A new generation - iGen

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

In this day and age, we are largely living virtually. In fact, the younger of us are living virtually. People around 20 years old do not even try to hide the fact that they are only interested in being on their cellphones. Even I, an older generation, find myself online, one way or another, for at least 50 percent of my waking life. This is a fundamental change in human behaviour. And of course, research shows that it IS having an effect on how we behave.

For example, they are clever (https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-mobile-re-generation). Why, you yourself will have noticed that any student that doesn’t get all As in school is nowadays considered retarded. Worse, it’s accepted as ok among their peers. In our day, such students were correctly considered abnormal and ostracised. Extreme cleverness is now the new normal. Ask a child anything nowadays and they know it all.

Of course, the iGens (https://theconversation.com/how-the-smartphone-affected-an-entire-generation-of-kids-82477) don’t have time to do what we used to do. Go outside, play, sports, hobbies and things. They have virtual relationships with friends who can be something that they imagine they want to be. They’re never bored, they have many deeply immersive alternative lives in the form of games they can play any time, day or night.

But, it turns out, there are some negative side effects. For one, less developed social skills, although I would argue that may be a positive. More importantly, far more mental health issues. More depression. And significantly more suicide.

I have experienced this first hand. I just spent 5 days with a friend, and he brought his two 20 something children along. I kept thinking they must have been dragged along kicking and screaming, such was their obvious disinterest in everything except their cellphones. But he assured me they had actually volunteered willingly.

I also was dead sure they disliked me, possibly hated me, they behaved in such blatantly rude ways towards me. For example, getting up and going away and literally hiding when they see me coming. Never volunteering any form of verbal greeting on meeting, nor any smile or any other indication that seeing me has any effect on their lives. Never laughing at jokes, never joining conversations. Having private jokes and conversations between themselves. But mostly between their cellphones and themselves. Very depressing, even to watch.

The answer, like everything else, I found on the internet. Rent a Friend (https://www.camdav.co.za). There is no more reason to be physically alone, or not do anything because no one else does it. You can now rent a friend and learn social skills, before you go out and try making real, physical friends. You can do everything you want to do with your paid friend, who will be forced to be nice to you through it all. And best of all, your virtual friends will be fascinated with your new, real life adventures, and will be even better virtual friends.