a generation that learned to question

 

a generation that learned to question

Looking back, I think our childhood experiences helped shape how we see the world.

I didn't just grow up watching television and absorbing whatever was presented. I travelled, encountered different cultures, saw different news, questioned things and watched history unfold.

Think about the experiences that shaped our generation:

• The 1980s consumer culture and the wealth Hollywood glorified.
• The Moral Majority and the changing political landscape.
• The AIDS crisis and the treatment of gay people.
• Live Aid and the realization that the world was interconnected.
• Tiananmen Square in 1989, watching Tank Man on television while in Mexico.
• Discovering different news and entertainment through satellite television.
• Later, Occupy Wall Street and the growing divide between rich and poor.

These experiences can change how you see the world.

Perhaps one reason some of us feel different from others is that we don't separate things into little boxes. We see connections between money, politics, media, culture, technology and human behaviour.

Being awake doesn't mean having all the answers. It means remaining curious, questioning what you're told and being willing to change your understanding when you learn something new.

I think that's part of the story of our generation: we watched the world change from one television channel to a satellite dish, from three networks to the internet, and from local news to a global information system.

We went from waiting for the evening news to having the entire world in our pockets.

But having access to more information doesn't necessarily mean understanding more.

And that's something worth reminding younger generations.

The question isn't just what they will do with all that information. It's whether they will learn to question it, understand its context and think for themselves.

That's worth talking about.