So Millennials are the smartest generation?

[u/SpaceWestern1442]

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[u/saber-4444]

[u/Quixotic_Seal → u/saber-4444]

I’m disappointed by them, frankly. For a Reddit thread baiting millennials into it, there’s a distinct lack of people joking about the image looking like the cover of the lamest Animorphs book you’ve ever read.

https://giphy.com/gifs/J2ZoSMMZtk1JuosujA

[u/sola_dosis → u/Quixotic_Seal]

I skipped animorphs as a child, probably because the covers all look kinda dumb. Reading some now and questioning past me’s life choices, for kids’ books these are great

[u/DrySea8638 → u/sola_dosis]

Animorphs was a crazy series of books and got real dark. One book had a solid twist where you find out all the events were a premonition, it never happened and was just test by a cosmic god.

[u/chasing_the_wind → u/DrySea8638]

I wish scientology was based on the animorphs

[u/JumpingSpiderQueen → u/chasing_the_wind]

One could probably make a religion based on Animorphs if they wanted to.

[u/SuperAioli7831 → u/JumpingSpiderQueen]

Lmaooo PLEASE do NOT!

[u/Select_Historian6269 → u/SuperAioli7831]

Look, I'd sign up for a religion that says I can get the ability to turn into a bird.

I wanna see what it's like flying.

[u/LibWithAGun → u/saber-4444]

Oh god, it has happened, we’re officially old. When the algorithm starts complimenting our generation and insulting the next generation it means the barrier has been crossed. Time to enlarge my text size on my phone and laptop 😭

[u/Pay-Next → u/LibWithAGun]

I refuse. I will carry a magnifying glass with me rather than enlarge anything. Also maybe get steampunk glasses so I can have it ready at all times.

[u/MadRhetoric182 → u/Pay-Next]

Monocle. The one they claim the monopoly guy never had.

[u/Daimakku1 → u/MadRhetoric182]

Ohhh Mandela Effect, I like those.

Fruit of the Loom has a cornupia when I was a kid in the 90s, now they're telling me that was never a thing.

[u/ArchWizard15608]

Oh good so that means fertility rates bounce back

[u/Rockd2 → u/ArchWizard15608]

https://giphy.com/gifs/XHeLeuirRbwptHhSWd

[u/solidshais → u/ArchWizard15608]

This is actually relevant lol

[u/hofmann419 → u/solidshais]

Even if we were to assume that that is true, it's not gonna counteract the fact that Gen Z basically lives online and drinks almost no alcohol. Doesn't matter how smart or dumb you are if you aren't socializing with other people.

[u/mt-vicory42069 → u/hofmann419]

tbh less alcohol isn't bad. also i've read that while consumption has decreased, gen z seems to be more into higher quality alcohol, but i wouldn't know since i drink none at all.

[u/Pittonecio → u/hofmann419]

Also, they changed alcohol for energy drinks in dangerous amounts, they are supposed to be limited to one per day but I see the same guys buying 2-3 almost every day at my work.

Edit: don't listen to the guy below, both addictions are dangerous, my point is that they just traded the abused substance for something with similar negative consequences.

[u/Bad_Decis10ns → u/Pittonecio]

My 17 year old nephew drink 3-5 monsters a day. He’s a big guy but it concerns me. I watched him drink 3 for breakfast to start his day. And he didn’t even have any food, just the monsters.

[u/Ruby_Solitaire → u/ArchWizard15608]

Nah - the kids aren't having sex. Legit. The rates are down (that is actually where a lot of the birth rate loss went - fewer teen pregnancies.....which, like, yay!). Hell, that sex comedy that is in theaters rn had all the nudity taken out because people apparently don't like sex in movies in public now that we all have hard-core porn available on our phones. 

Birth rates are down until raising a child stops sounding like you'd be giving birth to something just to torture it forever in this hellscape of world we've got here. 

[u/brinz1 → u/Ruby_Solitaire]

For the first time in history, more first time mothers are over 40 than under 20 Fertility for every age cohort is higher than it's ever been for everyone except teenagers and the under 26

[u/Nvenom8 → u/Ruby_Solitaire]

I want kids, but I’m honestly glad I don’t have any right now. I feel like I’m living through the end of something.

[u/BisonThunderclap → u/Nvenom8]

I'm at the point where I'm financially getting uncomfortable with a well paying job and living within my means. First time in years I've had a "don't buy anything month"

[u/Nvenom8 → u/BisonThunderclap]

Same. I’m making more than my father made annually in his whole career, and I’m barely scraping by.

[u/Haradrian → u/ArchWizard15608]

Yeah that's the point. They kneecap public education and drive up prices so everyone is poor and dumb and will have poor dumb kids to work in their factories and refineries and fields

[u/NasiLemak534 → u/Haradrian]

Lol what factories?

[u/Loxe → u/NasiLemak534]

Amazon warehouses

[u/Demostravius4 → u/Loxe]

Robots

[u/Careless-Vehicle-286 → u/Demostravius4]

Then they need us to produce young sex slaves for them.

[u/Bringerofsalvation → u/ArchWizard15608]

Aren’t like 65% of Gen Z guys single lol

[u/StoryElectrical4868 → u/Bringerofsalvation]

Unfortunately being in a wholesome relationship is not a pre-requisite for having children.

[u/hofmann419 → u/StoryElectrical4868]

The vast majority of these men don't have sex either though.

[u/SillySin → u/hofmann419]

Hol up, if these men don't, so how do the women have the sex.

[u/Economics_New → u/SillySin]

With millennials, that is how. lol A lot of Gen Z is 20-29 range, which means a lot of them turn 30 next year.

That being said, I do know some Gen Z couples who are having kids, but the vast majority of them that I work with are single and with no kids. Which, in contrast to my generation and general area, pretty much every woman had a child by the age of 25, typically before then.

I've had a fair amount of Gen Z guys ask me for advice on just being able to talk with and be friends with women, which isn't something I recall my generation doing because we already had the experience during our middle and high school years.

My best guess is the pandemic isolation really did a number on their mental health and social skills during the time they were becoming adults. I know it impacted my social skills as well and it took like 2 years or so to snap back out of it, but I'm in my 30s and wasn't entering adulthood when it happened.

[u/juzz88]

If we're the smartest, we're all in big trouble.

[u/GH057_807 → u/juzz88]

Narrator: "They were in big trouble."

[u/Tricky-Engineering59 → u/GH057_807]

Millennials first generation to be poorer than their predecessors but smarter than their successors? Oh yeah we’re in trouble alright.

[u/DufflinMinder → u/Tricky-Engineering59]

Pretty sure we take smarter and poorer than their Predecessor.. I believe we are the most educated(as in with degrees) while also making the least in comparison of past generations

[u/georage → u/DufflinMinder]

Don't confuse degrees with intelligence. The educational system has been dumbed down a lot since the days college degrees were awarded on merit.

[u/Red-Leader117 → u/georage]

In some ways yes, but also many if the smartest people DO have degrees. Remember when they thought public libraries and easy access to the internet with HUGE wealth of knowledge would make us smarter?

Turns out you need to apply yourself and higher education and degrees ARE a path to intelligence. Do you want surgery from a doctor who "studied on his own cuz fuck med school?" ... I dont...

[u/amkc22 → u/georage]

That must be propaganda, if i look at older people with degrees. :D

[u/Citizen1135 → u/amkc22]

It's absolutely propaganda, some sort of nostalgia bias. They didn't even have as much knowledge available in earlier days.

[u/crinkledcu91 → u/Citizen1135]

Knowledge and Intelligence are in no fucking way the same thing.

I have an Gen X Engineer at my job who is knowledgeable as heck about our work, but is a Trumper who is unintelligent as fuck and has an awful relationship with his kids because of it lol.

[u/monster2018 → u/crinkledcu91]

I wish more people understood this. Like truly this isn’t just a pedantic point. So many people either genuinely think knowledge is intelligence, or are very often unable to distinguish between the two.

[u/Rocketman_S3 → u/monster2018]

I would even argue that kids are often way more intelligent than we give them credit for. They're just full of hormones/not educated yet.

We often judge people by their worst than by the person as a whole. It's why so many child prodigies exist. It's not that they're miles above everyone else, but that they've been given the tools to succeed.

Edit: apologies for the tangent. The knowledge vs intelligence thing reminded me of the topic.

[u/ExpensiveError42 → u/Citizen1135]

But it's not. People have always skirted by in school but literacy rates for children have declined, especially the last 10 years or so. That's not nostalgia, it's reality.

I worked at a community college from 2013 to 2022 and in that time it went from instructors having autonomy to having to explain why any student made lower than a C. By the time I left very few students failed because the instructors knew it was going to be a fight they probably wouldn't win.

[u/SullyAddams → u/ExpensiveError42]

The literacy rate shooting downwards exponentially is really concerning. Right now it's estimated that 23% of the population of people late into highschool and getting into college meet the bare minimum for proficiency in reading and comprehension. There are professors across the US who have complained they have students that can't read at all. Students who in 10+ years will be trusted with our very lives and safety across various fields from medicine to infrastructure.

[u/georage → u/amkc22]

High grades are now awarded as participation trophies. Grades are less likely to evaluate content mastery than ever because students are now customers.

https://www.ed.gov/about/homeroom-blog/addressing-grade-inflation-collective-action-problem?hl=en-US#:~:text=%E2%80%9D%20Research%20suggests%20the%20primary%20drivers%20of,with%2C%20and%20they%20write%20more%20favorable%20evaluations.

[u/Dazzling_Winner_773 → u/georage]

Yeah I'm not really 100% sure where this came from. I got bachelors in biology and psychology. Pretty much all my professors at that point between 2006 and 2010 fully acknowledged that stem degrees in general were much more rigorous now than they were in the past. Even degrees for the "softer" sciences like psychology now involve mandatory credits in statistics, biochemistry, and neuro anatomy that a lot of them were not actually required to take until grad school.

My biology degree, just the bachelor's, included advanced classes in genetics.. I had one professor who fully admitted that he took whole courses in mendelian genetics when he went to school in the 60s that are now basically taught as the intro course to what his students were doing then.

And obviously this isn't actually true for every school, but colleges have seen huge jumps in class sizes over the decades. And it's 10 times harder to get into school now. The woman I did research with constantly lamented that she used to be able to have one-on-one time with her students. She actually knew a lot of her students names when she was a TA in the seventies and started teaching her own courses in the 80s and early 90s. By the 2000s she could have like hundreds of people in one class.

TLDR: higher education is 1,000% more rigorous, more competitive, and more regimented than it ever was for generations before millennials. The stakes are also way higher because the cost skyrocketed and there are fewer higher paying jobs on the back end.

[u/mjzim9022 → u/Tricky-Engineering59]

Eventually the generations above us will be dead and we'll get the money and their hermit crab shells and it'll be a good time for everyone

[u/Tricky-Engineering59 → u/mjzim9022]

The for profit healthcare industry has already considered this and has factored it into their price structure in addition to the reverse mortgage peeps.

I still do very much like your hermit crab analogy so you get an upvote from me anyway though.

[u/Ecstatic-Compote-595 → u/Tricky-Engineering59]

no fucking way gen x isn't poorer than boomers or at least gdp per capita. except for maybe the dot com boom

[u/Tricky-Engineering59 → u/Ecstatic-Compote-595]

You are probably right and I slipped with my terminology. It’s millennials being poorer than their parents generation who are typically boomers. I (like many) forgot about gen x which is pretty much the thing gen x is best known for; being forgotten about.

[u/Jmpasq → u/Tricky-Engineering59]

Everyone just forgets we exist all the time.

[u/Xirio_ → u/GH057_807]

This is the story of a man named Stanley

[u/FrighteningJibber → u/Xirio_]

\Stanley dies in the intro.*

[u/Xirio_ → u/FrighteningJibber]

\He shot himself.*

[u/Scragly → u/Xirio_]

Stanley's mother named him after a cup, which was her beloved.

[u/sharpknot → u/juzz88]

To be fair, it does take a high level of intelligence to identify the lack of intelligence one has. Stupid people tend to just claim that they're the smartest, refuse to improve, and deny reality.

[u/brontosaurusguy → u/sharpknot]

Here's a reason why were dumb now.  We're trained to signal intelligence like this comment rather than actually obtain intelligence.  No offense, but people in this era love to just regurgitate what they read online that gets "likes" and that has to be harmful to overall intelligence.

[u/Minimum_Cockroach233 → u/brontosaurusguy]

And now add the AI as additional loophole for regurgitation and base of self-assurance. We are cooked. So many Bachelors and Higher degree coworkes around me, that threw their brain into the bin and filled the void with AI farts. Thats the base they bring into discussions nowadays.

[u/tycho_the_cat → u/sharpknot]

Dunning-Kruger effect

[u/rex5k → u/sharpknot]

More like mid level of intelligence.

[u/za72 → u/rex5k]

I know enough to get in serious trouble as well as procrastinate enough to make trivial tasks into epic events... I'm trying to come up with a third thing so I claim a trifecta

[u/Flat-Guidance-4685 → u/sharpknot]

The dumbest people I've known in my life are often convinced they are the smartest

[u/phido3000 → u/juzz88]

Does anyone else feel like they are getting, less capable?

Later Gen X/ early millennial, here.

I probably would say my generation is pretty switched on, generally. But I got to say our cognitive decline has started. Stress from work and family, health, and I guess, just aging. I have no time to relax or read, or think anymore, my whole life feels like a car crash and I am just observing inevitable things happen.

Brain fog and tiredness engulf me. I've lost weight, exercise now, I am looking after myself, but it really hasn't helped, but I am getting better sleep after I changed jobs and went 4 days a week.

I would say I am still easily ahead of even brighter younger people, but I can see the day where perhaps that isn't the case.

I do have a lot of skills they don't possess. I have enough traditional skills that older gen X, even boomers can recognise it, I can write, I can speak formally, I can focus, I can sit quietly. The younger generation we have technical affinity, probably skills greater than even they have.

But I think we are going to have a faster decline than any other generation. From a great height shall we fall.

[u/Accurate-Figure-5310 → u/phido3000]

I’m not sure less capable is the word I would use but I can tell I am aging.

I feel that any decline I am experiencing is a product of stress and a world that doesn’t stop and does feel like a car crash you can’t look away from.

I make an effort to still read and listen to books and I subscribe to lots of podcast and content makers who help me stay educated and up to date on new things going on in my industry.

But I do wonder if things don’t take a radical turn if we are headed for another type of dark age and we will have the point in time to see the descent.

Consider those who are in their 90s they have seen such extreme technology advancements and prosperity for many (not all). But now… will we be ones who live the decline?

This is a stupid reference but I can see a future that does look very similar to a Cyberpunk scenario.

I am trying to decide if I should switch careers and become a community organizer, or union organizer. We need to elevate labor power in America and get more people engaged.

[u/nope-its → u/phido3000]

Brain fog and tiredness can be from various vitamin deficiencies. It might be worth getting blood work done to see if yours is.

[u/JamesLikesIt → u/juzz88]

I don’t want this kind of pressure man 

[u/astralchanterelle → u/JamesLikesIt]

What about a pressure woman?

[u/AdamsMelodyMachine → u/astralchanterelle]

Like a blow-up doll?

[u/Mzungufarmer → u/juzz88]

Sad thing is, how are millenials not the smartest generation. We were born at the right time to understand all the technological advances. Tho we are still stupid, advanced stupid.

Im seeing gen x'ers struggle more and more, and at the same time the new generation only knows how to tap colorful icons on tablets like idiocracy.

We are truly fucked.

[u/davesToyBox → u/Mzungufarmer]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7TKOJ6KlCTcGJA40
Visual included for the Boomers and the Alphas

[u/SeeYouInMarchtember → u/davesToyBox]

Sometimes this doesn’t even work for Boomers. They created icons that look like things in the real world to help with the transition and yet they still don’t understand that the button that looks like a file folder is used for the same functionality on the computer as it is irl.

[u/mittenkrusty → u/Mzungufarmer]

Yeah I hear about how gen Z kids are so smart as they can use touch screen devices therefore know tech.

But that means little as they won't be able to use older tech let alone understand it.

I remember doing a higher education course that is meant to be advanced a few years back, i.e similar level to university and the first things we learned were like how to create a folder in Windows, how to make sub folders, how to search.

I was thinking, this is meant to be advanced not beginner right?

[u/yournamehere10bucks → u/mittenkrusty]

They have to cover that stuff because so many people enter into tech and only have iOS or Android for frame of reference.

I have summer students who cant submit timecards online because the web browser is too complicated to navigate to the corporate website and log in. Then when we train them at a computer they're totally lost in Windows unless they're a gamer.

[u/nik282000 → u/Mzungufarmer]

I was born in 87, had a home PC in 95, have been terminally online since 2000. While a lot of recent, millennial driven, tech is impressive I think human smartness peaked a lot earlier. Today, every field of research and tech is augmented by computers, whether it is full on "AI" slop or just the automation offered by a spreadsheet.

The Mercury project rockets were designed 100% by humans, and they only took 3 years from "go" to "man in orbit". There were computers in the 50s but they were number crunchers only, you couldn't give it a CAD file and adjust your nosecone by 6". Not to mention all the human driven logistics to support the design and manufacture of a god damned rocket! From ordering coffee for the vending machine to operating the machine to roll the metal for the skin of the rocket, there was no thinking automation.

I don't think everyone was smarter at the time but it took a much higher proportion of actively engaged, highly skilled people to complete projects that can now be knocked out by one or two geniuses and a solid CAD package.

We've been fucked for a while.

[u/DabDoge → u/juzz88]

Cooked, as the kids would say

[u/DerKaseKonig → u/juzz88]

It means we've failed in the greatest way

[u/donjamos]

Pretty lonely here at the top

[u/svensexa → u/donjamos]

When you reach the top, you can keep having the feeling of rising, by pushing down the people around you

-Ghandi

[u/Berlin8Berlin → u/svensexa]

"People up in here quoting that goddang idiot Bobby Ghandi like he knows shit. SMDH."

---M. Gandhi

[u/All_Wrong_Answers → u/Berlin8Berlin]

[u/Hottage → u/All_Wrong_Answers]

Our threats are backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

• Mahtma Gandhi, Sourge of the Free World

[u/Relative-Relief-8816 → u/Berlin8Berlin]

If you're not first, you're last.

-R. Ghandi Bobby.

[u/Relative-Relief-8816 → u/Relative-Relief-8816]

This is especially true in 2 person races.

[u/Bubbles_2025 → u/donjamos]

https://giphy.com/gifs/2ABCr6UjvZ1Xa

[u/KaleScared4667 → u/Bubbles_2025]

This is a Gen X meme - but I’ll allow it

[u/ThornFlynt → u/donjamos]

Manny of us thought we were heading to a Star Trek type utopia in the future beyond Y2K... It's no surprise to me that when the future turns out to be Cyber Punk 2077, the next generation does care as much. Also the GOP gutting the fucking education system.

[u/Brutalitops69x → u/donjamos]

The cream always rises to the top, yeah

[u/The_Dide → u/Brutalitops69x]

Oh yeah, SlimJim!

[u/One_Firefighter336 → u/donjamos]

We were the transformational generation, existing before, and during, the inception and manifestation of the internet.

We have lived in both worlds, we have seen both sides of the coin, and it is apparent from our attitudes and the way we view the world.

It’s very lonely at the top…

[u/neednocar → u/One_Firefighter336]

We've watched the shit hit the fan. Too smart to ignore it like gen X an the boomers and too young and few to change or stop it. And then people wonder why we're all depressed.

[u/SufficientPay7800 → u/donjamos]

I believe we’re also the handsomest/prettiest and funniest too.

[u/Hobomanchild]

As an older millennial I find older gen-z to be roughly the same, just some cultural differences. A lot of shit changed really fast, after all. Younger gen-z got hit with covid schooling so yeah ouch.

Alpha scares me.

and Gen-x can't hurt me because it doesn't exist

[u/Expert_Garlic_2258 → u/Hobomanchild]

As a GenX-er, thank you for ignoring us

[u/AdministrativeRub882 → u/Expert_Garlic_2258]

I feel unseen, how it should be.

[u/UlrichZauber → u/AdministrativeRub882]

I couldn't help but notice we aren't in the photo up top

[u/dementio → u/Expert_Garlic_2258]

They don't come on your lawn if they don't know you exist

[u/Paxton-176 → u/Expert_Garlic_2258]

Why are you talking get back in your hole.

[u/Dangerous-Education3 → u/Expert_Garlic_2258]

can someone please write here what that reply said? I see it blank

[u/ever_underwhelmed → u/Hobomanchild]

Thank you, '97 here and tired of being lumped in with the ipad babies, it's a mess.

[u/Priapus3 → u/ever_underwhelmed]

Too many people don't understand where the cutoff is (or that its a literal line at all) when making sweeping generalizations about different generations. I'm millennial and my friend who's two years younger than me is zoomer. There's no difference between us.

[u/dokutarodokutaro → u/Priapus3]

I remember not that long ago there were people talking shit about millennials, without realizing they themselves WERE older millennials.

People thought it just meant “anyone under 23”. Surprise, people under 23 are generally inexperienced or immature. Now people are doing the same with zoomers.

[u/No-Journalist-619 → u/dokutarodokutaro]

Well, that's the thing. Millennials aren't Millennials. The magical wizard man that hands out generation year cutoffs and names screwed up and gave 6 generations standing on eachother's shoulders in a trenchcoat one name because the micro-generations in the Millennial year-span were much shorter than previously defined generations. In 20 years or so we'll see some major changes as the "early millennials" attempt to retire out of the workforce.

Millennials saw rapid changes to technologies and availabilities of those technologies throughout the Millennial macro-generation. Computers showed up, became household tools, then became household game machines(heyo Oregon Trial micro-generation). We also had cell phones getting smaller and cheaper almost yearly, a huge chunk of the generation remembers when texting was charged by the letter(idk my bff jill), the dawn of the Internet, and in cars they went from analog handles to buttons to roll down the windows. While that seemed miraculous to the "Xennial" sub-generation, these thing were the norm for the "Zennial" sub-generation.

So absolutely. "Millennials" who define themselves as gen Y, Xennial, Oregon Trail gen - they're absolutely going to bash "Millennials" that are defined as Zennials. Because it's a huge culture gap. It's not just going to be that one generation is inexperienced or immature: It's a difference in culture and skill sets. Right now we're continuing to see gen X and Xennials being squeezed out of upper level jobs between baby boomers that refuse to retire, and Zoomers/Zennials that are eagerly applying to enough lowball job offers that it's attracted the scammer business. (tried to shorten this reply like 8 times, sorry it's a bit wordy - but hey, it's got proper sentence structure and spelling, so you at least know I'm a Millennial or an AI haha)

[u/DarkwingDuckHunt → u/Priapus3]

Like I had one grandparent grow up with indoor plumbing and the other did not.

It takes time for things to spread out from the epicenters.

[u/Peace_Officer_URL → u/ever_underwhelmed]

Same. The difference between me at 27, and an 18 year old gen z is massive. There's this new guy at work who's 18, and It feels like I'm talking to a middle schooler.

[u/Bubbywubwub12 → u/ever_underwhelmed]

'96 here. We're like in the middle of Millenial and Gen Z. Zillenials have probably a good perspective of both sides.

[u/Arthurlmnz → u/Hobomanchild]

With experience as a teacher. Gen z is fine, alpha is coming up with some serious critical thinking, reading and understanding issues. Really worrying

[u/MrDoitsu → u/Hobomanchild]

Thank you for not lumping me with younger Gen Z. Born in 2000, grew up with Windows 2000 and 7, and Xbox 360.

I personally think Gen Z should be split in half at 2006-2007, around when the iPhone came out for the first time. But I digress.

[u/Quixotic_Seal → u/Hobomanchild]

I think the generational models in general kind of fell apart after Gen Z given how drastically and quickly technology and worldwide events have changed society.

I just really struggle to feel like I have a ton of shared generational experience in common with someone who remembers a world without cell phones or the internet, or who was pushing 18 or even 20 when 9/11 happened; as someone born in the early 90s, who’s never been without a cell phone, internet, or computer of some kind, who was in like 3rd grade when the planes hit, and who graduated high school with YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

And as you identified, there’s a very clear pre and post COVID divide for Gen Z. It’s really hard to imagine that the younger friends I made in college in the mid 10s, were the same generation as kids who were still growing up during COVID.

[u/levare8515 → u/Hobomanchild]

I had two incidents with younger Gen Z this week that baffled me. One was me and a group doing a DnD session at my apartment’s community lounge having pizza. Two high school age kids came and try to take our pizza and then acted indignant when told no.

Another one: I was jogging down a sidewalk that is about 20 feet wide right on the edge of the road as I assume is standard. A high school aged dude coming my direction intentionally gets in my path and basically loses chicken to me. I would have form tackled that kid.

I also fully expect younger Gen Z mentally gymnastics that somehow “it’s just pizza” and “wow so you would’ve assaulted someone”. The internet has warped everyone’s minds

I just don’t understand this kind of anti social shit and tired of dealing with it. Feels like we failed giving structure and consequences to a long of young people

[u/CnSyren → u/Hobomanchild]

'98 here, yeah I can't relate with younger genz at all but millennial for the most part feel almost exactly the same.

I blame early access to smartphones.

[u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

That doesn't surprise me. Of course I am millennial and this strokes my ego so why would I deny it...

[u/CaffeineJitterz → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

Who am I to stop someone from sharing facts?

[u/ArtByAntny → u/CaffeineJitterz]

That's very intelligent of you, if I may say so myself (a millennial).

[u/Relative-Relief-8816 → u/ArtByAntny]

Why hello there fellow genius. It takes a true savant to recognize another. Perhaps we can join a Men SA club where we commit Men SA on eachother.

[u/Saulthewarriorking → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

https://giphy.com/gifs/HB4aJElNd7JMas9WSU
lights cigarette and watches you stroke it

[u/WaxWings54 → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

All jokes aside, I personally hate this kind of thing. Its only designed to turn Millennials and Gen Z against each other so that we end up accomplishing nothing due to infighting and stereotyping. I personally believe this is what cause such a huge issue with the Boomers being handed so much opportunity and focus on how great they were, because when the bill came due they couldn’t let the special spotlight pass on.

Now we have Gen X, overshadowed by Boomers and Millennials still pushing back against the diminishing Boomers who simply had the benefit of being born in a huge time of prosperity.

My point is, there are incredibly smart and dumb Millennials and Gen Z. The only way we improve as a whole is cooperation amongst our generations. I really hope that we can set aside the mistakes the past generations past and make things better going forward

[u/witchyET → u/WaxWings54]

This is how I think. I work with a lot of genZ, I like the people I work with. I honestly think that any hate toward another generation is either designed or people reacting to the loud majority online. Probably a combination of both. Anything to divide.

[u/Ithikari → u/witchyET]

It goes way further than that. Even Plato was bitching about people younger than him and that reading was going to make people lazy.

I half admire that a tradition has actually lasted several thousand years but on the other hand its also just wrong.

[u/PanchoPanoch → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

I have a Gen Z intern who is getting a minor in AI. He leaves college knowing how to write prompts.

Before you say he’s going to learn to develop ai and blah blah blah, that’s computer tech, coding and development. That is not what he is learning.

[u/Ok-Gift4105 → u/PanchoPanoch]

This is just “Degree in underwater basket weaving” repackaged.

[u/Important-Finish-514 → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

As someone Gen Z who manages a team of millenial nurses this did throw me for a bit

[u/Holymaryfullofshit7 → u/Important-Finish-514]

Why? This generational stuff is always bullshit and never says anything about any individual actual person. Most boomers may not be good with computers but my dad build his own PC at 70 years old. Who cares about this stuff. My post was meant as a joke.

[u/Important-Finish-514 → u/Holymaryfullofshit7]

I agree, I've just not found the generational beef thing carried on among the younger gens. If anything, it's kinda hard to tell Z and Millenials apart 8/10 times- hell my back even kills me too!

[u/CentralVal]

Hey this is comforting. I can’t get a job right now but at least I have future employment herding the mouth breathers.

[u/djmanning711 → u/CentralVal]

I hate to break it to you, but intelligence isn’t the prerequisite it should be to moving up the ladder 😂

[u/majorhap → u/djmanning711]

Yea I remember when I thought we lived in a meritocracy as well. Early to mid 20s was full of hope.

[u/Lysol3435 → u/djmanning711]

Having herded z’s, I don’t want to be in management. Just let me do my projects and leave me alone

[u/theStaircaseProject → u/Lysol3435]

“Whatchu mean ‘be on time,’ bro? Hop off, damn. Tweakin’ over shit that ain’t that deep.”

[u/BulletProofEnoch]

The right combination of growing pre internet, early internet, up to internet now

[u/fellow_hotman → u/BulletProofEnoch]

we also benefited from the removal of environmental lead while dodging the education delays of covid 

[u/Niktodt1 → u/fellow_hotman]

Also dodged the usage of AI in school so there's a higher chance that the person actually worked on their degree (some people of course cheated, but that's nothing compared to today where it's almost a guarantee that 99% of students use AI, heck even teachers do too)

[u/Fit_Swordfish5248]

https://fortune.com/article/how-did-us-spending-30-billion-dollars-on-laptops-result-in-first-generation-less-cognitively-capable-than-parents/

You dumb fucks.

[u/SeeYouInMarchtember → u/Fit_Swordfish5248]

Yeah, let’s give kids laptops they can use to distract themselves without the teacher knowing what every student has up on their screen at a time learn with and see what happens. Bet it will turn out great.

[u/Pussy4LunchDick4Dins → u/SeeYouInMarchtember]

Even the engaged students are dumber. They are taught shortcuts to learning without ever doing the learning in the first place. It makes it difficult for them to learn problem solving or critical thinking. And, for some reason, humans are less capable of memorizing information read on a screen compared to a book. 

[u/Fit_Swordfish5248 → u/Pussy4LunchDick4Dins]

Also writing that information back down. We've thrown out an entire process that had been refined to get information into us with cheat codes. We've dumbed everything down so much you don't need a brain to operate anything anymore.

[u/StuffMaster → u/Pussy4LunchDick4Dins]

I absolutely believe books are better than screens. Especially for basic school subjects.

[u/runawayhuman → u/SeeYouInMarchtember]

When I was in school I learned how to use command prompts to get on the school’s server and see the list of all computers on the network and display a message on them before having them shut off remotely.

I would do it constantly to this one kid (I was kind of an asshole back then) but his reaction was always funny to me.

“Miss White, my computer just told me to go F myself and then shut off!”

[u/LifeGetsBetter01 → u/Fit_Swordfish5248]

Computers peaked with The Oregon Trail. Shit never needed to go further

[u/Low_Fix_1752]

Millennials finally winning something that isn’t debt

[u/UsedFortune5645 → u/Low_Fix_1752]

Yeah! realises Ouch.

[u/dadstache1992]

As ai gets stronger humans get dumber. 

[u/MyPunsAreKoalaTea → u/dadstache1992]

Also the American education system being destroyed by the right because dumb voters are more likely to vote republican

[u/EzmareldaBurns → u/MyPunsAreKoalaTea]

Thankfully the US isnt the only country in the world. It is worrying whats going on there, though

[u/redhandsblackfuture → u/MyPunsAreKoalaTea]

This might come as a surprise, but Gen Z's exist outside of the United States as well

[u/Due-Leather-6210]

I realise that purpose of this post is to instigate inter-generational shit-slinging. But for anyone who is actually interested in where these claims come from, heres two articles with at least a small semblence of depth, explaining what was meant by this. The statement is based on the work of a nueroscientist into standardised test scores, and a presentation to U.S. Senate he gave on the matter. No, gen X are not excluded from it, they do have worse test scores than millenials. Whether or not test scores are proportionate to "smarts" or lack thereof is open to debate.  

https://www.vice.com/en/article/gen-z-is-the-first-generation-dumber-than-their-parents-neuroscientist-claims/

https://medium.com/@nic417570/is-gen-z-actually-dumber-than-their-previous-generations-or-are-we-just-measuring-it-wrong-12ce95e7c59d

[u/newyne → u/Due-Leather-6210]

Exactly! My first question was, What do they mean, "smarter?" Because "smart" is a vague term to begin with.

[u/Due-Leather-6210 → u/Due-Leather-6210]

https://fortune.com/article/how-did-us-spending-30-billion-dollars-on-laptops-result-in-first-generation-less-cognitively-capable-than-parents/

[u/Largicharg]

Isn’t that what every generation thinks?

[u/nottherealneal → u/Largicharg]

Pretty much.

There was a time when it was literally a meme that everyone kept blaming everyone on millennials and how dumb they where

[u/Squidgebert → u/Largicharg]

George Orwell has a quote on this: "Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."

[u/sarcazm]

As a millennial, I think the secret is curiosity. True curiosity about how important stuff works.

For boomers and Gen X, it was too hard to do research without the internet. Digital encyclopedias and the internet made looking stuff up easier and easier but not for millennials whole lives. We grew up with school libraries to do research. We’re very familiar with how to research using analog and digital.

When I have trouble with something at work or anything really, I know how to combine technology to do it the fastest way.

And just curiosity in general. Younger and older generations believe anything they see or read. They don’t do their own real research or question everything. Critical thinking is so important but the younger generations seem to ignore it completely.

[u/Puzzled_Nothing_8794 → u/sarcazm]

I don't disagree (also millennial). Two things strike me, first is why are we competing with other generations on who's better? That seems like a waste of time. Second is we went from music videos on mtv to the internet, self driving cars, and AI. This is a crazy fast jump in intelligence and human capacity. That not only we deal with on a daily basis but are trying to raise kids in. I can't raise kids like my parents because the world is completely different. We are adapting at light speed. So yes curiosity is an incredible tool to help experiment and learn how to navigate this life and world. So is trust and patience. There's no room or time to criticize a generation. Also the 90's were the best lol. What a great decade.

[u/glorblin → u/Puzzled_Nothing_8794]

first is why are we competing with other generations on who's better?

It's not a dick measuring contest where "millennial good, gen z bad", it's a way to track how we are doing as a society.

Every generation should be smarter than the generation that came before it, because we as humans are developing as a society. Better nutrition, better healthcare, better access to education, better education methods, better knowledge base to teach from, etc.

If gen x wasn't smarter than boomers, that would be a failure of society not a condemnation of how stupid gen x is. Same thing with millenials and gen z. It's not that gen z have failed us, it's that society has failed gen z.

As with everything in life, the root cause is extremely multifaceted. Covid had an enormous negative effect on a lot of of gen z where they lost several crucial development years that they can never get back. The internet has been another huge negative contributor, as has the misguided implementation of technology in schools which has shown to impair learning instead of aiding it. Screen time is another big issue, especially with malicious apps meant to monopolize as much of our time as they can. Now gen AI is here to finish off the job.

We need to figure out a way to solve these systemic issues so we can mitigate the damage as much as possible with gen z and hopefully reverse it for gen alpha. It's not about criticizing a generation, it's about fixing the damage before its irreparable.

[u/Sudden_Wind_8636]

Smart is honestly such a hard thing to define. Smart in what way?

[u/Supergamera → u/Sudden_Wind_8636]

As defined by a Millennial writer.

[u/Bubbles_2025 → u/Supergamera]

The writer as they wrote down the title:

https://giphy.com/gifs/Ph5ELYJov9n5oHzVHZ

[u/Valkyrie17 → u/Sudden_Wind_8636]

Flynn effect describes a constant increase in the average performance in IQ test scores. The average score increases by ~2-3 IQ points every decade. So technically the average person from 100 years ago would be considered clinically retarded today.

There have been suggestions that this increase has stopped since the 90's, but some meta analysis concluded that this is false and the increase is still ongoing.

[u/Ok-Gur-349 → u/Sudden_Wind_8636]

It's gonna be really upsetting if we study this and the answer is "every quantifiable way."

[u/JCkent42]

Based on what source? Isn’t this just a post of a photo?

[u/alien_farmer1 → u/JCkent42]

Based on trust me bro

[u/GrandSquanchRum → u/JCkent42]

Here's the source for people wondering: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf

Before people talk about COVID the mark in decline was noted in 2010.

[u/Front-Cabinet5521 → u/JCkent42]

Source: Millennials.

[u/-kokomelon-]

Such a millennial thing to write

[u/ThatFlyBlackGuy]

What kind of boomer shit is this lol

Edit: even the comments below are trying to push the idea of a clash between millennials and Gen Z , these bots are advanced lol

[u/Kemmeis → u/ThatFlyBlackGuy]

The classic previous generation belittling the current generation to feel good about themselves

[u/DarkwingDuckHunt → u/Kemmeis]

Instead of realizing it's the adult's fault, and not the child's, when the child fails to learn.

It's the same as boomers making fun of my generation because we had to use YouTube to learn basic skills the boomers never taught us.

[u/Time_Pop_2762]

What’s the point in being smart when you know you’re a slave on a people farm.
Wages don’t go up, while everything around you becomes unaffordable.

At a certain point you throw in the towel, personally I feel great sorrow for the life they’ll never fully experience because of sociopathic billionaires not paying taxes back into society.
-Millennial speaking

[u/particlemanwavegirl → u/Time_Pop_2762]

I mean the only difference I see with us millennials is we had hope longer.

[u/CostcoFosco]

no, Millenials just like to take quizes and label themselves into Harry Potter houses

[u/Aquarona]

As a millennial, I’d like to feel smart and accomplished about this, but my knee-jerk reaction is that it just means we were the worst at cultivating the next generation.

[u/Feisty_Pain4468 → u/Aquarona]

Well to be fair, gen Z was raised by gen x, not millennials (for the most part)

[u/JustGoogleItHeSaid]

Oh look another divide and conquer piece of propaganda, again

[u/MilesCountyKiller]

Little secret for the young ones here. Every generation thinks they are smarter and harder working than any generation that comes after them.

[u/reap3rx]

As a millennial, this is some propaganda I would put out to troll Gen Z

[u/Gwaihir-]

"Die jugend von heute ist schkimmer als je zuvor und die Zukunft wird ganz schlimm." Jede Generation seit mindestens 4000 jahren. Wartet mal bis die Generation 40 ist. Dann kann man ein Urteil fällen. Davor nicht

[u/EnemyOfAi]

And here we see Millennials creating memes about how much better they are than the next gen. Watching us become Boomers in real time

[u/Seagullbeans]

As a gen z yeah I see it, lotta brain dead people in my generation

[u/Starcnet → u/Seagullbeans]

It's so sad... can't even go out for a beer anymore before someone thinks is "smart" and talk a lot of sh1t and the others join in agreeing, and I'm not talking about politics but physics, math, geography or even music.

[u/Deereximus]

My take is Millenials are old enough to teach the boomers how to use PC and tech, and we are old enought to teach gen-z how to use PC's and tech. We were in the sweet spot where we learned tech things the old fashion way, where we had to learn like Myspace etc before things became "to easy" with AI etc.

[u/SinfullySinless]

As a teacher, not sure what this is based off of, but really Boomers and Gen X are actually more functionally illiterate than Gen Z.

50+ year olds are at 30% functionally illiterate. Gen Z is at 25% functionally illiterate.

[u/Tiny_Instruction_557 → u/SinfullySinless]

That is because Gen Z is still in school. It declines the longer they are out of school.

[u/Wise-Bet-7166]

It's happening 😐

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6Zt7dGWFhIfyaGwE

[u/MyStatusIsTheBaddest]

Backed by zero data from some random internet millennial person with no job living in their parent's basement (safer assumption than what's stated in post)

[u/Bkm321]

I don't believe some random image without a credible source bruh

[u/Jolly_Rotten_X]

https://giphy.com/gifs/AcySDoUs7L7UphHy3o

[u/paralyzedvagabond]

The prophecy is coming to fruition
https://giphy.com/gifs/26ufj7fhSk99FK32U

[u/VIadCarpenter]

Me seeing this as a Millennial.......

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o85xGocUH8RYoDKKs

[u/Flashy_Emergency_263]

What an arrogant, dismissive, hateful thing to write!

Before you jump to conclusions, I'm in my 70s.

The Millenials were the most targeted from birth by Madison Avenue advertisers.

That was one form of brainwashing.

Faux News and company hit my and subsequent generations hard.

GenZ had ever increasingly small attention grabbers that actually started with MTV and some video games, thereby decreasing attention span.

The internet became commercialized and then flooding the zone, targeting algorithms, gaslighting, and echo chambers added to the assault on critical thinking and actual knowledge gathering.

Multiple once-in-a-lifetime crises hit one after another.

Quality wages/jobs plummeted and ai resume screening put qualified workers in job purgatory.

An entire US political party hates facts, science, education, and compassion.

Orwellian surveillance and totalitarianism is on the rise world-wide, crushing dissent and free thinking.

But sure, it must just be that GenZers are stupid. That's it. That's the ticket.

[u/mittenkrusty]

My dad who would is a later boomer gen i'd class as far more intelligent than me.

He did electronics engineering in the Army, has a degree from a good university and this is despite him having health issues that made him unable to work as far back as I can remember.

I remember having a home computer in the early 90's with a built in tape deck that died, he took it apart worked out where all the traces went and wired a external connector for a tape deck so I could still use it.

I blew the internal fuse on my Snes and he knew what the fault was just by me describing it and fixed it.

Not bad for a guy from a family background of farmers.

[u/KeyMyBike]

They certainly seem to think they are

[u/Afraid-Divide-3501]

Right

So are we just ignoring the fact that like a fourth of Gen Z are still in school

[u/AfraidBottle6810]

Makes sense. Millennials had access to broad knowledge before it was corrupted by social media.

[u/Mysterious-Diver7693]

We millennials spent our whole life getting shit written about us in the Gen X and boomer media are we really now going to do the same thing to Gen Z? Break the cycle people

[u/BladeVampire1]

As a millennial, that sounds like BS.

[u/MurderCityET]

I disagree. All my kids are hyper intelligent, just in a different way. Let's not become boomer fucks by glazing our own generation.

[u/aaclavijo]

Election propaganda to start infiginting with the younger generation.