Dr. Jean M. Twenge raises the alarm bells in her latest, authoritative book
59) Part II of the books I have read in the Summer of 2023
Hello, everyone! As I mentioned in PART I of The Summer 2023 is in the books -
The creation of an archived list of books I read is no small task, especially since I have not exactly done a good job of tracking everything I read from the time I started to become an avid reader in 1999 (at the age of 17) let alone all the books I read for school/ book reports I did prior to 1999. (Not to mention all the books my mom read to me as a young child). But, I will do my best, going through my dad’s basement (as well as my long term memory), to gather prior books I read and have fun in creating my own personal archive.
The first book review I’m covering is
Generations by Dr. Jean Twenge (Published April 2023 → read by me July 2023)
This is a book that really changed the way in which I perceive the world. It makes me better understand why older people say “I don’t understand young people.” Even though everyone was young, once upon a time!
Among all the individual choices each one of us can and does make, either on a micro-level or a macro-level, two of the most fundamental things we never had a say in are -
+To choose to be born
+To choose the year we will be be born
Yet, being born and when we were born are so significant on the trajectory of our lives. As ^Twenge broke down the generations that make up the overwhelming majority* our society today.
The Silents (1925 - 1945)
The Boomers (1946 - 1964)
Generation X (1965 - 1979)
Millennials (1980 - 1994)
Generation Z (1995 - 2012)
Polars (2013 - 2029)
^This is Twenge’s breakdown. If you go to other sources, the cut off years might be different for each generation.
*All due respect to the “Greatest Generation” (1900 - 1924), as they were not included in this book.
+I suppose one can go down a metaphysical rabbit hole and make some type of argument about being born and choice…But, for the sake of keeping this post on task, I will not delve into that topic at this time.
This book was so thoroughly researched where the author used numerous data points on thirty-nine million people to help us all make sense of the different age groups of all Americans.
It was also so thought-provoking, where it really had me place the year I was born (1981) within a social/historical context.
Twenge explained, those born between the years 1979 and 1983, are a bit of a tweener between “Gen X” and “Millennials”. This actually shed light and understanding on how I relate to the world that I’m in.
Twenge also identifies how Millennials were the first generation that really looked at “American Individualism” and took it up a level. Generation Z which we are in the enthralls of now as the dominant youth culture, (as most Millennials are now past the age of thirty), has further raised the ante.
As a middle school teacher (to 12-14 year old children) I have had conversations with colleagues who have found it challenging understanding different gender pronouns, and have not always been comfortable addressing students with different gender identities.
Among Gen Zers, there is a feeling that others imposing gender identity on a person does not allow for that person to truly express their own sense of autonomy.
There is a wide range of views on this topic, often shaped by not only which generation you come from, but your cultural background as well. Twenge’s writings on this topic has given me some very valuable insights on better understanding the moral values younger people hold in comparison to all generations that came before.
Of course its only fitting that its young people who have the biggest impact on the future of our world.
I also shared a number of the details of this book, earlier in the summer on my friend Earnest Christian’s podcast.
Earnest did a great job of creating this nice five-minute mini video on “Generations” out of our hour-plus long talk.
Although for the record, I was a bit tired as I kept on mentioning GENERATION Y - the actual Millennial generation; When I clearly meant to call them GENERATION Z.
Dr. Jean M. Twenge also has a Substack where her two featured posts discuss the extensive use of teenagers using social media, and the anxiousness social media creates around young peoples’ day to day lives, especially young girls.
Twenge does not take credit for all these findings, as she did a great job of referencing people in this field that are raising the alarm bells on our smart-phone addicted generation, too. Prominent authors on generational-trends such as William Strauss and Neil Howe, are cited numerous times throughout her book. (Neil Howe has a Substack newsletter, as well).
Jonathan Haidt, the social psychologist and best selling author of The Coddling of the American Mind, is referenced throughout Twenge’s findings, too. Haidt has a very popular Substack newsletter himself, where he discusses the dangers our youngest generations’ face by being too plugged into technology, and disconnected from the world at large.
While my brief review of Dr. Twenge’s five-hundred plus page book doesn’t nearly capture the impact her findings will have on the present (and future) of society, you can clearly see other thought leaders speaking out about the direction all this technology is trending. And how it has already had unintended and harmful consequences on us all.
I certainly will be recommending Dr. Twenge’s work to family, friends and especially teacher colleagues for years to come.
-JPJ
Stay tuned for my next review on Chuck Klosterman’s “The Nineties - A Book”
I'm ordering this book, now!
This is a fascinating look at generations. I want to start thinking about this in regards to both literature produced by these generations as well as the way each generations reads texts.