Cuban says we're not so great...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-cuban-says-gen-z-173328551.html

 

Who really cares what Mark Cuban thinks about this?

 

Who really cares what Mark Cuban thinks about this?

Probably all the people he speaks of in a positive way. And the people he doesn't speak of favorably will likely say "Who really cares what Mark Cuban thinks about this?"

 

I guess I'm kind of a late Boomer.

Regarding "quiet quitting"...

Before I started my own business, I always did work above my pay grade, and it paid off very well.

First... the only jobs I was ever laid off from were union jobs where you did "your" job and got "your" pay scale.

All the other jobs I did I worked very hard to be a valuable employee and was never laid off from those jobs.

Also those skills came in handy when it came time to go out on my own and had the advantage of taking some customers from my last job, because they knew who was getting the work done there.

I was going to make this post about the number of skills that I acquired in my youth compared to the youth today but decided that would look too much like bragging.

 

for baby boomers, they will “go down in history as the most disappointing generation ever, from sex, drugs, and rock and roll to what we have today,” Cuban said.

What a convincing argument! Definitely convinced me that he can be safely ignored.

 

I was going to make this post about the number of skills that I acquired in my youth compared to the youth today but decided that would look too much like bragging.

everything you stated is spot on... but that last line takes the cake.

 

if you drop Boomer or GenX on a deserted island, there is a good chance he would embrace new environment, see it as a challenge and adventure, start turning the place into a resort. Within days there would be shelter, fire pit, raft, fishing gear, cache of coconuts...

based on what i see with younger generations (millennials, GenZ), i think in the same situation they would much more likely be to start whining that there is no internet or steady supply of lattes. maybe i am wrong.

so my question is how does one define greatness? resourcefulness or dependency on help of others?

 

There are many definitions of greatness, they vary by the kind of greatness being discussed. I think all people are in one way or another resourceful and dependent on the help of others.

I think this kind of stereotyping often creates barriers to success for those stereotyped.

Both the GenZ-ers and Millennials of which I am acquainted are pretty well adjusted and capable of dealing with the harsh realities of life.

Does this thread have a legitimate purpose?

 

I guess I'm kind of a late Boomer.

Regarding "quiet quitting"...

Before I started my own business, I always did work above my pay grade, and it paid off very well.

First... the only jobs I was ever laid off from were union jobs where you did "your" job and got "your" pay scale.

All the other jobs I did I worked very hard to be a valuable employee and was never laid off from those jobs.

Also those skills came in handy when it came time to go out on my own and had the advantage of taking some customers from my last job, because they knew who was getting the work done there.

I was going to make this post about the number of skills that I acquired in my youth compared to the youth today but decided that would look too much like bragging.

I think youth of today have a lot of skills - just different. For example, we think woodworking and metal working are very different skill sets and young engineer I know views the various typos of rapid prototyping (additive manufacturing) as vastly different on the same scale as wood working and metalworking.

he has machines that 3D print various light alloys, steel alloys, superalloys - each requiring different conditions, problems, goals for physical properties. There are four different major technologies and some machines are hybrid and can do this or that when needed. Then there are design elements and techniques to achieve unsupported arches/windows and "joining" technologies within 3D printing. After an hour conversation with him, I thought he was a genius and then he tells me he's no different than his coworkers. He didn't exactly call me a boomer but I could tell he was thinking it. And he was thinking, "I don't need no stinking bandsaw or tablesaw or drill press or... I have 3D printing". He didn't say that because I knew he used some of these techniques as well in his daily job.

The same kid talked me in circles about investment opportunities in residential apartments and rehab costs of broken down apartments and rent prices and demographics and undervalued properties and building owners who don't understand how to set rent prices.

Last topic this kid talked about is AWS and all the weird databases, analytics tools and other tools are part of AWS when I have only been using it as a Linux instance with all the normal web services and mass storage.

His attitude was, if he ever needed to use a lathe, he would teach himself with YouTube, then find a connection on LinkedIn who could show him first-hand (or do the task for him). No need to wast time learning how to do something until he needs it.

He was very aware of his time, aware of what he eats (he cooks all of his meals from scratch - nothing from a box), leaves time for exercise which is part of his social interactions each day (yoga class, meet-up bike rides, cross-fit whatever). I think the "zoomer generation" is great.

I think of all "resourceful" people I know, Gen Z kids are the greatest. Gen Z kids grew up with YouTube and learning from YouTube as a way of life for them - they didn't know life without YouTube. Example, I was traveling for two weeks and my youngest son diagnosed a scratchy sound in the vintage Fender guitar his grandfather gave him, he ordered new potentiometers, learned to solder, fired up my soldering iron and changed the pots. My wife was pretty dumbfounded when she walked in on him soldering. He was 10- or 11-years-old at the time.

My point, don't oversell the skills you've acquired over the years, this is the age of learning and information. If someone of any age or generation wants to figure something out, they surf, search, read and watch and post a question on a forum and get a hundred people with 30-years of experience commending on it. They can have an answer in an hour when that kind of work took us years to learn through our own experimentation. Who is resourceful? Who needs to start a fire with two sticks? The Gen Z might show you how to cast a parabolic reflector with some polyester resin in a bowl spinning on a lazy-Susan - then they'll show you how to light a fire.

 

Information and skills are two different things.

Do you think you could walk the high wire after watching some YT videos?

Applying for that welding position at the Navy yard:

Employer: "What are your qualifications?"
Resourceful Gen-Zer: "I watch a lot of YT videos"
Employer: >laughs<
Resourceful Gen-Zer: >frowns<
Employer: "Oh, you were serious"

And I never "experimented" my way to having skill, I always had a good teacher and plenty of information. (I would replace experimented with practice) Not to say I didn't do plenty of experimentation over the years.

I also don't "oversell" my skills, but I am proud of them and how I got them.

But don't get me wrong...there are smart, motivated and resourceful people in all generations, and I think the actual issue is the changing attitudes that occur over the years, at no fault of the any given generation.

And those attitudes change for various reasons.

 

Information and skills are two different things.

Do you think you could walk the high wire after watching some YT videos?

Applying for that welding position at the Navy yard:

Employer: "What are your qualifications?"
Resourceful Gen-Zer: "I watch a lot of YT videos"
Employer: >laughs<
Resourceful Gen-Zer: >frowns<
Employer: "Oh, you were serious"

And I never "experimented" my way to having skill, I always had a good teacher and plenty of information. (I would replace experimented with practice) Not to say I didn't do plenty of experimentation over the years.

I also don't "oversell" my skills, but I am proud of them and how I got them.

But don't get me wrong...there are smart, motivated and resourceful people in all generations, and I think the actual issue is the changing attitudes that occur over the years, at no fault of the any given generation.

And those attitudes change for various reasons.

I'm simply a believer that the current and next generations will be as successful and resourceful as past generations - no matter how many people speak poorly of them.

One of my favorite quotes from a Gen Z, "My generation never asked for participation trophies, but Boomer and Gen X parents bought them anyhow - who has the problem?"

 

Well as a Boomer I get my share of putdowns as well...hell during the Pandemic I was referred to as...well I won't go into that.