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Comment by throwaway98797 | Hacker News Reader

The younger generation get social value by being the saddest person in the room.

Sometimes, their stories are rightfully so and deserve our help. other times they reframe their lives negatively just to win the social game of their generation.

Once they reframe they start to believe thier own narrative creating a vicious cycle.

The older generation, has their own problems in arrogance and ignorance, but they cant even fathom a society of young people who would compete on suffering.

The disconnect will grow.

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>The younger generation get social value by being the saddest person in the room.

This is pretty much classic generation gapping, blaming the other side for not understanding How Things Are. I would suggest some of what this is is a change in power dynamics. It used to be society's expectations were such that you didn't talk about your shitty parents or complain about your lot in life. That led to a lot of sadness, it just wasn't visible. Now people are more comfortable talking about these things and it makes you feel icky.

The younger generation had significantly less tetraethyllead exposure. I wonder if that had any impact.

Yes. https://www.pnas.org/content/118/29/e2020104118

Ha, yes. With all of the unrest in the US, I've found myself wishing the "other side" would at least reintroduce leaded gas so we'd raise kids unafraid to throw bricks again.

>The younger generation get social value by being the saddest person in the room.

I don't think that's fair. I don't think those people are doing it to seek attention. What I do see is people get stuck in a spiral of rumination. It's important to understand how your past impacts who you are today, and your base temperament. If you understand that, you can work around your weaknesses. From there, you grow.

You paint with a very broad brush.

That’s true, the article in question does the same.

Nuance gets lost anytime generalizations are applied. This is the way of the world. See media labeling of Gen Z or Baby Boomers. The variation in sample greater than the variety across labels.

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