What is a generation and why do we have them?

It's the time of the year we think about, hmm, what am I going to do differently this year?

“Maybe I'm going to read more, maybe I'm going to work out more, maybe I'm going to learn”

a new skill but really at the top of my list is number one to get comfy and that's where Bombus comes in, they're bringing a serious comfort to all my everyday go-to's. We all new Bombus sports socks are engineered with sports specific comfort for running golf hiking, skiing, snowboarding and all sport. This year I'm going to walk my dog more, longer walks, better walks and these socks are

going to help me stay comfy while I do it. And from other resolutions like going to the bookstore and picking out more books to read, I'm going to wear my new squishy Saturday-swayed slip-on shoes, which are super comfortable for being on the go.

And over to bombus.com/family26 and use code Family26 for 20% off your first purchase.

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Skibity toilet. We're in. These are words often associated with generation alpha. Generation alpha is the name given to people who are born after 2010. So people like me and maybe you too.

Not me. My age are called Millennials. We say things like yellow and adulting. Generations aren't just about the language you use. They're supposed to help others understand what people your age have been through.

Because, like, let's say your grandparents just grow up in a very different time. And you can talk to them about what it was like when they were children, that's a generational difference. And if you can ask them about their experience, then you might understand them better.

But do they always help us understand each other?

Coming up, we're going to learn about the generations alive today and how they're different from each other.

“Plus, what if you really don't feel like you're part of your generation?”

No matter your age, you'll learn something cool, stick around. You might never know who made your dinner table, or your tennis racket, or your car, but you definitely know who made this podcast. Hi, it's us, me, Sandin, Molly and Mark, we made it. And when you joined SmartyPass, you're supporting us directly, so we can keep answering

your questions, and doing things like finding cool animal facts. Did you know, koalas are marsupials and not bears? Pretty cool. And calling scientists. Hey scientists, you rock.

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Go to brainson.org to join SmartyPass, and keep us doing what we love to do. Making fun-filled, fact-filled, and sometimes, fart-filled episodes for you. Thanks! [Music] You are listening to Brainson, I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Paige from Naperville,

Illinois. Hi, Paige. Hi. There's a question about generations. Yeah, I asked why your generations made for people.

A generation can mean a couple different things. One meaning of a generation can be specific to your family. So each link in the chain of your family history is a different generation. Like, you represent a generation.

Your grand parents are two generations before you.

Your great grand parents are three generations before you. And on and on, all the way back to the beginnings of humans. But the generations I was curious about, those are something else. There are large groups of millions of people all born roughly in the same 15-year period. These are often called social generations.

So Paige, what made you curious about this? I was like looking up on my phone, because I heard about the new generation beta, and I was just wondering why, and how they made these. Very, very cool.

“So how do you feel about being part of generation alpha?”

I don't know how they're different from each other. I just feel like I don't know how to feel about that, because it's kind of just like, I feel just part of the generation, because I think I'm born. So do you think generations are like a useful thing to talk about? I feel like, yeah, because it's like, help us understand each other and how different we are from each other.

Well, to help us dig into your question, we called up an expert. My name is Jean Twangie. I am the author of the book Generations. I'm also a professor of psychology at San Diego State University. She is studies generations.

And she says social generations help us see the ways we are different from those who came before us. So, I think about your grandparents, smartphones didn't exist when they were your age. And so their childhood and their adolescence was different, and that's just one example. So what are the major generations alive in the U.S. today?

Let's get to know them. Meet the generations, the baby boomers.

“Your grandparents might be baby boomers.”

Here's Jean again. So, baby boomers, born about 1946 to 1964, it's the generation that's very large, that's where they get their name from. A baby boom means there was a huge giant jump in the number of babies born in a period of time. A boom, if you will. From the late 1940s to the mid 1960s in the U.S., things were pretty good for a lot of people.

It was pretty easy to go to college, then get a good job, houses were affordable. This made a lot of people want to start big families. So, a lot of babies were born, hence the baby boom. So, they really dominated the culture at every single time point. They were hippies and they protested for civil rights and against war in the 1960s.

They got a lot of attention for trying new ways of living in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, many settled down and became big spenders. They started families.

But a lot of baby boomers are retiring, and for the first time in a very long time,

they are not having as much influence as they used to. Generation X. So, then there's Gen X. That's those born from 1965 to 1979.

“The name refers to the fact that this generation was against a lot of traditional values”

around money and fitting in the society. They put an X through all that stuff. Sometimes they got labeled as slackers. They are also one of the last generations where everyone pretty much watched the same things and heard the same music.

They are known as the last generation to have a unified pop culture experience. So, they love their Star Wars. They love their Saturday morning cartoons. So, your parents and Gen X are asking what they did on weekends when they were going up and up there to tell you all about Saturday morning cartoons and having a lot of freedom

to ride around on their bikes. You know the show's stranger things? Those are Gen X kids. The Millennials. Millennials born in 1982, 1994, grew up at a time of a lot of optimism during the 1990s are known for being optimistic, although not as optimistic as they used to be.

This is me. My generation. The name comes from the fact that these people became adults around the turn of the millennium, the late '90s and the early 2000s. We grew up without smartphones for the internet, but those things became a big part of our

lives when we were in late high school or college. At the time, people were pretty excited about all the good technology could bring. In your generation, lived through some tough times for the economy too, which might be why you're not as optimistic as you were when you were younger. Fair.

So we have Generation Z.

Gen Z, Gen Z, born 1995 to 2009, first generation to spend their entire out of lessons

in the age of this smartphone. These are people in late high school or maybe just about to reach their 30s. They've grown up around screens and social media, and they're pretty comfortable with how that technology works, but they've seen the downsides of it too. So far, they're the most racially and ethnically diverse generation of grown-ups ever

seen in the US.

of their jobs. Next is... Generation Alpha.

Born 2010 to, who knows when, known for skipy-toiler.

Geez, I hope that's not all we're known for. Don't worry, there's plenty of time to redefine who you all are.

“So, Paige, what do you think people should know about your generation?”

I think that we're not all just like all like the new trends and stuff, and that we're also just like people too. Yeah, that's a really good way to look at it. So there is one more generation, a very new one. Some researchers say that last year a new generation started Generation Beta.

They're just little types at the moment, but who knows, maybe in a few years, a member of Generation Beta will be listening to this podcast. Hi from the past. So, Paige, any advice to future Gen Beta kids listening? A good look.

Very, very fair.

Before we move on, it's time to tackle a challenge for the ages.

It's the... Page, are you ready for the mystery sound? Yeah. And here it is. What do you think, Paige?

I feel like it sounded at the beginning, it sounded like one of those tools for the things that put nails in that screwdriver or like a drill. Yeah, the drill. Yes. But at the end, it sounded like a car moving away.

“But I feel like it's like maybe one of like a electrical or car, like sorry?”

Oh, nice. Yeah, it sounded like it faded out for sure. It feels like it's like a moving away from us. Yeah, I have no idea. Maybe someone doing like a snare drum roll in a marching band walking over us.

Maybe. I don't know. Well, here it again. Get another chance to guess and hear the answer at the end of the show. Stay with us.

We are doing an episode on the science of baseball and baseball has some pretty great chance and cheers, but you know what is severely lacking in that department? Science. Let's fix that. Send us your idea for a science-based game day chant or cheer.

Something short and sweet, like science, science, you're the best, what ideas to the test. Or your chant and send it to us at brainson.org/contact. You can also send us mystery sounds, questions, or just tell us a great science joke you heard. We can't wait to hear from you again, brainson.org/contact.

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“It's the time of the year we think about, hmm, what am I going to do differently this year?”

Maybe I'm going to read more, maybe I'm going to work out more, maybe I'm going to learn a new skill, but really the top of my list is number one, to get comfy. And that's where Bombas comes in. They're bringing a serious comfort to all my everyday go-to's. The all new Bombas sports socks are engineered with sports specific comfort for running

golf hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and all sport. This year I'm going to walk my dog more, longer walks, better walks, and these socks are going to help me stay comfy while I do it.

to read, I'm going to wear my new squishy Saturday-sweet slip-on shoes, which are super comfortable for being on the go.

Head over to bombas.com/family26 and use code family26 for 20% off your first purchase.

That's B-O-M-B-A-S.com/family26, code family26 at checkout. Molly, the millennial here. With page, a true genalph akin, millennial, boomer, genalpha, ever wonder what's with those names? Uh, yeah.

“I have who came up with them, and why aren't they better?”

Turns out there's no one person, or even a group of people who name the generations. People start out using all kinds of names for a generation until one just sort of sticks. Yeah. Journalists start using the name Baby Boomer in the 1960s. It was catchy.

The name generation X was around for a while, but it didn't stick until 1991 when a

guy named Douglas Copeland wrote a book about 90s youth called Generation X.

Tales for an accelerated culture. Well, comes after X. Why, of course. Millennials were called Generation Y for a while. But eventually people switched to millennials.

So the name, Generation X, makes more sense when you realize that came after what was supposed to be Generation Y, but were later called Millennials. Gen Xe are also called Zoomers, or just Gen Xe. And Alpha is just another way of saying, "Hey, so Gen Alpha is just the Alpha that's starting over again."

Kind of boring if you ask me, "I agree, we can definitely do better.

“That's why we asked all of you to tell us what you'd name your generation, and here's”

what you came up with." I would call my generation, "Floxua," because kids, "Floxua," and how they behave, act and grow. I think the new name would be to go to a little star, because it's a funny name that I don't think I would say, like, a hundred times a day.

And I would call my generation Generation gamer because we play games on our new tendo. We also play Sorree, if I got to choose a new name for my generation, which is Generation Alpha, I would name it Gen Tech, because I feel like a lot of tech is evolving as long to become popular in this generation. My name for our dreamy region is Generation Together.

Know what? Let's call it Generation Brains on. Yeah. Sounds like a lot of responsibility, but I can get behind Generation Brains on. Shout out to Will, Itzel, Nolan, Mindy, Julian, and Miguel for those fabulous ideas.

Page, "What would you call your generation if you could rename it?" I would say Generation, probably just A, because like, it kind of says a little weird if it's like Alpha, if it doesn't fall like the, does he? And I haven't really heard the Zoomers for Generation C. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that sounds good. Yeah, because we don't really have Generation A. Yeah. It just wasn't right to Alpha. It's a little odd.

Yeah. That is a little odd. So not all names for Generation are positive. For a while, people were calling Millennials the Me Generation, because they thought we were obsessed with ourselves and entitled.

We did take a lot of selfies. Gen Alpha has been called the Glass Generation, because we spent a lot of time on screens, but also because some people think we are emotionally fragile. Like a glass window that breaks easily. Every young generation has been labeled something usually not nice by older generations.

That's Corey Seamiller. She also studies generations. She says a lot of times, our ideas about generations are based in stereotypes. Stereotypes are when you make a big statement about a whole group of people.

It's a label that doesn't always reflect reality.

“One side, it's important to understand that there is something maybe behind that label.”

Right? We saw this with Generation Z, where people were saying Generation Z are lazy. That's a stereotype, that's not helpful, and that's not very nice, because that's not necessarily the case with a lot of people in that generation. Right.

Corey says Generation Z is actually a pretty cautious generation. They take their time making important decisions, so to someone else that may seem like they're doing nothing or being lazy, but really, they're thinking over their options to pick the best path forward. Yeah, and that's actually a positive thing.

Also, any research about generations is based on averages. They're trying to paint a picture of a huge group of people by looking at what is most common. But when you do that, you miss out on a lot of the ways that people in Generation are different

If you grew up in a big city versus out in the country, you probably have some different views of the world. Generational research might miss that.

So if you hear people talking about Gen Alpha always doing this or saying that, it's totally

normal if you think, "Hey, that doesn't sound like me. I'm my own person." Totally. Molly, is there a skills in that the studio door? Knock, knock.

May I come in? Oh, hi, Mr. Bone Jangles, the walking talking skeleton that lives at Brains on headquarters. If we're got to mention Tap Dancing, watch the fancy female work, weep. Oops, dropped a rib, better put that back in. Nobody look.

Impressive for a bunch of bones. Why, thank you, but the last side come not to dance. But to ponder, because I heard you talking about generations and it made me wonder, what

“Generation MI, well, we can figure that out when were you born?”

That's the thing, I have no idea. I've done a skeleton of research and can't seem to find any record of my birth. And I can't remember it because I have brain rot. You mean you talk in memes? What?

Who is meme? My brain literally brought it away. There were maggots. I am a skeleton, you know.

Truthfully, I never used it much anyway.

Well, maybe we can figure it out based on your earliest memories. What technology was big when you were young? Oh, when I was baby bone changels, I used my own teeth as a rattle. I remember back then, screens were all the rage. That's helpful, where the TV screens are smart phones.

Windows screens, they let the air in and kept the bugs out, amazing technology. Hmm, I don't know if we're going to figure this out right now, I'm sorry. Ah, well, last, we're always more, I'm all alone in the world. No generation to belong to, I'll just go skull in a dark hallway, good bye. Let's hit pause on our generation conversation and check out the mailback.

Okay, let's see what's in the mail bag today. Ooh, here's a letter from Max, from Carl's Bad California. It says, "Hi, brains on, hi, Molly, Mark, Sandin, and Gangoldore. I don't know how to spell his name.

Okay, pause for a second, Max, Gangoldore is spelled, G-U-N, G-A-D-O-R, so if anyone else wants

“to write me also Gangoldore, that's how it's spelled.”

Okay. Back to the letter. I have a question. How and why do we give organisms scientific names? And what's the scoop on taxonomy?

Max, I love this question so much. We actually have an awesome piece about taxonomy in our episode about the Bronisaurus. It involves Carl Linnaeus's ghost. I advise you to go check it out. It's super, super fun.

That's the Bronisaurus episode. Okay, back to the letter. I hope I can get featured on your episode. Hooray, Max, you're on this episode. I also have a suggestion for your HQ and animal photo booth.

It's like a regular photo booth, but for animals other than us. I hope you can build that as soon as you see this letter. And if you do, send me some silly mammal photos. Okay, Max, we are on it. Okay, back to Max's letter.

I can't wait for an adventure with you, but my mom's calling me to get off the iPad, seriously. Hopefully, you see you soon, Max, PS. And then there's Morse code. Okay, I'm gonna put that through my little Morse code, machine right here. Oh, Max, that is a really awesome message.

I'm not gonna give it away in case people want to try to figure it out, but thank you, Max. Thank you for writing, and thank you for that message. (upbeat music) - What brings on without the interruptions? Just join SmartyPass.

You'll get ad free versions of all of our shows plus bonus episodes. Go to SmartyPass.org to sign up. Thanks. - Hooray, so... - Hey, Molly and Paige back in the studio.

So now we know the major generations. The baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Gen Z, and Generation Alpha.

“- So why does it help us to group people into these categories?”

- I think it can be very useful

- That's Kim Parker.

“She works for a group called the Pew Research Center.”

They study how people feel about the world.

- And they've been studying different generations for a while. - So the trickiest thing about generations is that it's not just another word for age. So age is a really interesting way to understand public opinion and public behaviors because people really differ

in those things by age. But part of that is just because they're young versus middle age versus old. It's not because they're part of this unique group that we're calling a generation.

- Right, some differences between generations just have to do with the fact that they're different ages. Here's an example. Older people might feel like taxes are the worst.

- Taxes again? (growling) Why? - And younger people might think they're no big deal. - Dad, it's cool to pay your share

to help the community. - Chill.

- Now, is that difference

because these generations have different feelings about paying taxes?

“- Or do people feel fine about taxes when they're young?”

But mad about them when they're older? And they have to pay more. It's a really important distinction to make because sometimes people will just look at a group of young people and be like,

they're acting a certain way or they have a certain set of beliefs. It might just be 'cause they're young. It doesn't necessarily mean it's because they're part of this group that shares certain things in common.

- So, how do we figure out how people are changing over time? - We asked them. - Yeah, groups like the Pew Research Center colleges and universities, even the government,

they've been asking questions about how people see the world for a long time. They'll give young people a long list of questions about all sorts of things. - How do you feel about politics?

How often do you see your friend? When was the last time you called your mom? - Are you happy? Do you rent or how many dogs is enough dog? - You generally feel good about the future.

- And then, when they have answers from lots and lots of people,

“they can see what the most common responses are”

and compare that with how older generations answer those same questions when they were young. - As you might expect, one of the biggest changes lately is around technology. - Young people today are spending more time on screens

than older generations did. They're also spending less time hanging out with friends in person. This is different from how past generations lived, researchers are curious to see how this will play out

as those kids get older. - And how will they find out more research? (upbeat music) - Molly, page, I found the scolution to my problem. (laughing)

- You remembered when you were born? - Negotival. Instead, I decided to make up my bone generation, meet generation boo. - Generation boo.

- Rolls off the tongue, does it it? That's not rhetorical. I am genuinely asking. I don't have a tongue, I don't have no idea if it does. But yes, it's a generation for all

as creepy creatures that may have been alive since time immemorial. Dracula, Frankenstein's monster. That wig in your grandmother's closet, that smells like Aquanette and chicken soup.

We're all Gen Boo. - Oh, I'm so happy for you.

Must feel nice to finally have a click.

- It is. We're known for loving a good scare. Having a good sense of humorous. And of course, loving screen time. That's when we open up all the windows

and let the breeze in through our screens. (laughing) - We know how to have fun. In fact, I'm off to do that now. Ciao, ciao.

(upbeat music) - Social generations are large groups of millions of people all born around the same time. - They often share similar life experiences and will sometimes have similar views of the world,

but generations are based on averages. So even within any generation, there are a lot of differences. - Sometimes people use generations to make stereotypes or big claims about a whole group of people,

but that can be hurtful and unhelpful. - And it's important to remember that generations are groups of individuals and everyone is unique. That's it for this episode of Brain's On.

This episode was written by Santa Totten as did by me Molly Plum and sound design by Mark Sanchez and Rachel Brace. Special thanks to Stephanie Henigie and we had engineering help from Savo Walker.

- All right, Paige, are you ready to go back to that mystery sound? - Yeah. - All right, here it is. (upbeat music)

- What do you think? - I'm still kind of stuck on the drill idea. I don't know what else it would be. - But maybe I haven't, like, maybe like, if it's like race hard like tracing or like

when they're like, when they're going to a pit stop

and it's going away.

- Ooh, we'll love that idea.

That's really great. Yeah, I'm with you. I think that's a fabulous guess. Should we hear the answer? - Yeah.

- Okay, here is the answer.

“- Hello, my name is Sky and I'm from this Kina New York.”

That was the sound of a springy door stop. - So a springy door stop? - I did not, I would not think about that. - Okay, but now we know if we're ever making a movie and we need the sound of a race hard or a drill.

We can use a springy door stop. - Yes. - And to our sound effects, I love it. - That was tricky. - Yeah.

- My works guy, who stumped us. (upbeat music) Now it's time for the brains honor a roll.

These are the incredible kids who keep the show going

with their questions, ideas, mysteries, sounds, drawings and high fives.

“Lucy from Social Circle, Georgia, all of Emma”

and Annie from Minneapolis, Charlie from Lake Widow, Romney from Takura, New Zealand, Marlo and Adley from Los Angeles, Laura from Minneapolis, Audrey from Calgary, Kendrick's and Karaji from Carson, California,

Casselli from Washington, Utah, Adlyn, Nile, Evan, and Luke from Leftbridge, Alberta, Alex and Chelsea from Portland, Oregon, Ray from Shore and by Sea England, Marra from Columbia, South Carolina,

Amelia from Springfield, Illinois,

Arya from Melbourne, Australia, Milan from Miami, Cassian from Greensboro and North Carolina, Titus from Alexandria, Louisiana, Lauren from Green Island, Minnesota,

“Lulu from Madison, Tennessee, Sophia from Salem,”

New York, Tempe from Ontario, Aubrey from Easley South Carolina, Adomas from Carrick on Shannon, Ireland, Kennaway from Toronto, Everett from North Brook, Illinois,

Rosy and Jacob from New York City, Lydia from Washington, E from Champlain, Minnesota, Warren from Houston, Texas, Max from Muskegan, Michigan, Jacob and Ben from Spanish for Utah,

Abigail from Malina North Carolina, Delphine from Milan, Italy, Allen from Louisville, Louis and Ari from Tacoma, Washington, Hamish from Queensland, Australia, Camilla from Houston,

Laila and Elijah from Portsmouth, Virginia, Sophia and Theo from Oak Hill, Virginia, Adolin from Missouri, Michaela from Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, Evelyn from Beirich and Oregon,

Jackson from which Utah, Texas, Rua from Ithaca, New York, Harriet from Aberdeen, Scotland, Eddie and William from Washington, D.C., Eliza from San Miguel de Aya and Amexco,

Oliver from Geneseo, New York, Alia from Brooklyn, New York, Meridian from Henderson, Nevada, Ben from Chesapeake, Virginia, Charlie from Rushton, United Kingdom,

Elerey from Hong Kong, Marcus from San Raymond, California, Tolula from Los Angeles, I/O from Malini, Australia, Useif and Fay from Kuwait City,

Quinn from Oswego, New York, Elijah from Vancouver, and Violet from Sebastopol, California. We'll be back next week with another episode of "Pray and Zom."

Thanks for listening!