Generational Dynamics World View

[Bob Butler 54]

(09-21-2020, 09:30 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

Taiwan Forever Wrote:I live in Seoul, South Korea, but what is left of my family lives in Taipei, Taiwan. I want to thank you, John for the information and hard work that has gone into all of this. I don't talk with my family about this anymore. It's pointless. I don't think I will be alive much longer, and that really doesn't bother me. I am at peace with it. Thank you for preparing me for the end. I don't have much else to say.

Thank you, John.

Well, I live in Boston, but apart from that I agree with everything you're saying.  Pretty much everything is pointless these days, and the best thing to do is prepare for the end and be at peace.  And no, there really isn't much left to say after that, is there.

Thank you for your message.

I get the feeling that the separation is mutual.  From what Dave says about being a blue in a red area, he avoids talking about politics too. The difference is that Dave learned to keep quiet fairly early.  

If you don’t want to feel like a fish out of water, head for the water?  It is easier than becoming something other than a fish?

The WEIRD theory seems to account for it.  The equivalent of the red group is into tribal thinking, relationships among the group, obligations among the group, a more rural life and, excluding others not kin or not sharing a larger ideology.  America - if you are into this perspective - was created for white Anglo American Protestants, the cavalier culture.  If you value another identity such as blacks, latinos or native Americans, go away or expect rejection.  In older times, if you were Asian, Italian, Irish or whatever the latest group of immigrants was, you got rejected as well.

Then there is the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) folks seeking principle, bonding temporarily with folks with similar skills, thinking that all men are created equal and trying to live to the ideal.  This is the more urban educated roundhead culture that drove the reformation, the enlightenment, the industrial revolution, the recent 4Ts.  They will develop principles such as banning kings, banning slavery, banning dictators, banning racism, and other things that frustrates tribal thinking.

The tribal folks dedicated to people like them just don’t agree with the folks who insist on including all.  The best one can do is move to an area dominated by your own tribe.  If you don’t, you will be rejected.  In many parts of the world, many groups are still tribal, still working for the group, still conflicting with other tribes.  WEIRD parts of the world are mostly made of people who have learned to read, who have different mind patterns, who value principle over tribe.  It is just how your mind works generally if you are a reader, though there are obviously exceptions.  It seems we can’t go back to the illiterate days.  Our brains are not going to be wired as they once were.  In places like America, South Korea, or Taiwan it is too late.  The people are already predominantly literate.  If you are going to integrate happily, you have to mesh with the WEIRD way of thinking and living.  If you can’t, you are going to end up a fish out of water.  It is best to get wet.  It is rather hard to not be a fish anymore.