Arbitrary categorization of generations under titles like Gen X and Boomers has promoted a lot of bad thinking. Study some history and you will find older people were always complaining about what younger people were doing, and vice versa. I suspect our increased longevity has exacerbated things by keeping more old folks around and in power longer.
Why do people strongly opine about topics they know nothing about?
- Thread starter PWMDMD
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I work in industrial automation - ie we automate factories.We have an old saying in my industry. Tell me how I am paid and I will tell you how I work.
Means I will do or say whatever pays the best or my boss tells me to do or say.
Was in reference to a famous person Dr. Zahi Hawass who denies any evidence that the Pyramids are far older than the official narrative and hence not built by the people we currently refer to as "Egyptians" even though all empirical evidence points to it. ie he says what the boss tells him to say because his job depends on it.
This is actually a huge issue across all "Science". Most of these experts make there living giving lectures and writing books, and if the facts change there no longer experts. However I think that is a different topic because they very well know a lot on the topic.
I don't put too much stock on the distinctions between different generations - it's just a convenient way to communicate and most people get the generalization you're trying to make when using these labels.
Unfortunately, the generation generalizations being made are mostly insults based on vibes, not science.
Agree, no one gen has a lock on lazy!
In public forums, media, etc your correct. Most people don't even know where the generational lines are. I will additionally add that all individuals should be judged by the content of their character and anyone that doesn't is a fool.
Having said that there are very well documented differences between the generations as a whole, in things like finances, personal relationships, etc that are very helpful to people that study these things - like demographers, economists, etc. For example - Boomers were far less likely to go to college than GenX. Boomers are also far more likely to get divorced than GenX. These are helpful traits to know when trying to make future policy or economic models, for example.
I remember reading WW1 veterans complaining about WW2 veterans and how they'd have the war wrapped up in months. Same as Korean war vets to Vietnam vets and the Vietnam vets to the GWOT vets.
There is a bit of science out there on the topic. We talked a lot about generational difference in an HR course. These papers were good about not trying to label any generation negatively and they did a good job of just pointing out differences.
As a Gen X, my response initially is almost always just shut up and work. Note, this is NOT how I treat my staff, but it is often the first thought in my head.
I learned in that HR course that the current 18-30 year olds, who often get labeled as lazy or not good workers, really need something to buy into to be consistently good workers. They want to believe what they are doing is more important than just doing things for a paycheck. Once I started giving these staff members something to buy into, most of their attitudes changed for the better.
What was the buy in? Approximately ¼ of our patients have profound special health needs which can be very challenging. I started reiterating that what we do is often difficult and stressful but we provide a needed service to groups of people who others either don't want to treat or don't know how to treat. If not us, who? This gave them validation that what we do is difficult sometimes but what we provide has a meaningful impact on our patients. It was almost like a light switch for most of them.
If it wasn't for people studying generational difference in the workforce, I don't know that I would've figured this out on my own.
This for sure.
My Grandfather emigrated from England in I believe 1908 as a very young boy, like 5. His two oldest brothers stayed in England and are buried in France in unmarked tombs. He had two other brothers on a small subsistence farm and had no future there so in the roaring 20's he hopped trains around the country and worked on various projects here and there, building dams and big buildings and other laborer jobs. He must have been good at hopping trains because they hired him to be a Brakeman.
My grandfather became blind from Glocoma in his old age. He still taught me how to weld when I was maybe 10. I would weld a while and he would throw water on the piece and tell me by feel how I was doing.
He passed away when I was 16. I miss his stories.
This aint AI or copy and paste.
Ummm...ok. Pretty sure I typed in to ChatGPT find common examples of the Dunning-Kruger effect and this is what it spat out. I then in fact read it, agreed with it, and cut and pasted it exactly as you see here. I don't know what to tell you? Here is a screenshot.
Misconceptions are hard to break, and can only really be rectified by the one with the misconceptions by doing research. Physics and scientific misconceptions are usually easy to break with tests, data and evidence. Flat Earthers took a trip to the South Pole, but some still refused to believe what they saw, lol.
Kestas
Staff member
burbguy 82 is correct. Quenching is not necessary to anneal pure copper. It will not soften it more.
I wanted to avoid this often contested issue and not derail the topic in this thread.
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Yep, think I spend more time managing my boss than my team
Tom NJ
$100 Site Donor 2026
IMHO, the three hardest words for people to say are not "I am sorry" or "I was wrong" or "I love you", but rather "I don't know". Humans are curious and imaginative creatures with a hunger to learn and a need to know, even in the lack of valid evidence to support their theories and beliefs. This is exasperated by a desire to know more than their audience so they don’t appear ignorant.
People tend to believe what they are taught to believe or feels good. To know something that others do not - to be in on the secret - creates a compelling feeling of superiority and confidence that overrules the lack of a proven or logical basis. So long as one has learned enough supporting rhetoric to not be proven wrong is misinterpreted as being proven right.
Part of the reason for straying from actual evidence when available is that to understand what is valid requires a keen comprehension of logic and probability, something I find lacking in most people I know. The testing of evidence using scientific methodology is the best means we have of separating truth from feelings, fiction, and faith.
People tend to believe what they are taught to believe or feels good. To know something that others do not - to be in on the secret - creates a compelling feeling of superiority and confidence that overrules the lack of a proven or logical basis. So long as one has learned enough supporting rhetoric to not be proven wrong is misinterpreted as being proven right.
Part of the reason for straying from actual evidence when available is that to understand what is valid requires a keen comprehension of logic and probability, something I find lacking in most people I know. The testing of evidence using scientific methodology is the best means we have of separating truth from feelings, fiction, and faith.
"I was wrong", I practice that regularly or pay dearly..........daily even when right,
I mean some of US got screamed at HARD - WITH ----"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU DON'T KNOW' ?
Still make me flinch. My dad sorta used us as the internet or AI before they were invented. Because we would find out. Slow. Effective.
Most people, in my experience, who hold strong opinions, AND consider themselves very knowledgeable or authoritative in a given field, just can't bring themselves to say "I don't know".
Because everyone’s world revolves around them and them alone. Everything each of us experiences is solely through the lens of our own perception. Why wouldn’t you be correct all the time… you’re the central focus of your own universe? 
In my career, I HAD to say, "I don't know." if I didn't know, because I was held to what I said. Seriously held... And rewarded for results. It was OK to say it but I followed it with, "but I can find out."
It is far better to say, "I don't know." than to be caught lying.
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