.

So... the misconception, that this quote stems from socrates, is so wide spread, that there is a whole article about it and you still haven´t heard of the concept itself? Cause no matter from what ancient source it comes, it still supports my argument... An Argument I made FOR the sake of Milennials. Just to mention it again.

The only thing I might have been wrong a was to take up the cudgels for millenials, it seems.

[Jayburner]

a quote from another great philospher "Can't we all just get along?"

--Rodney King.

[Aflakk47]

Your dumb is showing. This was a quote of socrates. It is used to show, that it is ALWAYS the older generation, that complains about the younger one. And yet, 3000 years of complaining later, mankind is still around. This is an argument FOR the milennials. Not against. Get educated. And no, not you as a milennial, you as a person.

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See above.

What was providing a 'source' to your post supposed to prove? It changes nothing about my response. An elder made wild generalizations about a younger generation while wondering why we give you nothing but contempt. We have no reason to show elders any respect when they do nothing but treat us like children. We have no reason to respect 'authority' who exclusively target certain demographics and who assume they know how we should lead our lives.

Also, no, this post is not an 'argument for millennials', it's a statement of childhood that only pertains to some people in only certain areas as they grow throughout their lives. What the post is failing to see, and you along with posting it, is that you mistake 'millennials' for 'children' when they are in almost all ways different. By at least the high school years, a vast majority of any generation has grown past the years of lacking respect for elders and authority.

And calling me dumb is clearly going to help pass this divide that arises every generation. Quit making generalizations about the younger/newer generation and treat us like adults and you'll find out that we're just as hard working, innovative, and in general, an asset to society. If you continue to treat us like children and marginalize us because of a few outliers, we'll continue to show nothing but contempt for you and your methods. It's called reciprocity. This constant cycle won't end until the older generation (soon to be mine) breaks the mold and treats the new, maturing generation like the adults they're growing into, not like the 'children' the older generation treats mine like.

(See what I did there? I responded to you without devolving into insults in less than a statement)

[Valech]

What was providing a 'source' to your post supposed to prove? It changes nothing about my response. An elder made wild generalizations about a younger generation while wondering why we give you nothing but contempt. We have no reason to show elders any respect when they do nothing but treat us like children. We have no reason to respect 'authority' who exclusively target certain demographics and who assume they know how we should lead our lives.

Also, no, this post is not an 'argument for millennials', it's a statement of childhood that only pertains to some people in only certain areas as they grow throughout their lives. What the post is failing to see, and you along with posting it, is that you mistake 'millennials' for 'children' when they are in almost all ways different. By at least the high school years, a vast majority of any generation has grown past the years of lacking respect for elders and authority.

And calling me dumb is clearly going to help pass this divide that arises every generation. Quit making generalizations about the younger/newer generation and treat us like adults and you'll find out that we're just as hard working, innovative, and in general, an asset to society. If you continue to treat us like children and marginalize us because of a few outliers, we'll continue to show nothing but contempt for you and your methods. It's called reciprocity. This constant cycle won't end until the older generation (soon to be mine) breaks the mold and treats the new, maturing generation like the adults they're growing into, not like the 'children' the older generation treats mine like.

(See what I did there? I responded to you without devolving into insults in less than a statement)

I´ll explain it again.

The currently older generation is complaining, that the millenials are the worst generation ever or at least a generally worse generation then themselves. They forget, that the very same was said about themselves when they were young. And that those, who said that about them, were called the worst generation by their elders as well. And still, after at least three generations of "the worst", mankind is around. To strengthen that argument, I brought a quote from ancient times, be it from socrates or someone else: An Elder who complained about the younger generation. So instead of three generations of "the worst" youth, we see that mankind is STILL progressing, although the complaints about the youth are probably as old as mankind itself. In other words: Elders probably have always complained about younger people and it never was justified. Obviously, this is an argument FOR the Millenials, since the complaints about them are not caused by them but how society works.

Just to clarify, cause I still believe some people didnt figure: That quote starting with "The children now love luxury" are NOT MY WORDS.

[zenkai]

They also lack manners and common sense.

[Heladys]

Do you know what's even more pathetic?

Replying to a post with such aggression, you completely miss the point and look ignorant.

No, what's truly pathetic is crying about it like a bitch.

[smokii]

Map reading? I could count the times I've ever read a map in my lifetime, and I'm 26.

Yesterday's 'practical' skills are no longer as relevant.
a 5 year old can pick up an iPad and get to grips with it faster than most elderly people for example.

So yeah. Load of rubbish.

it's a load of rubbish until we get hit by an electromagnetic pulse caused by a solar flare. when all electronics and subsequently modern technology suddenly go dead, people will need to know how to survive without them.

that's kinda the issue. essentially, if you are no longer able to look it up on the internet, wtf are you gonna do?

if modern technology could never black out, then i would agree practical skills are no longer relevant, but that's not the world we live in

[zealo]

They also lack manners and common sense.

Having the sense to be well mannered have very little to do with age for anyone older than say a tween. People don't automatically gain good behavioural skills by getting older.

[Deleted]

Sorry we don't have time to learn. We work 2 jobs 80 hours a week and barely make ends meet. We have so much debt to pay. Plus the older generations raised us.

Sounds like you made some bad decisions in your life if that's how it turned out.

[zenkai]

Having the sense to be well mannered have very little to do with age for anyone older than say a tween. People don't automatically gain good behavioural skills by getting older.

The problem is kids are raised in front of the TV/computer instead of parent's actually being parents.

[Deleted]

The problem is kids are raised in front of the TV/computer instead of parent's actually being parents.

I can't say I share this opinion. Kids are still kids today, just as kids were kids when I was young. When I was young we were hanging about in the town, today a lot of kids are "hanging about" by playing games with their friends.

[ItachiZaku]

I knew most of the things they taught in the army, before I got to boot. Sure, people say they have this marvelous device at their fingertips, so they don't have to learn these things, but when fit hits the shan and you don't have connectivity... good luck.

[Funky Kong]

Sort of on topic... I'm technically a millennial.. and a popular meme my friends spread around is the 'Thing I didn't learn in school: How to change a tire, how to balance a checkbook, etc..." and it sorta pisses me off. There are so many ways a person can learn those sorts of things, including basic survival skills. Like dozens or ways to learn those things that are either cheap or just plain free. Its such a dumb complaint.

I was born 1990 and we had a required career and life management course in highschool where we learned all of that shit, including doing taxes etc. The course is still going to my knowledge. I learned to change a tire and my oil from my dad, but otherwise I don't know shit about cars.

[Aflakk47]

I´ll explain it again.

The currently older generation is complaining, that the millenials are the worst generation ever or at least a generally worse generation then themselves. They forget, that the very same was said about themselves when they were young. And that those, who said that about them, were called the worst generation by their elders as well. And still, after at least three generations of "the worst", mankind is around. To strengthen that argument, I brought a quote from ancient times, be it from socrates or someone else: An Elder who complained about the younger generation. So instead of three generations of "the worst" youth, we see that mankind is STILL progressing, although the complaints about the youth are probably as old as mankind itself. In other words: Elders probably have always complained about younger people and it never was justified. Obviously, this is an argument FOR the Millenials, since the complaints about them are not caused by them but how society works.

Just to clarify, cause I still believe some people didnt figure: That quote starting with "The children now love luxury" are NOT MY WORDS.

Thanks for basically restating my 3rd point. And just because the quote was from someone else, doesn't mean you're mistakenly attributing a quote about 'children' to generalize an entire generation (generally people born within 25 years).

Try this as a quote next time;

The radical is simply being given more room in the mainstream. And I think young people - I'm talking about the very young millennials - they are bored by so much so fast and have such fast big brains, that they won't digest lazy uninteresting work in the way my generation might have. This is a great opportunity for those on the fringe to be less on the fringe perhaps. - Porochista Khakpour

[Shoat]

@Jayburner:
How is it surprising, or even noteworthy, that most of the skills which weren't relevant in modern first-world life for the past two and a half generations are not present in the current generation? I don't get why such articles are written and worded as if they were unearthing some sort of previously-unknown terrifying truth.

Sounds like you made some bad decisions in your life if that's how it turned out.

Like... "deciding" to randomly be thrown into poverty (be it at birth or through an unfortunate event later on) and having to work oneself to the bone in near-slavery to even sustain one's family? Sure, he might have exaggerated a bit with those hours, but due to the nature of the concept of money almost everybody who's poor is poor due to zero fault of their own and has literally no feasible way upwards available to them.

They also lack manners and common sense.

Manners (assuming you mean "a code for social interaction" and not "a strict guide on how to physically behave while eating") are a social contract that goes both ways. The most common offenders in breaking that contract (aside from kids and teenagers) are middle-aged people who're unwilling to show respect and manners towards young adults and yet demand to be treated differently themselves.

And if you find that "the youngsters lack common sense", complain about their parents and educators. Or alternatively take a good look in the mirror and read some history books, because maybe, just maybe, it isn't an entire generation of struggling young adults who's wrong about everything, maybe you're just a backwards douchebag with no respect for anyone else's problems.

[Tommy T]

it's a load of rubbish until we get hit by an electromagnetic pulse caused by a solar flare. when all electronics and subsequently modern technology suddenly go dead, people will need to know how to survive without them.

that's kinda the issue. essentially, if you are no longer able to look it up on the internet, wtf are you gonna do?

if modern technology could never black out, then i would agree practical skills are no longer relevant, but that's not the world we live in

That's a lot of assumptions.

Also, once again I said no longer AS relevant. Not no longer relevant.

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I find it funny how millennials are apparently the problem.
Says a lot about the generation who raised them doesn't it?