The Shrinking Generation

The generations are shrinking.  Obviously, the people who comprise each successive generation aren't physically diminishing in stature; that much is made clear whenever I watch any sports program.  The 'shrinking' I am referring to is the shortening timeframe which houses each generation.  Let me clarify.

"Why should I have to turn pages to read a book?"

The "baby boomer" generation generally includes those born between the years 1946 and 1964, an eighteen year span.  By contrast, I consider myself to be of the "'90s generation," a generation that grew up with the delicate balance of outdoor activity and blooming video game technology (see Nintendo 64).  I (roughly and subjectively) include into this generation those who were born between the years 1986 and 1993, a seven year span.  And I continue to observe the younger whippersnappers forming even narrower generational "cliques".  What is the reason for these smaller and smaller time constraints?  I have a couple of theories.


Theory 1: The increasing frequency of technological advances

This one is pretty self-explanatory; the generational groupings mimic the groupings of technological advances.  The time period between World War II and the Vietnam War saw many technological achievements, but they were relatively slow and stepped, giving time for the various age groups to adjust and adapt.  Even the most stubborn old codgers had time to be convinced of the superiority of newer technology and subsequently begin using it.

However, since the invention of the personal computer and mobile phone, technology has upgraded at an exponential pace, to the point where new iPads are introduced every year and people upgrade their cell phones almost more frequently than they change their underwear.  In these fast-paced conditions, even just a five year age difference can be a huge disparity in cultural upbringing.

Television is also a technology that has greatly evolved over the years.  Households once had only a single small TV with a meager 3 channels, but with today's cable and satellite packages including hundreds of channels and thousands of shows that are constantly changing, our popular culture-driven society reflects those changes and, as stated above, creates a cultural disparity in just a few short years.

Theory 2: Joule's Second Law of Generational Grouping

Kepler's second law of Planetary Motion states that a line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.  This explains why a planet moves faster when closer to the Sun and slower when further away.  Similarly, my Second Law of Generational Grouping states that the timeframes which define generational groups must be set such that each generation contains an equal number of people.  So as the population continues to explode, each generational time constraint must continue to shrink in order to keep the number of people in each grouping roughly the same.

Looking towards the future, I can't help but wonder how extreme this generational shrink will become.  Will it eventually come to the point where everyone born on a single particular day is labeled as their own generation?  We'll see...