We are probably more or less the same age. And yes, they said it about us as well. And they were right. It's a slow downward trend. And it's still continuing. Do you also see these young mothers on the streets which would just ram you with their baby buggy, because they are deeeeply involved into some toktok swiping ceremony? Addicts. What do we expect from that?
> But when the written material was good enough, they used it.
To some extent, yes, as we all do, they will try to make a good show for you when they feel that there is an audience for that show and it might somehow pay off.
To be fair, though, people have been complaining about the younger generations for hundreds and thousands of years.
I've read accounts of newspapers and common books rotting people's minds (including the "they aren't talking to each other!" concern,) and ancient Greeks complaining about the next generation.
I can't negate any specific point this way, but I do try to think about history repeating itself whenever I see someone notably younger annoying me.
(Also, the complaints that younger generations have about the older generations are just as ancient.)
Yes, another thing that often happens in those discussions: Someone cites Socrates with very similar complaints. To me this is not a contradiction. E.g. maybe the Socrates era has seen it going downhill as we do today, and between there were times with upward movement (maybe forced by some bigger event or development - things are complex). I don't know.
What I know is, when I talk to e.g. colleagues, the younger there are, the more they feel like materialized YT clips. And that's not a good thing. Of course I try to compensate for their younger age when I do the comparison. And of course I could be wrong, e.g. biased in some way. But I would sat that I really try to be fair, and I must be veeeery off if you say there are no such issues.
> But when the written material was good enough, they used it.
To some extent, yes, as we all do, they will try to make a good show for you when they feel that there is an audience for that show and it might somehow pay off.