There are many labels put on people in order to differentiate them from others.
One of the more prevalent labels that are used is the “generational gap”, which is the idea that being born during a different time changes everything. Everyone belongs to one and you have no say in the matter. Some of the common ones you may hear are “Millennial”, “Baby Boomer”, “Generation X” and the “Greatest Generation”. It's almost become a competition in an ever-advancing society where there are bound to be differences in lifestyles between generations. It is common for each generation to prefer theirs over the another's because of nostalgia and their own personal bias.
Due to this competition, it creates disdain between people and causes more dilemmas in the world than needed. Old traditions contradict new trends and cause branching opinions in people. Just because something is different doesn't make it wrong, but unfortunately some people are only able to see things through their own eyes and are unable to look at another’s perspective. Obviously, the environment has changed, but people have not. We are quick to criticize those who are different without trying to understand why they are different. It has been a never-ending cycle of humanity; the old criticize the young. Because of this criticism, the young try to ignore the old or try to fight back with their own critiques of old people. Due to criticism, there are stereotypes thrust upon people that aren't always true.
One common misconception is that Millennials are all narcissistic and self-obsessed, but this is false. People assume Millennials are narcissistic because of their presence on social media, but in reality, people have always been narcissistic and now it's just easier to show with social media. Another misconception is that Baby Boomers are bad with technology. But one of the greatest technological minds in history was Steve Jobs. He was born in 1955, which means he was a baby boomer. Despite his status as a Baby Boomer, he is known as one of the most technology savvy individuals in history.
This just shows us how these stereotypes are morally wrong. We use stereotypes as a tool to make us feel safer because it allows people to have preconceived notions of the world and how people will act based on psychical characteristics. This hurts society, though, because it causes us to judge who people are with not actually knowing them. This is what associating people with a generation does; it causes them to think people from other generations are completely different from ourselves without those people even knowing anything about them. Society as a whole needs to focus more on understanding people instead of focusing on what's on the surface.
You don’t have to agree with someone else’s view, but you should be thoughtful enough to understand why they have their view. The generational gap prevents this from happening and it is something we should try to move away from as we progress towards the future.
