Culture & Society

Worldviews in Transition: Navigating Cultural and Generational Changes

Everyone is going through their own internalized struggles with understanding change in society and themselves

I was watching SRK’s Ted Talk today, it’s quite a famous one garnering millions of views. SRK or South Asia’s beloved actor Shahrukh Khan talked about the changing face of humanity and how different generations have adapted to change, in a way I found the talk to be illuminating, deepening, and also relatable to the changing times of today. The talk was on humanity, fame, and love; but it gave me a post-modern gaze to reflect more on psychological, social, and economic shifts that are happening across generations today that have been radical, and dynamic and caused a topsy-turvy shift in world views often transformed or reshaped through the influences of technology.

SRK talked about humanity’s progression from its crude, minimalistic designs to an outlandish complex world of diplomatic moorings; he gave an example where in his beginnings he understood the basic structure and prism of the world i.e., you do good actions to reap good results. You work hard, get into the best college possible, take the best job, marry the girl you love, and live a life happily ever after. But the world isn’t that simple he realized once he stepped on the city of dreams which is Mumbai, i.e, the Los Angeles of India; where the entire showbiz and the world of Finance lay their domineering imprints along with scattered slums spread out amidst high-rise buildings, often the highest in the subcontinent of South Asia. The hunter-gatherer mindset of simple living even if the extent of that simplicity would involve violence to gain mating rights, having more stake in the gathered or killed food did not have the subtle tricks to living. It was what it looked like to the naked eye, which is not so in the 21st century.

The different generations that exist

According to the Pew Research Center, there exist the following generations:

1. The Greatest Generation (Born before 1928) — Generation that fought the world war in the developed world, a generation that fought colonial structures of polity and economy in the developing world.
2. The Silent Generation (1928–1945) — A generation that worked hard to escape the clutches of poverty and destitution after the horrors of wars and economic turmoil caused by it, or a resource-scarce nation-state presently independent from colonial hands. It's also the generation that was transiting from traditional virtues of hierarchies and progressing toward the possibility of an integrated open-ended world order.
3. Baby Boomers (1948–1964) — A generation that experienced freedom in the real sense for the first time. Democratic values began penetrating the subconscious. Pop culture started evolving, psychotropic substances went more mainstream.
4. Generation X (1965–1980) — The generation that shaped and perfected entrepreneurial spirits, and the developing world opened up its doors to foreign investment and saw a manufacturing boom. Cross-cultural contact began in China and Singapore. There was an explosion of pop cultural stuff; hoodies, merchandise, and vinyl records all became quintessential to one’s private life.
5. Millennials (1981–1996) — A generation that was born during the satellite television boom, cassette tapes to listen to music, introduction of white-colored computers, lately they lay in the precipus of a digital economy in 2024. They act as a bridge between all Generations post-Gen Z and pre-Gen Z.
6. Gen Z(Born after 1996) — The current generation is purely digital-driven. They are playing mobile games, entering chatrooms, and are more private and sheltered. Social Scientists find the current generation is more open about facing mental health disorders compared to other generations. They are more liberated, and vociferous in terms of their external demands of how their sexualities and identities are perceived. But they are also validating their identities through the virtual world.

Post Gen Z there are names for other generations as well, especially those born between 2013–2025, they are called Gen Alpha. If someone is born post-2025, the generation will be called Gen Beta. However, these are just assumed names since anyone born after 1995 even in popular consciousness is called Gen Z.

Interspersion of time

Irrespective of different generations existing, we see that different facets of our culture and traditions often find expression after a certain wave of change hits a population. Countries like Japan and India, are still very traditional including wearing traditional custom dresses, their culture often gets reflected in pop culture whether Anime or Bollywood, it acts as a gaze to the ideas of the past.

Born in setups where parents follow traditional customs, celebrate traditional holidays, and are brought up with their ideals of living often create a time that is mixed with many influences. We see cultures being blended in the technological domain to facilitate its enhancement via it and its allied tools. Indian sarees and traditional dresses often feature on e-commerce sites that can be easily availed.

Astrology has been in use since time immemorial in the subcontinent and also in forming marital relations. There is a spree of astrological software that can be availed to do so. The concept of looking for potential matches for marriage earlier often involved recommendations from friends and family followed by the consent of the pair, this has been now replaced by marriage dating apps. In a way, the ideas of time can be seen blending with today’s ways of living. Similarly, the Japanese mastery of crafting and manufacturing artifacts can be seen in the various cars, heavy machinery, and accessories they have managed to manufacture. The attributes of culture often express themselves via the movements of time.

Now Grandparents can finally take a breather

Irrespective of how culture shapes itself, a human being's specific age often contributes to its behaviors. When you are an infant you need care, you cry a lot, you giggle when people you like appear in front of you. You cry when someone you do not know tries to place you in their lap. The childhood period is often marked by heartfelt genuineness, curiosity, mischief, and a want for gifts. The teenage phase is often marked by rebellion, the development of complex emotions, and bodily and hormonal changes. Adulthood is often marked by maturity, the development of a calmer demeanor, and character, and the ability to understand actions and the consequences that they can bring when you perform them.

Similarly, the grandparent's stage comes with some fixed set of traits. You, often become like a baby where you require attention and assistance. You love to play with grandkids as friends. You can also shapeshift between being wise and being funny, depending on who stands opposite to you. It's the last leg of your journey hence many also become cut loose and more open to say and talk about things etc.

A part of this no-strings-attached attitude is also because the atmosphere of economic independence, not for all, but for many we have created has to be commended for this, because their grandparents saw the struggle of living, but today’s grandparents like them are freer to be themselves and enjoy company with their grandkids. Albeit, struggling a bit, on average, even Grannies and Grand Pops can engage in technological bliss, often watching spiritual and religious shows on YouTube or watching their favorite retro artist singing a beautiful song.

Parents struggling to balance both love and responsibility

My parents have always used this sentence once or twice in their life that starts with “When I was a kid” It goes something like, “When we were kids we used to walk 2 km every day to school.” The version often gets altered depending on the emotional guilt parents want to build on their offspring like adding an altered fact, “When we were kids we used to cross a river and walk past mountains and then walk 2 km by an unpaved road every day to reach school.”

Parents especially from the developing world have seen two phases of time, one of pure and utter destitution especially the post-World War phase and the post-colonial phase, they value resources and the extent of their use, and also the era of abundance especially in today’s surmounting aura of neo-liberal economy. Kids in our times have not seen the exact struggle that parents had to do to get where they are in most cases. Hence, there is often this conundrum of restraint and release friction when it comes to how much is too much should you give to your kids in terms of availing them of resources especially items that are not basic and often are used for recreation.

The frugality and economically conscious attitudes of mothers often reflect the tight shoestring budget they operate in, and also to make sure that their son or daughter has a hearty meal and remains happy always. They too are technology savvy, but even then a lot of what they use as technology is often work-dominated, and old-generation mothers prefer open conversations, outer climates, and friendly discussion, as is the case with fathers. Their access to technology also determines how well they are versed in its use, for instance, the use of it depends upon the settings they come from, is their hometown urban or rural?

Gen Z is reckless but in a good way

The current generation is enjoying the fruits of the digital age, the fruition of what humanity has strived to make of in modifying nature according to their convenience. The digital explosion of social networks, remote work, the creation of internet celebrities, fast-paced content, and speed dating have taken the world for a ride. The other generations barring millennials are still trying to make sense of how the world is changing, and how individualities and sexualities are expanding. They are coming to terms with freedom of choice, the etiquette of parenting, and the changing world of human rights. Understanding the values of privacy, even if it means not violating the privacy of their sons and daughters.

Just like every generation, within generations, there is diversity, each member within a generation sees the world differently depending on the surroundings in which they are born. A teenager of current times in the US will be miles apart in similarities to the same teen from Gaza, they will have differences in what they perceive as a convenience, how well they know about the idea of freedom, and how bigoted they are in their understanding of humanity. Social situations determine how well one have been able to shape themselves in the circumstances they come from. Regardless, the digital offspring of today validate themselves via social networks, trendy clothes, photo sharing, and being in vogue has deeply impacted their psychological state. But on the other side, Gen Z is more vocal and aware of their needs and wants, they are open about their mental health at least their generation is beginning to view it as a problem as compared to others who want to keep it under wraps and suffer in silence.

The clash of generations

One thing will never change when human emotions arise and we do not understand each other and points of view (pov) that come packed with us as a diverse bunch, we often crawl and try to impose our ideas onto other people, and their subjective ideas are often disregarded. This is something that is a constant issue with not just between generations, but also internally within members of a particular generation.

Ideas about what is the best way out to solve a problem, and how we decide on certain activities such as being on the internet 24 x 7 often land in vigorous debates and conflicts taking the form of a verbal spat. But the only way to resolve this is to be open to a free-flowing conversation that is heard, a constructive debate needs to be followed and what logically appears to be right should be followed, and a bit of compassion in understanding where a person comes from why somethings mean so much to them won’t harm you.

For teenagers, it's necessary to see the hard realism behind their utopian ideas when they are being brought to the ground by their parents. And adults need to let some of the problematic beliefs that their old parents have because sometimes the beliefs can change and that can be done with compassion and conversation rather than ridicule and insult.

Reality behind the curtain

It is imperative however to know that not everyone can be fixed into these generational observations and box them as per the average outlook of what we observe as the behavior of generations. It is not that simple. Trendsetters exist, people who are not sheep rise and formulate the notion of a new reality, whether it's Gandhi who thought about an anti-British India, or Nelson Mandela who thought about a South Africa without colorism, racism, and apartheid. Some people are out of the ordinary and their worldviews can be starkly different from their peers. On the whole, mutual respect, mutual understanding, and finding a center between our differences can help us become better at handling the disputes we have in our world views.

Suppose we become more considerate and more accepting of our falter lines. In that case, we will be able to make a far smoother transition in a time of changes in worldviews by amicably resolving our intergenerational differences, and that my dear readers will be a just transition respecting everyone equally in the same measure and importance.

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