Editing 1962: Generations
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by THE PREVIOUS-PREVIOUS-PREVIOUS GENERATION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | This comic is making fun of the various names we give "generations", and also predicting some future ones. It refers to the [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/defining-generations-where-millennials-end-and-post-millennials-begin/ Pew Research Center's recent announcement that they have decided where the Millennial generation ends]. | |
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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|- | |- | ||
| The Founders | | The Founders | ||
− | | 1730 | + | | 1730 - 1747 |
− | | Most of the | + | | Most of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States United States' Founding Fathers] were born in this period. (But not all: Benjamin Franklin, for instance, was born two generations prior.) |
|- | |- | ||
| Generation ƒ | | Generation ƒ | ||
| 1748 - 1765 | | 1748 - 1765 | ||
− | | ƒ | + | | ƒ is the symbol that represented the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_guilder guilder], the currency of the Netherlands from the 17th century until 2002. |
|- | |- | ||
| The Adequate Generation | | The Adequate Generation | ||
| 1766 - 1783 | | 1766 - 1783 | ||
− | | Randall apparently found nothing notable about this generation, positive or negative | + | | Randall apparently found nothing notable about this generation, positive or negative. |
|- | |- | ||
| Generation Æ | | Generation Æ | ||
| 1784 - 1801 | | 1784 - 1801 | ||
− | | Æ is the | + | | Æ is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Æ diphthong] Aesh - its name sounds like X, though it is pronounced as a long e. |
|- | |- | ||
| The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln | | The generation we cut a lot of slack because they produced Lincoln | ||
| 1802 - 1819 | | 1802 - 1819 | ||
− | | | + | | |
|- | |- | ||
− | | The | + | | The Gilded Generation |
| 1820 - 1837 | | 1820 - 1837 | ||
− | | | + | | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Generation_(Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_theory) So named under the Strauss-Howe generation theory], though they use the time period 1822-1842 instead. This likely refers to the "{{w|Gilded Age}}" of American history, roughly the last three decades of the 19th century. |
|- | |- | ||
| The Second-Greatest Generation | | The Second-Greatest Generation | ||
| 1838 - 1855 | | 1838 - 1855 | ||
| | | | ||
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Generation | + | | Generation -..- |
| 1856 - 1873 | | 1856 - 1873 | ||
− | | | + | | This may be referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Morse_code#Comparison_of_American_and_International_Morse Morse Code] for the number 9, although this is the eighth generation in this list. More likely, it is referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code the letter X] instead in International Morse Code. This may be an error on Randall's part, since the generations are an American phenomenon. Alternatively, this be a past example of similar cohort of Gen Xers, mirrored by the later "More Gen-Xers somehow". Regardless, this is also a reference to the rise of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraphy telegraphy], though it was "born" prior to 1856. |
|- | |- | ||
| The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines | | The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines | ||
| 1874 - 1891 | | 1874 - 1891 | ||
− | | | + | | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour#The_Industrial_Revolution Child labor] had been widely used since before the start of the Industrial Revolution, but this is when people started doing something about it - and also, when the need for an educated workforce arose, applying substantial economic pressure on societies to put children in school instead. It would be more accurate to label this generation, "The kids who stopped dying in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines". |
|- | |- | ||
| Oops, one of us is Hitler | | Oops, one of us is Hitler | ||
| 1892 - 1909 | | 1892 - 1909 | ||
− | | | + | | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler Adolf Hitler], possibly the most hated (and, by most definitions, evil) man in living human memory as of this comic's posting, was born during in 1889. Aside from the fact that this places him in the previous generation, it seems beyond silly to blame everyone else who was born during this period for being born in the same generation as him. Among those who eventually heard of him (thus, excluding those in isolated areas or who died before he rose to power), the vast majority of them would not hear of him until well after 1909. |
|- | |- | ||
− | + | | The Greatest Generation | |
| 1910 - 1927 | | 1910 - 1927 | ||
− | | | + | | |
|- | |- | ||
− | + | | The Silent Generation | |
| 1928 - 1945 | | 1928 - 1945 | ||
− | | | + | | |
|- | |- | ||
− | + | | Baby Boomers | |
| 1946 - 1963 | | 1946 - 1963 | ||
− | | | + | | |
|- | |- | ||
− | + | | Generation X | |
− | | | + | | 1965 - 1981 |
− | | | + | | |
|- | |- | ||
− | + | | Millennials | |
| 1982 - 1999 | | 1982 - 1999 | ||
− | | The last children born in the 2nd Millennium | + | | The last children born in the 2nd Millennium. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Generation 💅 | + | | Generation 💅 (nail polish emoji) |
− | (nail | ||
| 2000 - 2017 | | 2000 - 2017 | ||
− | | This begins the hypothetical future generation names, though this generation was already fully born as of this comic's posting. Social media was established and rising during the formative years of this generation, and the widespread adoption of emoji began during this time. The [https://emojipedia.org/nail-polish/ Nail Polish Emoji] (U+1F485) is used here | + | | This begins the hypothetical future generation names, though this generation was already fully born as of this comic's posting. Social media was established and rising during the formative years of this generation, and the widespread adoption of emoji began during this time. The [https://emojipedia.org/nail-polish/ Nail Polish Emoji] (U+1F485) is used here. |
|- | |- | ||
| Zuckerberg's Army | | Zuckerberg's Army | ||
| 2018 - 2035 | | 2018 - 2035 | ||
− | | Continuing on the above, this may be presuming the dominance of | + | | Continuing on the above, this may be presuming the dominance of FaceBook during the childhoods of this generation, and corresponding social norming as ultimately directed by its leader Mark Zuckerberg. Ironically, as of this comic's posting, [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-quit-young-people-social-media-snapchat-instagram-emarketer-a8206486.html young users were already leaving FaceBook for other social media sites]. May also be a reference to "Dumbledore's Army" in ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. |
|- | |- | ||
| The Hovering Ones | | The Hovering Ones | ||
| 2036 - 2053 | | 2036 - 2053 | ||
− | | This may posit increased adoption of cybernetics, which (as with any technology) are more easily | + | | This may posit increased adoption of cybernetics, which (as with any technology) are more easily adapted by the young who do not have to unlearn previous ways. If advances allowed someone to hover all the time, such that one would not need to walk, this generation's name suggests that becoming so widely used among this generation that they became known for it. |
|- | |- | ||
| Spare Parts | | Spare Parts | ||
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| More Gen-Xers somehow | | More Gen-Xers somehow | ||
| 2072 - 2089 | | 2072 - 2089 | ||
− | | As with "Generation | + | | As with "Generation -..-", this may be positing that Generation X like traits pop up about 3/4 of the way through each century. |
|- | |- | ||
| The Paperclip Machines | | The Paperclip Machines | ||
| 2090 - 2107 | | 2090 - 2107 | ||
− | | This, and the | + | | This, and the alt text, are references to the concept of a [https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer paperclip maximizer], where an AI might be designed to be helpful, but end up being harmful. The clicker game [http://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ Universal Paperclips] makes this concept playable. Furthering the above speculation of cybernetics, this generation might be primarily artificial intelligences, though of limited ability to set their own priorities (a flaw which would be fixed in later generations). |
|- | |- | ||
| The Mixed Bag (produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon, and 2 Hitlers) | | The Mixed Bag (produced 4 Lincolns, 1 Napoleon, and 2 Hitlers) | ||
| 2108 - 2125 | | 2108 - 2125 | ||
− | | As with the above examples, a generation may become known for its most famous members, but it is not useful to define an entire generation by them | + | | As with the above examples, a generation may become known for its most famous members, but it is not useful to define an entire generation by them. |
|- | |- | ||
| The Procedural Generation | | The Procedural Generation | ||
− | | | + | | 2136 - 2143 |
− | | | + | | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation Procedural generation] is a way of creating data automatically, rather than capturing it via sensor (including when the "sensor" is a keyboard and the data is typed in). This confusion of the term "generation" could refer to more artificial intelligences that were created via routines instead of directly coded, which would likely stem from attempts to improve child creation once most children were explicitly manufactured instead of relying on evolution-granted biological means. |
|- | |- | ||
| Generation Ω | | Generation Ω | ||
| 2144 - 2161 | | 2144 - 2161 | ||
− | | " | + | | "Omega" is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, and used as a symbol of endings. Given the above generation names implying increasingly artificial children, this may suggest the last generation that is recognizably a generation. This does not necessarily mean the end of children or the end of humanity, just that anything after 2161 is widely recognized to no longer have even notional generational coherence - perhaps because of drift (children born to one group during a given time are wildly enough different from children born to another group at the same time that people give up trying to group them by time), child gestation and maturation times (for example, if it became common for a child to go from conception to adulthood in less than a year), or exceptions to what counts as a "child" (for example, if it becomes possible and common to create clones that are somewhere between free-willed beings and mind-controlled drones, and this sufficiently supplants creation of completely free-willed children, regardless of whether the children are artificial intelligences or old-fashioned biological children). |
|- | |- | ||
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | | Star Trek: The Next Generation | ||
|2360 - 2378 | |2360 - 2378 | ||
− | |''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}'' was a TV show set in the future. | + | |''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}'' was a TV show set in the future. The first episode of ''TNG'', "{{w|Encounter at Farpoint}}", takes place in 2364, and it concluded with "{{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Good_Things..._(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)|All Good Things...}}", which took place in 2370. The final canonical adventures of the cast of ''The Next Generation'' did not occur until the events of ''{{w|Star Trek: Nemesis}}'' in 2379. |
|} | |} | ||
− | |||
− | |||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
+ | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | : | + | :"Generations" are arbitrary. They're just labels we use to obliquely talk about cultural trends. |
− | : | + | :But since Pew Research has become the latest to weigh in, and everyone loves a good pointless argument over definitions... |
:''xkcd presents'' | :''xkcd presents'' | ||
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:1820-1837 The Gilded Generation | :1820-1837 The Gilded Generation | ||
:1838-1855 The Second-Greatest Generation | :1838-1855 The Second-Greatest Generation | ||
− | :1856-1873 Generation | + | :1856-1873 Generation '''-··-''' |
:1874-1891 The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines | :1874-1891 The kids who died in the Gilded Generation's factories and mines | ||
:1892-1909 Oops, one of us is Hitler | :1892-1909 Oops, one of us is Hitler |