Is Gen Alpha Actually Doomed, or are prior generations wrong?

[Oliverlogan263]

Everywhere I look I see Gen Alpha, saying that they're doomed and that they'll be the downfall of society. Some people feel that this bloated out and seems more like a bandwagon people jump on simply due to watching a few videos of kids using new-age lingo that has been created recently. However, what's everyone else's thoughts on this? And does it appear to everyone that looks like Gen Alpha being potentially ruined by technology?

Yes, they are doomed. Absolutely

No, I don’t think so. The previous generations are wrong

[Summeroflove]

Every generation has significantly gone downhill from the previous one. Generation beta will be the same way…. But this happens all the time it’s just Gen Z and millennials are reaching that age where they are looking back at their childhoods with rose colored glasses. Because let’s face it the world is a better place when you’re a kid no matter what era unless you unfortunately had a shit childhood.

But part of the issue is the parents that are raising generation Alpha. Which is mostly Gen Z and Millennials. But I do agree. The silent generation, Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, and now Alpha. You just notice the regression with each new passing generation.

I would say the slang of Gen alpha is just a dumbed down version of what Gen Z was saying in 2016-2020

[ProbablyClueless]

Gen Alpha isn't doomed at all. Y'all just have to recognize where Millennials and Gen Z dropped the ball and avoid those mistakes. It's pretty easy to avoid, if you know what to look for.

I'd say the biggest thing for Gen Alpha is to never be afraid to have heroes. Don't operate from a place of fear; nothing good happens when you do that. Have heroes and icons and ideas that you unapologetically strive to be like. Don't be afraid to have your identity under attack. Never be scared to hope. Learn to separate individual ideas from each other and don't be afraid to take issue with certain things and not with other things.

[Kelley1]

I didn't vote because there is no real choice; just two choices that support the OP's biases.

No generation is doomed. Even if for some reason, a majority are, a few will survive because there is much variability in human behavior. In that event, those that survive will pass on their behavior and characteristics to their children and descendants and, within a dozen or more generations, those behavior and characteristics will become the new norm.

[abc3643]

This:
"within a dozen or more generations, those behavior and characteristics will become the new norm."
makes sense, but, in reality - especially in the past several generations - doesn't really apply anymore because the culture evolves very quickly now in response three factors related to the relentless advance of technology:
1. People have more power at expressing themselves and feel free to do that. With more voices in the mix, new ideas and other factors enter the culture more quickly.
2. Ideas and news spread much further now.
3. People thus exchange ideas faster and they can learn new ideas faster.
In short, culture evolves faster because of better and faster osmosis and assimilation.

[Kelley1]

@abc3643 I agree that a quickly changing culture so that what is best for one generation may not be best for the next implies that at least part of natural selection that was applicable for millions of years may not apply any more. In the past, there was very little change for a 1,000 or even 10,000 generations ( about 250,000 years). Even when there was some discovery that changed society, such as from the Stone age, to the Copper age, to the Bronze age, to the Iron age, the changes occurred over hundreds to thousands of years and outside of better weapons, may not have affected the average person much.

I am sure that going from tribes to large cities, and from primarily hunting to agriculture were major changes, but the transitions took thousands of years and have lasted as long or longer. Now things are changing so quickly that they occur in less than a generation, so I don't know.

Is it possible that technology will advance so that we live in "human utopias" with unlimited access to food and water, ending with a population collapse similar to the experiments on "rat utopias"– enclosed spaces where rats were given unlimited access to food and water, enabling unfettered population growth?

[abc3643]

I don't think so because, unlike the "rat utopias", humans would still spread as more humans would be born. We'd need to expand to other worlds and that takes effort. There are always challenges because, even if you live in a utopia, the utopia has to be maintained... Humans maintained the rat utopia.

Besides, there are always unsolved problems in mathematics that need to be solved...
Like the Collatz Conjecture...
From Google Gemini:

The Collatz Conjecture is a famous unsolved problem in mathematics that's remarkably simple to state, but incredibly difficult to prove. Here's the basic idea:

The Rules:

Start with any positive whole number (like 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on).
If the number is even, divide it by 2.
If the number is odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1.
Repeat these steps with the resulting number.

The Conjecture:

The Collatz Conjecture states that no matter what positive whole number you start with, you will always eventually reach the number 1.

Why It's Challenging:

Although mathematicians have tested the conjecture with vast numbers, and it holds true for all of them, no one has been able to prove that it will work for every possible number.
The sequences of numbers generated by these rules can behave very erratically, going up and down in unpredictable ways before eventually reaching 1.

In essence, it's a very simple process that yields a very complex and unsolved problem.

[Kelley1]

@abc3643 It is impossible to test all numbers but in time, if mathematicians keep trying, it may be proved. It took 350 years to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. A proof that very few people can even follow; let alone understand. Some mathematicians are hoping there may be a simple proof.

[purplepoppy]

Every generation thinks the the following ones are rubbish but they always turn out OK.

[Jersey2]

Came here to say this

[Twalli]

At the rate technology is advancing, they'll have to adapt to continue to be successful, which can save them. If it begins to stagnate, then there is a problem. Some of us recall when 3G was the best of the best out there. Now it's almost obsolete.

[Dargil]

We are consigning out culture to incompetent children, thanks to CSDF's.
Communist-Socialist-Democrat-Fascists.

[NicholasRedone]

Spy Kids 2 "we're doomed - we're doomed" lol fictional character guy lol scene

[NathanDavis]

they are what you raise them to be...

[OddBeMe]

Funny, every generation going back millenia thought the most recent one was doomed

[Anonymous]

When AI takes over yes