05-31-2021, 02:43 PM
(05-29-2021, 09:46 AM)David Horn Wrote:(05-28-2021, 11:52 PM)X Marks the Spot Wrote: The wiki RationalWiki has an article on the S&H theory, which you can read here:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/William_St..._Neil_Howe
Like a lot of people, it calls the theory pseudoscience. Some of their points sound as if the editors on that wiki don't understand the theory at all. For example, this part:
Quote:The "crises" chosen also lend themselves to confirmation bias. The Depression and World War II period was a time of drastic societal change, but so was the Vietnam War and 1960s. Why is one a "crisis" and the other an "awakening"?
It's not just how "drastic" it is that makes a turning a turning, it's the national mood! During World War II the mood was patriotic; during the Vietnam War the youth zeitgeist was "let's burn a flag". During World War II the coming-of-age generation was a patriotic, obedient, socially conformist generation of social conservatives that fought for Mom and apple pie and questioned nothing; during the Vietnam War the coming-of-age generation was an unpatriotic, rebellious generation of social liberals that refused to fight Communism and questioned EVERYTHING.
For the same reason, World War I wasn't a Crisis. The mood was one of dreary fatalism. The coming-of-age generation was a bunch of scrappy, raw cads and nihilistic bohemians. Totally different from the Great Depression and World War II!
People only see what they want to see, unless, like a car crash, the damage simply can't be ignored. S&H did a great job finding a historical thread, but let's agree it's subtle and open to discussion. Of course there will be naysayers and folks who just don't get it. Chill! It's all good.
Then again, as shown for example by their distortion and denial of January 6th, Republicans can't even see a car crash or its damage.