Have you ever heard your parents say, “Back in my day, life was so much more difficult. Kids these days are so spoiled”? You would be surprised to know that they were the spoiled hipsters of yesteryear. As long as there have been Homo sapiens, there has been a generation gap and elders frowning upon it. One can almost imagine a geriatric Neanderthal rolling his eyes as his prodigy used the wheel or even before that, a Homo erectus grandfather looking suspiciously at his children living the easy life by using a fire to cook, leaving the good old days of raw meat dinners. From the complaints of Socrates turning young men against the establishment, to the small but vocal groups of Boomers on social media, there have been many examples of elderly backlash to changing times. One of the first documented episodes of such outrage goes back to Ancient Greece, from the 5th Century BCE onwards. During this time, a population boom and plentiful sustenance inspired philosophers and thinkers to question the world around them. In fact there is a saying, “All that I know is that I know nothing.” The young Athenians were educated to question everything, and this stung the established order. The noblemen condemned this wave of change and even succeeded in poisoning the leader of a major group, whom we know as Socrates, in 399 BCE. But the die was cast, and his doctrine spread under the likes of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Despite the cry of the previous generations, change was inevitable. During the Industrial Revolution, from around 1800-1915, technology started ramping up, and new discoveries began to replace the established order. The younger generation of this period shook the world with the printing press and steam engines, as well as telegraphs. Gone were the days of horse-drawn carriages, messenger pigeons, and quill pens. As an example of such geriatric backlash, the famous Luddites smashed machines in textile plants all across southern England, but the resistance was quelled by 1815, and the rest was history. Fast-forwarding a few decades, we come to the tie-dye halcyon that was the 1960s. Their parents, who had been the brave heroes of World War II and the Korean War, with Victorian values and tough-knuckles education, had difficulty accepting what came after. Riding high on the Eisenhower economic boom, they had only one such musing: “Out with the old, in with the new.” Long hair, neon shirts, and peace signs became rife, as did the protests about war. Coming to modern times, it’s ironic that those same hippies that had run riot in the ‘60s were to become, you guessed it, just like their parents. With the rise of phones, game consoles, and computers, those very people who had once been at the forefront of change, condemned the newer generations, and all of their technology. At the risk of simplifying too much, is my generation’s addiction to social media, digital content, and video games and our iPhones, any different from our parents’ vices of television, VCRs, and Walkmans? I will leave you with a sobering thought: when we become our parents what will our generation be outraged about? It is hard to imagine, isn’t it? Perhaps this forthcoming generation will have their own addictions, as the VR, cybernetic implants, and artificial intelligence take over reality. Perhaps there will come a time when I, too, will say, “Back in my day…”
Young Bloggers
Sistories Ep. 3: Cool Places to Visit
Sistories is a podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Sistories-Ep3.m4a NOUR and MARYAM: Hi, everyone!! Welcome to our podcast Sistories! NOUR: Hi, I’m Nour, and it’s hard to believe, but this is our third episode of Sistories! My sister and I LOVE to travel, and we want to inspire YOU to travel, too! That’s why we host this podcast. MARYAM: Hi! I’m Maryam, the Magnificent! Last month’s episode was about how to pack for an AMAZING trip no matter WHERE you go! Today we want to talk about COOL PLACES TO VISIT! First, we want to tell you about our absolute FAVORITE place on earth to go! It has clear, beautiful blue water. Want to guess? Grenada! Our family goes there because it’s where our dad’s family is from. We’ve only been there once, but we want to go back! Here are some fun facts about Grenada: 1) It is a very small island that is only 21 miles long and 12 miles wide. 2) Another name for Grenada is the Island of Spice! 3) The flag has three colors! Yellow stands for the warmth of its people and also the warmth of its island weather Red symbolizes their bravery Green represents what grows on the island 4) Grenada is home to the first ever underwater garden! It even has sculptures! 5) Hurricane Ivan destroyed a lot of the island in *2004, but when we went, it seemed fine. 6) You can also go see Fort George. It is a place they used for battle, and it had a cannon. The fort was all rock and kind of broken down. It was so high that you could see the town down below. 7) The food is very good in Grenada. We ate roti which is seasoned chicken and potatoes. It’s really really really good. You should try it. 8) The ocean in Grenada is turquoise and the beaches have white sand. The water is so calm. There are no waves, just ripples. NOUR: Hi, it’s Nour. My sister told you some facts about Grenada, and I want to tell you a few more facts along with some stories! As my sister said, Grenada is the Island of Spice, but I’m going to tell you why. It grows the largest percentage of the world’s supply of nutmeg! We brought home a couple of nutmeg kernels. The outer skin is light brown, and when you crack it open, you can see the seeds and it smells really good. The island also supplies cinnamon, mace, cloves, and other spices. June in Grenada is beautiful so you might want to visit in summer. You will eat amazing mango. In the resort where we stayed there were mango trees everywhere! We just picked them off the tree, peeled them, and ate them like apples! There are lots of kinds of mangoes. The small ones are the sweetest; the bigger ones are good for cooking. You will also eat and drink yummy, fresh coconuts! What I mean by eat and drink, is you can drink the coconut water and then eat the meat inside of the coconut. What I like to do is to find a big rock and bang the coconut until it cracks open! Then drink! (You can also just find a guy with a machete to open it for you.) If you like snorkeling or scuba diving, Grenada is the place! You can explore the largest shipwreck in the Carribean, The Bianca C, or see the 65 sculptures in the underwater sculpture garden! We got to go on the underwater tour, and it was so cool! My dad went down and even touched a sculpture. Even if you don’t know how to swim, you can observe everything from the glass-bottomed boat! Grenada is one place favored by many people, including me! It’s truly unique! By the way, you don’t have to visit the places we go! Your family probably has some good ideas, too. You could visit Europe or Africa. You could visit places where your relatives live. Or, you could just look for new places that you haven’t been to before and try them! Where do YOU want to visit? NOUR and MARYAM: Thank you for listening to our podcast Sistories! MARYAM: Next time we are going to talk about another cool place to visit: ITALY! NOUR and MARYAM: Have a great trip!
Super Bowl Predictions from a Groundhog?
Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States on February 2nd of every year. It comes from a popular tradition dating back to 1887 that if a groundhog leaves its underground winter home on this day and sees its shadow, it will go back to its den and cold weather will last for six more weeks. By contrast, if it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early. The Groundhog Day ceremony held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, centering on a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most frequently-attended ceremony. On February 2nd 2024, Punxsutawney Phil came out and didn’t see his shadow, meaning that we should expect an early spring. Or should we? While Groundhog Day remains popular in the 21st century, studies have found no consistent pattern between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the arrival time of spring weather. In fact, one study found that Phil was right only 39% of the time, which is particularly bad, since Phil could flip a coin instead of relying on his shadow and predict whether there will be 6 more weeks of cold weather correctly around 50% of the time. So does this mean that the groundhog tradition is meaningless? I don’t think so. If Phil is not a good weatherman, perhaps he can be redirected towards something different: instead of the change of season, he could predict which team will win the Super Bowl. If Phil sees his shadow, then the NFC team will win. On the contrary, if Phil does not see his shadow, the AFC team will win. If you look at Super Bowl outcomes from the last 10 years, you will find that the shadow-NFC/no shadow-AFC association occurred in 6 of the years. Since 6/10 is 60%, Phil does a much better job predicting the Super Bowl winner than he does the weather. If my theory is correct, since Phil did not see his shadow in 2024, the AFC team should be more likely to win this year. So, in a game of Chiefs versus 49ers, Phil (and I) will be rooting for the Chiefs. Tune in to the Super Bowl on February 11th this year to see if Phil is right. If so, perhaps Phil should move from Punxsutawney to Las Vegas.
