Generation Wuss | Hacker News Reader

Generation Wuss

vanityfair.fr

23 points001sky10 comments

This article struck a chord with me (a young millennial). I spent a lot of my childhood doing camping and other outdoor activities, and in the past six years or so turned to programing. In both situations, problem-solving is much more valued than abstract senses of justice or "how things should be". If you firewood is wet, it accomplishes absolutely nothing to complain about how you're being victimized by nature—you need to get over it and figure something out. And I'm sure we're all acutely aware of how it matters not one bit whether your software "deserves" to have a bug or not; you're still stuck fixing it.

Far too many of my peers expect natural talent to yield success, expect effort to count more than results, expect life to be overwhelmingly fun, expect to be carefully nurtured until they're completely comfortable with the problem at hand. I had a friend who was amazed that boys didn't come flocking to her (despite her aloofness) since she was "beautiful like a Disney princess" and "guys enjoy the chase". Another thought that her years of classical violin training entitled her to win an American fiddling competition...despite not being nearly as comfortable with the style as the other competitors.

There's a lot to be commended about my generation's focus on social justice and equality. But hopes and dreams about the future shouldn't come at the cost of being unable to grapple with the reality of the present.

Let me get this straight: the 46 year old author started dating a 23 year old and then concludes that millennial culture is immature? That's utterly asinine.

If the author is "exasperated by how him and his friends [...] deal with the world" perhaps he should grow up and date somebody his own age.

That's a bit ad hominem, don't you think? I thought the author made good points regardless of his personal circumstances.

[Disclaimer: Didn't downvote you]

The article makes makes broad sweeping claims (unsubstantiated, needless to say) about a generation (neurotic/narcissistic/wussy) with a linkbait title "generation wuss". The article isn't even clever or insightful. We've heard the horror of "participation trophies" a thousand times before. Yawn.

In the article he also manages to make light of bullying. He puts cyber-bullying in scare quotes (as if it isn't a real thing) and by talking about people who "feel" bullied. As if the emotional distress people feel isn't the essence of being bullied. He then pokes fun at somebody who committed suicide for being a wuss who can't handle a prank. That's such a vile thing to do.

Then the article tries to deflect criticism by proclaiming that people who roll their eyes at his generational generalizations simply can't stand to hear the truth ("anyone with a snarky opinion [...] labeled as a douche -- case closed").

The author has been talking about this "Generation Wuss" things for years now (https://twitter.com/BretEastonEllis/status/26825707812724736...). The article is just a longer version of that tweet. Juvenile and utterly without substance.

I'm a member of that generation myself, and I agree with a lot of his points. My generation is one that can't take criticism, and requires constant positive reinforcement. Any negative opinion is dismissed as "trolling" or being a "hater". His claims are not contrary to the truth in the slightest, they're descriptive of a failed generation.

The fact that you're worried about his being unimpressed with modern non-problems like "cyber bullying" kind of proves the point of the article, whether or not you're a member of generation weak sauce.

Laughing at cyberbullying because it happens online is as dumb as laughing about school bullying because it happens in school, an environment which most adults will agree is ridiculous.

That doesn't mean there aren't a few good points in there, but for someone who claims to abhor narcissism, this person sure likes to talk about themselves and their achievements a lot.

> [Disclaimer: Didn't downvote you]

I don't think you'd be able to even if you wanted to, since you replied to him.

I completely agree, as a member of the generation in question. Most of my peers disgust me, and I'm not above these issues myself - but I try very hard to fix it.

Fortunately, life has kicked my ass soon enough to wake me up, and my parents did no do a bad job at it either.

> I never pretended to be an expert on Millenials and my harmless tweeting about them was solely based on personal observation with the reactions to the tweets predictably running along generational lines.

"I intentionally stirred shit and called a generation too sensitive, and some of them got upset by it - which just proved my point!"

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