Posted On: Tuesday - September 8th 2026 6:52PM MST
In Topics: Artificial Stupidity Muh Generation
The first problem with being a blogger from one of the older generations is you often don't remember you've already wrote about this generational stuff ... or anything else. Upon perusing a recent Steve Sailer substack post (just up to the paywall) on the naming of generations, I saw his great line stating that "Generational Theory is Astrology for MBAs." I really like that, and I know I'd read it before. A search got me to an older Unz Review Steve Sailer post / Takimag article Generational Gobbledygook: Astrology for MBAs. Ahaaa, there.
I also see that - this was only 3 1/2 years back, mind you - in the comments under UR post, I'd written a whole lot*, because I am familiar with William Strauss & Neil Howe's set of books on this Generational Theory. I hadn't written the background + review posts yet, but I stated that I'd use what I wrote in those comments whenever I did.
I did, obviously, but at that point I neither referenced Mr. Sailer's article with that great line nor all my comments in review of the books! What a tangled post we render, when we don't practice to remember..
From that recent post by Mr. Sailer, it's this graph that got me started here.
ngrams - lots of people like them, including Mr. Sailer. Here's where I disagree with him:
Thereโs a huge amount of talk about generations lately, although itโs not obvious that there is much of a generation gap in reality. The Generation Gap rose and fell from about 1964 to 1976:That was his paragraph above the ngram graphic. The problem with searching for certain phrases is that another new-generational phrase may take its place. Nobody says "generation gap" (Peak Stupidity excluded for these posts) anymore, because that was a phrase used by Boomers and the parents across the gap. How about if one ngramed "OK, Boomer" or "Damn worthless Millennials". I'm guessing you'd see some more recent peaks. Then too, most of the discussion about it would not be in books but in text messages and x's.
Let me quickly summarize 3 posts on the Boomer v Millennial generation gap I'd almost forgotten too from 4 1/2 years back, titled Millennials v Boomers.
Part 1 was about political differences. There's lots of writing in there about Presidential elections and the votes cast by the Boomers. Looking at some numbers, I saw that the strong political divisions have been not ever been really lopsided among Boomers, so I don't agree with the impugning of that generation based on politics. It's not like you end up with one entire generation of Communists and another of Libertarians. Each generation has its own different struggle that divides it.
Part 2 was labeled Digital vs Analog thinking. There's a big difference that leads to the main point here.
Part 3 was labeled Muh-muh-my g-g-generation g-g-gap. In this post, the widely differing economic and demographic conditions that Boomers lived under vs. the Millennials was described. There's a big gap in the understanding of each other.
Nowadays, I believe an even bigger generation gap is being formed. Digital vs Analog thinking - say, the competence with physical tools vs competence with digital electronic tools, aka, software was the start of it. However, the use of the smartphones has been a major change in the operation of society. It's a fundamental thing. My generation got our information about the world from other people, usually direct and in person. The young generations get information about the world from collective knowledge, often "curated" by people we'd rather not have do that.
The iPhones had been widely introduced by the end of '09, per my search. Someone born since '06 would not remember a time when he didn't see others carry around smartphones and use them incessantly. That puts 20 y/o's at the beginning of this new generation. Without good parenting, as in the control of "screen time", the use of the devices by these children themselves would mean that they had some
This difference in the very method of thinking between my generation and the younger ones hit home on long night last summer, as I wrote up in Uber Stupidity. The gist of it is that young people trust what comes over the internet and is displayed on an app versus a live individual person telling them something directly. "Never trust an app under 30 (Megabytes)." may be the new "Don't trust anyone over 30", as said by the young Boomers 60 years ago. (Thinking in Megabytes and other numbers may be pretty sus too, come to think of it.) Maybe it'll just be "Don't trust any one person."
Calling this a "Generation Gap" would be like calling one of the lower-profile cross-over vehicles a station wagon. OK, Boomer, that's just insulting. Let them come up with their own new term for the same thing. Even "GenGap 2.0" or "MyGenerationGap" sound too old and Microsofty.
How can we bridge this... whatever we want to call it? We haven't even mentioned AI yet.
* Mr. Sailer even nicely wrote me back a quick comment.
Comments:
Moderator
Wednesday - September 9th 2026 5:28PM MST
PS: Adam, I took a break until tomorrow on the 3rd stripped-out window-motor pulley spline on the Korea mobile. About a year back the front 2 failed simultaneously. I was rolling one up and the other down, so one stayed up, and one stayed down.
The back ones are a little more trouble to take off, or maybe that's my memory, as my mechanic did the fronts. However, back then he bought me 2 more of those spiral pulleys for the regulator cables for $10 a piece. My son and I put those in the old regulator plastic for storage. That last step was tricky.
Now, a year later, I am about to put one of those new pulleys onto the regulator of this back window. (I wasn't sure they were the same part, but it looks like it. Yea, no charge!) I really need to finish this tomorrow before I forget what goes where.
I did quite a lot on this job before resorting to youtube, but man was I glad I did when I got stuck. One Hot Rod Dave is the guy's name, and he does a good job with the videos. There's no speeded up stuff, and his lab doggie hangs out in his shop and is co-star. Then, the funny part was when it rained and Hot Rod Dave really got on the stupidity of weather forecasts!
The back ones are a little more trouble to take off, or maybe that's my memory, as my mechanic did the fronts. However, back then he bought me 2 more of those spiral pulleys for the regulator cables for $10 a piece. My son and I put those in the old regulator plastic for storage. That last step was tricky.
Now, a year later, I am about to put one of those new pulleys onto the regulator of this back window. (I wasn't sure they were the same part, but it looks like it. Yea, no charge!) I really need to finish this tomorrow before I forget what goes where.
I did quite a lot on this job before resorting to youtube, but man was I glad I did when I got stuck. One Hot Rod Dave is the guy's name, and he does a good job with the videos. There's no speeded up stuff, and his lab doggie hangs out in his shop and is co-star. Then, the funny part was when it rained and Hot Rod Dave really got on the stupidity of weather forecasts!
Moderator
Wednesday - September 9th 2026 5:21PM MST
PS: Those classifications in the CNBC image are slightly off from the ones in the S&H books. No matter, "The Burnout Generation" is what they're calling the Millennials?
The "OK, Boomer" phenomenon to me is the disdain for those Boomers who don't understand that this country is not the economic powerhouse with easy opportunities for all that it was when the Boomer were young. Some DO understand very well, and sometimes the Millennial is the one that doesn't understand that you DO have to get up off your ass, even if things are nowhere near as easy for them.
Divide & Conquer? I don't know. I've heard the same wrt race relations, but I think these divides are there organically without any help. I don't know.
Unless they've had a really, really devious plan for decades and centuries, I don't think it's the parasitic class that has purposely gotten the Artificial Stupidity (originally just the digital electronics) to the level it's at. Things are going the way of a bad 1970s science fiction story, and I don't like it. Yet for people under 20 or so, that's the way the world's always been. Ted Kazynski* saw this stuff coming 3 decades ago.
* I'm not sure about that spelling, but if Mr. Kazynski could do without spell check when writing his manifesto, I'll do without it too.
The "OK, Boomer" phenomenon to me is the disdain for those Boomers who don't understand that this country is not the economic powerhouse with easy opportunities for all that it was when the Boomer were young. Some DO understand very well, and sometimes the Millennial is the one that doesn't understand that you DO have to get up off your ass, even if things are nowhere near as easy for them.
Divide & Conquer? I don't know. I've heard the same wrt race relations, but I think these divides are there organically without any help. I don't know.
Unless they've had a really, really devious plan for decades and centuries, I don't think it's the parasitic class that has purposely gotten the Artificial Stupidity (originally just the digital electronics) to the level it's at. Things are going the way of a bad 1970s science fiction story, and I don't like it. Yet for people under 20 or so, that's the way the world's always been. Ted Kazynski* saw this stuff coming 3 decades ago.
* I'm not sure about that spelling, but if Mr. Kazynski could do without spell check when writing his manifesto, I'll do without it too.
Adam Smith
Wednesday - September 9th 2026 12:11PM MST
PS: Good afternoon, Mr. Moderator!
Perhaps it should be...(?)
It's a joke about how Gen X is often left out of the discussion...
https://i.ibb.co/ZpZYJdmY/Generations.jpg
and how we have no power to stop the insanity.
(Not that anyone else can stop it either. Apparently.)
Honestly, though... Much of this "divide" is just plain old divide and conquer. Artificially engineered by the parasite class. If millennials, gen z and whomever are busy blaming boomers for problems that really weren't caused by the boomers, then the parasite class gets a pass for their horrible policies and behavior.
(Anyway...)
I hope all is well with the Newman Family. Things are great here. Still waiting on my hakurei (turnip) seeds. (I ordered them like a week ago.) Also waiting for the shade to cover the back garden. I have an hour or so to finish cleaning and prepping for the fall and it is a bit cooler working in the shade. (Looking out the window, it looks like I can get to it in about 20-30 minutes.)
Cheers to a wonderful evening! โฎ๏ธ
Perhaps it should be...(?)
It's a joke about how Gen X is often left out of the discussion...
https://i.ibb.co/ZpZYJdmY/Generations.jpg
and how we have no power to stop the insanity.
(Not that anyone else can stop it either. Apparently.)
Honestly, though... Much of this "divide" is just plain old divide and conquer. Artificially engineered by the parasite class. If millennials, gen z and whomever are busy blaming boomers for problems that really weren't caused by the boomers, then the parasite class gets a pass for their horrible policies and behavior.
(Anyway...)
I hope all is well with the Newman Family. Things are great here. Still waiting on my hakurei (turnip) seeds. (I ordered them like a week ago.) Also waiting for the shade to cover the back garden. I have an hour or so to finish cleaning and prepping for the fall and it is a bit cooler working in the shade. (Looking out the window, it looks like I can get to it in about 20-30 minutes.)
Cheers to a wonderful evening! โฎ๏ธ
Moderator
Wednesday - September 9th 2026 8:05AM MST
PS: Good morning, Adam. That sounds like some kind of Gen-X song, that I've probably never heard. If not, maybe it should be.
Adam Smith
Wednesday - September 9th 2026 6:48AM MST
PS: Gen X here...
We're not a part of any of this.
We're not even part of the discussion.
(We just watch the world burn.) ๐
Happy Wednesday! โฎ๏ธ
We're not a part of any of this.
We're not even part of the discussion.
(We just watch the world burn.) ๐
Happy Wednesday! โฎ๏ธ
๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐. ๐โ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฆ.
Lol.. Yeah, they are. (I buy the whole replacement regulator with motor assembly when I can so as to avoid this. Rewinding those little spools/pulleys can be quite tricky.) And I agree about those youtube videos. Hot Rod Dave, eh? (This guy?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ufaJQNDAZc
I've never noticed his channel before but he looks pretty handy.
I'll check out some of his videos. (Thanks!)
๐ท๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ & ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐? ๐ผ ๐๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐ค...
Yeah. Me either. While I'm sure that the parasite class has stoked some of this intergenerational resentment when possible, I would imagine that some of this is also natural. (Because humans are dumb.) They probably didn't have to ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ anything.
So... Our neighbor gave us three (count 'em three) shipping crates that would make excellent planter boxes. They are 47"x11.5"x10" and made of plywood. If we are to use them as planters, they need some sort of sealing or they will rot out in a year or so.
I like TWP 207 for the outside and a gallon will be more than enough. But the inside, well, this is where it gets a bit trickier.
If I do the inside with TWP and put a fabric liner the boxes might last 5 years. (Maybe?) But... If I were to seal the inside with a food grade epoxy these things can probably(?) last for 20 years. But it is a two part process...
First I would have to do a primer coat...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NHSRCSD
Topped with something like this...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/SUPERCLEAR-EPOXY-RESIN-1-Gallon-Kit-FOR-RIVER-TABLES-LIVE-EDGE-TABLES-BAR-TOPS-AND-COUNTERTOPS-1-1-Ratio-Fiberglass-Coatings-Inc/420547810
For best results I would leave the primer coat to dry for at least 48 hours (at 70ish and less than 50% humidity) then lightly sand the primer with 100ish grit sandpaper, clean it and seal it with the Superclear.
Which sounds like a bit of work I wasn't planning on and a couple hundred in materials. (And another $150ish for potting mix.) lol..
But I think I'm going to do it. (Unless I come up with a better plan for them by tomorrow or so.) They really would make good planters.
I left them in the yard for the night (upside down and on cinder blocks) but we are supposed to rain Friday. So I should probably put them in the shed or something before it rains. (So I can keep the wood as dry as possible. We want as little moisture as possible in the wood before we apply the coatings. In an ideal world the moisture content should be less than 12% but I'm not sure how realistic that is.)
Anyway, that's what I'm up to tonight. Oh, and I need to order a rope saw. I have some branches I'd like to clear out. But that's about it.
Cheers to a wonderful rest of the evening, Achmed! โฎ๏ธ