The Generation Gap is one of the best books I've read in a long time. What I found most interesting were the examples in the book about how different generations interact differently. In this book it is explained that this gap is not between age groups but between 'generations' that have been exposed to different technology and experience. In fact, in the same generation there are people that have grown up with the cassette-tape, dial up Internet, have cellphones, carry a Palm Pilot and a Laptop. With such a big difference in technology and communication, people find themselves struggling to understand each other. The authors do go on to describe communication styles, and the main problem is that of a generation coming together and having to face a difference of thinking styles. How do you teach someone to think like you? How do you learn to think like somebody else? The most important theme of the book seems to be that it's not about technology or age, it's about what people have been taught and can't think otherwise. (disclosure: the authors' names are on the back of the book) ------ markessien It's a pity that he didn't include "the most relevant generation" - people who are born into poverty, or who can never attend school because of poverty, etc. I think those are the ones to take a hard look at first. ------ albertcardona ------ baha_man Is it supposed to be irony? ------ noodle its been a while, but i think this may be related: ------ daniel-cussen I am a member of the GenY ghetto. ------ bkovitz Great title. ------ falsestprophet "What, I ask, is my generation?" It's not you that I love, but the one you're part of, the generation I am part of, the people who live for us. It's for them I'm concerned: The last generation. The first thing we all need to remember is that we're all in the same generation. People are always talking about "generations", and these days it's easy to talk about "generations" and "age groups" with a great deal of confidence because so many "generations" are born in the same country within a few years. So you can "understand" these things: we all know how old those people are. What the generation is like. Just like those of us who are more than 12 are in the same generation as the previous two generations. (And if you're old enough, you are aware that in a few years we can all be "the old generation" and everyone will have to get used to us, and our ways, or we'll all be out of business.) Some of us don't want that to happen. But we can't do anything about it. The fact is, some people would be happier if no one was out there. There's a certain satisfaction in knowing that you've had a real impact on a group, a generation, a nation. The problem is that there are more of us than them. So some of us have to give up our idea of what we want for the benefit of everyone. You may think your ideas are stupid and not worth anything, and that's okay: not everybody thinks they're that important. We all have different preferences. Sometimes we need to be sacrificed for the greater good. "Who am I? I am the most important man in the world." So what do we call this generation, this group, this era? It's the last generation. Think about it: there was a generation that had no choice but to work in factories. There was a generation of workers who had to do that and were scared of losing their jobs. Those people were the most important people in their country. They invented everything that makes life more enjoyable today. They paved the way for everything: the idea of "betterment", economic freedom and freedom of speech, democracy and free choice, etc. And everything that happens today is a result of their contributions. We could think of that generation as the old-school generation. We could think of a different generation as that group of people with more freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of choice, the idea that we don't have to do this job and that job just for a few years, the idea that we can start a company, that it's good to have many options in our lives. Freedom is the idea that we can be selfish, that life should be about choice and not about having to fit into an outdated system. Those are all ideas that emerged from that generation, and have spread around the world, and will continue to do so, and will be passed on and on. Those people are the most important people in the world. Another generation is this new generation of people: born in the last twenty years. Some of them would like you to call them "the Internet generation". We don't want to make fun of people and call them a bunch of youngsters who can't make decisions about anything. They are the result of our parents' choices. Parents make the most important choices. Some of us would rather not admit that these people have a right to "life, liberty and happiness", but that's exactly what they have. They also have the right to love, and to not get married, or to marry quickly. They are the children of our parents' choices. And guess what? As a new generation, and having no other generation as an example, this group needs to find some new ideals for its lives. There is another group of people too: those of us born after 1960 who were born into freedom. We didn't have to fight for this freedom as we grew up, and we've never lived in fear of losing it. We're the first generation that hasn't had to go to war and fight and defend our ideals and our countries. It's quite possible we've never lived through the horrors of war, unlike the older generations. Because we've never been through war, we've been free to think and do as we like and not be limited by the ideals of others. We can do anything that's not against the law: we can have sex with anyone we want, we can write a book about our personal lives and dreams, we can make things, we can do lots of things that people have always wanted to do but thought they couldn't do because they're illegal. We're free to choose our own rules, to define our own lives, to live as we want. This is all good news for someone like me: my dad gave me his old Commodore 64 at a very young age, and told me "this is for your kids", so that one of them could become an artist or something. But at the time he did this, my brother and I thought this was pointless. Who wants to sit and draw all day? We didn't understand this was a statement about what he hoped for and what he wanted us to become. I don't really know where I'm heading, but I do know I'm a freedom person. And we're the first generation of people who've been raised with this level of freedom.