I recently had an epiphany.
It didn’t take much to have this grand thought pop up in my head. As a matter of fact, it was something fairly trivial. Much like how epiphanies tend to come about.
A good friend of mine whom I have known for years started showing a strong interest in science, specifically theoretical physics. When I asked him why he had the sudden interest in a subject that was off his beaten path, he simply stated that he had always been a fan of scientific studies and theories. The only difference is that now, he is tired of hiding his inner nerd.
It didn’t take much to have this grand thought pop up in my head. As a matter of fact, it was something fairly trivial. Much like how epiphanies tend to come about.
A good friend of mine whom I have known for years started showing a strong interest in science, specifically theoretical physics. When I asked him why he had the sudden interest in a subject that was off his beaten path, he simply stated that he had always been a fan of scientific studies and theories. The only difference is that now, he is tired of hiding his inner nerd.
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| The new essay on The Motion of Hydrogen Atoms in an Excited State is out! I must tell the WORLD!!! |
Is it that nerdy to be interested in the vast unknown? Hardly. The subject has always been fascinating to me, as well as anyone that has taken the time to learn about it. I’ve found that when they do, it turns into a slippery slope and they completely immerse themselves in it. So why would such an interesting topic also have such a stigma attached to it? I think it’s simply a question of how we were raised. “Raised?!” you ask, “Parents almost always want their children to learn!” I’m not talking about parents. In my personal opinion, the average child is only half raised by their parents. The rest is done by their peers as they grow up.
Let me give you an example. I've always been (more or less) an oddball as I was growing up. Because of this, I stood on the edge of the social norms from kindergarten though sophomore year in high school. Then after a while, I found myself gravitating towards the majority of the kids I went to school with. My speech, actions, even my personality became somewhat parallel with theirs. At the time it seemed like I was “naturally converging” with them. In actuality, it was something a lot more obvious. I wanted to be a part of the group.
One of my college courses dealing with psychology in a social setting demonstrated this very well. We were shown scientific studies in which a group of people in different age groups were asked multiple choice questions. These questions were extremely easy; with the correct answer being borderline common sense. The twist to this specific experiment was that four out of the five people being quizzed were actors, purposely and uniformly answering the questions wrong. Consistently, younger test subjects (13-16) would agree with the actors and answer the questions incorrectly. Whereas the older subjects (21-27) would disagree with the others and choose the correct answer. The purpose was to demonstrate that younger people have a tendency to want to go along with the group, rather than being right… even if the group is comprised of total strangers.
Yes, many people grow up never following this path and stay their true, odd, beautiful selves, and I honestly applaud them for doing so. They are ahead of the curve, and they seem to live more happy and fulfilling lives once they grow up. Me? I had to learn that fact the hard way.
On my hour-long drive to work this morning, I kept dwelling on this subject, and I noticed something.
Let me give you an example. I've always been (more or less) an oddball as I was growing up. Because of this, I stood on the edge of the social norms from kindergarten though sophomore year in high school. Then after a while, I found myself gravitating towards the majority of the kids I went to school with. My speech, actions, even my personality became somewhat parallel with theirs. At the time it seemed like I was “naturally converging” with them. In actuality, it was something a lot more obvious. I wanted to be a part of the group.
One of my college courses dealing with psychology in a social setting demonstrated this very well. We were shown scientific studies in which a group of people in different age groups were asked multiple choice questions. These questions were extremely easy; with the correct answer being borderline common sense. The twist to this specific experiment was that four out of the five people being quizzed were actors, purposely and uniformly answering the questions wrong. Consistently, younger test subjects (13-16) would agree with the actors and answer the questions incorrectly. Whereas the older subjects (21-27) would disagree with the others and choose the correct answer. The purpose was to demonstrate that younger people have a tendency to want to go along with the group, rather than being right… even if the group is comprised of total strangers.
Yes, many people grow up never following this path and stay their true, odd, beautiful selves, and I honestly applaud them for doing so. They are ahead of the curve, and they seem to live more happy and fulfilling lives once they grow up. Me? I had to learn that fact the hard way.
On my hour-long drive to work this morning, I kept dwelling on this subject, and I noticed something.
Every generation evolves from “little shits” to “old farts” without really noticing it until they start comparing themselves to the younger crowd. Furthermore, the thirst for knowledge may get lost in the majority of teenagers’ years, but it comes back when their maturity grows. With a vengeance.
I myself had only rekindled my lost love for The Written Word a few years ago. When I was right around the age of twenty-three, one of my best friends suffered a horrific motorcycle accident in Elkhart Lake during the AMA races. In the following weeks, many of us spent our days in a hospital waiting room, hounding the doctors and nurses for status updates, waiting for him to wake up. So much so, that we were becoming idiot savants in the medical field. After spending every waking moment learning what instruments indicated what, how to judge was a good reading was, and learning everything there was to know about the process that one goes through as they're waking up from a coma. We even found ourselves advising total strangers that were dealing with the same dilemma. Soon after that point I became desperate for some sort of distraction. A distraction to keep me from a haunting thought, following me around like a mariachi band that I refused to tip. It was the idea that someone I considered family may not be waking up, ever.
When I drove back home to pick up some clean clothes and provisions for the following week I would be spending in a hotel room, I decided to do something I haven’t done in about seven or eight years. I stopped by a bookstore and looked around. After about an hour of not knowing where to begin, I stumbled across an author that I had heard of before. Sitting down and reading that book when I got back to the hospital helped a lot. From then on, I was always reading something. (In case you were wondering… he eventually woke up, and will be attending law school next year. He’s the toughest mofo I know.)
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| Pictured: a total pussy. |
I will admit what caused my transition from playing video games to reading was not a normal one by any standards. However, that’s not to say that the majority of my peers didn’t go through that same transition in their own way. Something subconsciously or consciously changes in them, or maybe something internally or externally happens to them. Whatever the reason may be, it definitely has a profound effect on a person becoming an adult. A vaguely familiar quote comes to mind, “As I was a child, I thought like a child and understood as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.” I’m almost certain it was a Bible verse, which is why I'm almost certain I quoted it wrong. However, don’t bother correcting me; you should be almost certain I couldn’t care less.
Now that I'm actually paying attention to my generation, its underlying maturity becomes more and more apparent. Global issues, literature, science, the arts, and a general need for further knowledge fill the void that is created by spending less time on things like glittering vampires and The Hills.
Lately I have been catching myself having “old fart” thoughts. “Those little punk kids.” “Have some damn manners.” “Turn that damn music down, you're driving through a neighborhood” “I need a nap.” “Shit, my oxygen tank is running low.” This has caused my view of society in terms of age and attitude to shift. I originally thought I was supposed to be at least thirty-five to think that “those kids are nothing but punks”, but not when I was one of them just a few years ago.
Now that I'm actually paying attention to my generation, its underlying maturity becomes more and more apparent. Global issues, literature, science, the arts, and a general need for further knowledge fill the void that is created by spending less time on things like glittering vampires and The Hills.
Lately I have been catching myself having “old fart” thoughts. “Those little punk kids.” “Have some damn manners.” “Turn that damn music down, you're driving through a neighborhood” “I need a nap.” “Shit, my oxygen tank is running low.” This has caused my view of society in terms of age and attitude to shift. I originally thought I was supposed to be at least thirty-five to think that “those kids are nothing but punks”, but not when I was one of them just a few years ago.
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| Self portrait. |
I really hope that I'm right. While I do notice my generation growing, I also notice our younger counterparts, and they seem to be worse than ever. Maybe it really is the fault of the parents. Being the digital age of SMS and MMS, blogging, Wikipedia and WebMD, apathy and complacency might have set into the older folk. They find everything that they were taught becoming available online, thus they see less of a need to drive their kids nuts by butting into their lives, to teach them right from wrong. Ethical from unethical. Manners from deserving a kick in the ass. These newly middle-aged people may be becoming pussies more and more. They seem to be getting skittish about actually disciplining their kids, for fear of them calling the cops and reporting child abuse for something as diminutive as grounding them. Which I'm sad to say, has happened.
Now when I say “discipline” I'm not talking about grabbing a belt, or even spanking for that matter. I'm talking about simply letting the kid know who the boss really is. Scold them with some fucking authority for once. Look angry, stand high and tower over them, deepen your voice and let your fists rest on your hips. Put the fear of god into those little pricks. Then maybe, just maybe they will realize that they don't wear the pants in the family. After that, they might not turn into cocky teenagers and young adults who think they're better than everyone around them. Many of which have learned to write and speak in what I call “Suburban Ebonics”. Constantly using terms such as “TTYL, BRB, ROFL”, and writing in the dumbest way I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing… “u need 2 gt w me, need 2 gt sum azz. Plz?”. I must clarify, did not receive this message myself… though I’d be willing to bet that someone, somewhere has received it within the last hour.
Now when I say “discipline” I'm not talking about grabbing a belt, or even spanking for that matter. I'm talking about simply letting the kid know who the boss really is. Scold them with some fucking authority for once. Look angry, stand high and tower over them, deepen your voice and let your fists rest on your hips. Put the fear of god into those little pricks. Then maybe, just maybe they will realize that they don't wear the pants in the family. After that, they might not turn into cocky teenagers and young adults who think they're better than everyone around them. Many of which have learned to write and speak in what I call “Suburban Ebonics”. Constantly using terms such as “TTYL, BRB, ROFL”, and writing in the dumbest way I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing… “u need 2 gt w me, need 2 gt sum azz. Plz?”. I must clarify, did not receive this message myself… though I’d be willing to bet that someone, somewhere has received it within the last hour.
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| And she sent it. |
While it may be satisfying to bitch about this sort of thing, at the end of the day I really hope that I’m mistaken. I've always held people to a higher regard than I probably should, but somehow, I'm rarely disappointed in the outcome. So from now on, I won’t be so worried about the younger kids I see, because I am now starting believe that every generation grows out of that immaturity and takes an interest in bettering themselves through knowledge and substance.
Every generation may have been worse than the one before it, but so far, they’ve always found their way back...
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| ...TO THE FUTURE! |
