Are people from the 80's smarter then other generations?

[Anastacy]

Usually it's because info had to be searched and learned, rather than now... where you just copy 'n paste wikipedia.

Also you had to work for everything and have patients, even with the internet or communication.... instead of now, where everyone is born and bread into instant gratification.



Life was better in the 90s...

People also probably proof read, instead of relying on spell checkers...

[Waynhim]

Not claiming I'm smart, and not from the 80's, (1970).

BUT, I work as a teacher, and I agree with above poster(s) that smart phones, consoles etc. hinders wisdom/knowledge, (not intellect).

When I grew up we received signals from ONE TV station in my parts, and it was run by the government and covered mainly the news, cultural stuff and every sunday had some kind of science/wildlife show which for us kids was the highlight of the week.

I had covered Verne, London, Steinbeck and some other "classic" authors before I was 13 years old, and moved on to reading Tolkien, Stephen King etc. in english, (not my mother tongue), after that. (Today I have like 1 pupil in a class of 46 that actually reads for the enjoyment of it. And that's a girl that mainly reads stuff like Twilight). Also, we were never at home in the afternoons, but always outside interacting with other kids, which meant building social intelligence.

[PizzaSHARK]

I've talked to these 40 year olders and they all seem pretty smart or cool. Why does this time period rock so much? I want to know.

Dude? People born in the 80's aren't 40 years old. We're in our mid to late twenties or early thirties! :/

[Melanieshaman]

Cuz Gen X ROCKS! lol

naw I think every generation has it's "quality people".

[Xarkan]

I've talked to these 40 year olders and they all seem pretty smart or cool. Why does this time period rock so much? I want to know.

People born in the 80s who think they are now 40 are probably not smarter than people born in the very early 70s who think they are 40.

Yes yes i know others said the same

[atollon]

Are people people who grew up in the 80s any smarter than today's teenagers? Nope, not in the slightest. Are they wiser and do they apply the knowledge they have better than teenagers today? Absolutely. They've also had two decades more to experience things and grow as people.

Also, I'd argue that as the world becomes increasingly globalized and computerized, all of the time that today's teenagers are spending communicating via social media and texts will become an important and useful skill as opposed to the waste of time that its being portrayed as.

[starkey]

Op means people born in the 70's that had 80's music as they grew up.

[vizzle]

I knew this thread would be a jayburner thread.

[Dazzy]

It's not that they (we) are smarter, but it's the last generation before the Y generation (as in, why do I have to work for anything, why isn't everything handed to me on a silver platter).

It's the last generation where everyone wasn't told they are special snowflakes. Last place wasn't given a trophy or even a participation medal. If you failed at something, people told you you sucked.

Now everyone is a rose. If you fail at something, it's not pc to tell you that you suck at it. So everyone thinks they are great at everything, with their 1.9 gpa barely graduating. They get out in the real world and that first dose of reality hits them. Which isn't bad in itself, but most of them stop even trying.

That attitude has created a generation of lazy, unmotivated, depressed whiny bitches.



Nobody is special, stop telling your kids they are special. They are only special to you. Teach them work ethic. Hell, make them do chores for their allowance, if they are failing in school, have them dig a ditch in the yard to get used to the job they'll be doing forever. The world doesn't care about any individual.
Too much positive reinforcement and political correctness is the root of the problem.


The 80's are the last generation that had any discipline basically, at home or at school.

---------- Post added 2013-01-12 at 07:45 AM ----------

Are people people who grew up in the 80s any smarter than today's teenagers? Nope, not in the slightest. Are they wiser and do they apply the knowledge they have better than teenagers today? Absolutely. They've also had two decades more to experience things and grow as people.

Also, I'd argue that as the world becomes increasingly globalized and computerized, all of the time that today's teenagers are spending communicating via social media and texts will become an important and useful skill as opposed to the waste of time that its being portrayed as.

Apparently you've never tried to talk to a 15-25 year old that grew up living on their computer/game system/facebook. The vast majority are very socially inept. I've interviewed thousands of them, trust me on this. Most of them can't conduct a simple conversation for more than 30 seconds.

[PizzaSHARK]

I knew this thread would be a jayburner thread.

vizzle trying to be old man on campus here, usin the lingo.

[Letmesleep]

I've talked to these 40 year olders and they all seem pretty smart or cool. Why does this time period rock so much? I want to know.

No one born in the 80s is 40 years old. Also, have you seen 80s music videos? No one during that time period had any clue what was going on. None of us still have any clue what was going on in the 80s.

(by the way 10/10. You got 4 pages going)

[Sevyvia]

As someone born in 87, I can confirm that I am smarter than everyone else.

[atollon]

Apparently you've never tried to talk to a 15-25 year old that grew up living on their computer/game system/facebook. The vast majority are very socially inept. I've interviewed thousands of them, trust me on this. Most of them can't conduct a simple conversation for more than 30 seconds.

That's a skill that gets developed over time, and which the 80s generation has had an additional 20 years to practice, just like every other skill. Id be willing to bet that back in the mid to late 80s teenagers weren't talking to their parents generation much better than today's generation is. Wait until 2030 or so and I'm sure they'll be just as good as you are now.

[Kraenen]

I've talked to these 40 year olders and they all seem pretty smart or cool. Why does this time period rock so much? I want to know.

40 year olders from the 80s?
1980 + 40 = 2020.

are you from the future?

---------- Post added 2013-01-12 at 08:37 AM ----------

I knew this thread would be a jayburner thread.

is jaylock the same as jayburner?

[Raldazzar]

I don't know about anyone else, but I was born in 1983 and my wife's younger sister and her boyfriend think I'm an F'ing Rocket Scientist!

I will admit to having a wide band of skills from electronics, to cars, to guns, to building houses, to being an artist, etc. etc... I'm good at a LOT of things because I never wanted to depend on anyone myself. I make sure I can work with everything I'm interested in.

However, any time I talk to them about ANYTHING they just say, "I don't get it, I don't know, I don't understand, blah blah blah"... It's like I was born on another planet.

Also, I might add that my generation didn't have as much 'instant' gratification in entertainment. I had to 'make' things to do and figure things out myself. I didn't have an iPhone or the internet until I was almost 18 and then it was a brick phone and shit dial-up. Everything from their generation has NOTHING to do with patience or appreciation or knowledge or respect. Its all, "I want it now" and "I'm bored" and "I already did that. Its boring"... what a nightmare.

The amount of things they know is minimal at best. I received a 32 on my act while two of my friends received a 36 so I felt dumb... they just received their results and they had a 15 and a 17... and apparently that's normal in their school. I didn't say anything to them... but man... O_o

Edit: I'd also like to add, I always felt the previous generations to me had important information that I should try to absorb. The generations after me seem to put ZERO value on anything I or my predecessors know... and yet depend on me ALL the time to do EVERYTHING for them...

very well put, 85 here.. and I know what you mean.

I genuinely think that its because of things like super fast internet on the computers/phones/tv everywhere you go.. that people arent LEARNING as much, because why bother.. everything is a google away.

[Wiyld]

I see a general lack of attention to detail and lack of logical thought process.

Kids these days seem to focus on the thing they want most and just assume the details will fall into place.

They don't seem capable of handling lots of small details day after day, over time small things get forgotten, or simply dismissed out of hand because they 'aren't really important'.

I also get a LOT of stupid questions. REALLY stupid questions that should never have been uttered as they ought to have the capacity to go from point A to point C without help explaining how A->B->C works. I mean really, if your a teenager, pre-adult, you ought to be able to logic your way through things without immediately giving up and asking for help on EEEEVERYTHING,





I get the rocket scientist thing too, I was born in 82, not I think it really matters but yeah, I get that all the time. 'Well yeah of course YOU understand it, you are smart'. I'm so sick and tired of telling people that I don't stand on the top of the intellect chart, I'm wallowing somewhere in the middle of mediocre land. So if you think im a genius....well....you do the math......except of course they never connect those dots.....they immediately assume that I must be a genius because they can't possibly be a dumb ass.

[Scottyjscizzle]

the music and attitude.

So now music and attitude make you smart? the 80's had a few good bands but a lot of the crap was one hit wonders that people cling to like Mozart. Attitude wise looking back at movies/books/family stories attitudes haven't really changed much since my Grandparents were teenagers.

[KOMO1211]

as someone born in 1986, a child of the 90s and 2000's there is really no difference through the ages except in the terms of entertainment. ive had my head buried in a game system or computer since i ever laid hands on one as a small child. ive always been more of a loner though ive had plenty of friends and girlfriends as well. that being said in rebuttal to some of your statements i say i have no social issues talking to people. ive interviewed for 2 jobs since i got out of school with an associates and guess what, got them both before even leaving the office. now i work for a large telecoms company managing wire line and wireless DCS equipment at a ds3-oc192 level. certainly wasn't handed to me. i also work with plenty of people that have being doing this longer then me and are older then me and i look at them like how the hell are you still working here. how about the 45 year old guy that worked here that had a bachelors or a masters in computer engineering and had no clue how to copy/paste? lol
on the topic of education. maybe think some people see the sham they are getting when it comes to what the American university system is offering. maybe they don't see the point to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to get education/job training for a job that will not have any spots for you to work in because its cheaper to pay someone else in another country pennies to do your job at half the quality. if you want to take some anecdotal evidence and extrapolate it to fit a entire generation of people that's cool, ill just refer to you 80's guys as long perm hair having tight pant wearing fruits. that's gotta be right, right?

[Holofernes]

i fell in love with kate bush when i was 5.

Facebooks non-existance made u to make friends and social relationships in the real world.
And yeah back than the wall and the iron curtain existed. Nuclear annihilation was a real issue, with test sirenes and practice alarms every saturday. Reagan and and bush senior were doing very stupid things in america.
Salman rushdie wrote a book about iran leadership. I had nightmares from stephen kings "IT".

The only tv program we kids were allowed was a weekly documentary, about history or wildlife, and bonanza. My ma would buy a portable mini tv (black/white screen) to not miss a part of Dallas. We kids read books for the fun of it, going to library every week, fetching 3 new books.

I dont think we are more intelligent, but we grew up with no internet and no social media shit. Not everything was instantly available, and beeing used to this is what make them seem more wise.

[Deleted]

Born in '94 here. I work hard to get a decent degree and I work hard to get a part-time job. My grades aren't the best, but I strive to obtain the highest, even if they're useless besides getting into university. I don't have much social experience, but I try really hard not to seem retarded. I might fail my own expectations, but know that I'm really trying to become a productive part of society anyway.

And yes, we're naturally dumber because the brain is still developing in the teenage years, give us '00-kids like ten years.