Phil asks if Generational stereotyping is just the same as the lazy thinking of believing that Zodiac signs are a real thing. For such a silly question this episode brings a lot of serious arguing.
Show notes:
K Sera’s Afterthoughts:
- Micah keeps conflating experiences with the shaping of personality. While I agree that certain events, particularly traumatic ones, can influence your behaviors, your personality is already developed. Personality and your birthdate are not the same thing.
Using horoscopes or generational designations to determine personality are essentially snake oil being sold to us as a plug and play variable into an equation that predicts behavior - because that is what people want to know and understand. Why do people react in certain ways? In the snake oil salesman’s scenario, the formula is basically: Event (Gen X or Taurus or Year of the Rabbit) = Personality = Behavioral Reaction.
It should be: Event + Personality = Behavioral Reaction. You can theoretically make sense of a person or “solve” them as long as you know (in full) two of the three variables.
So while Micah isn’t completely wrong when he says knowing the generation is ‘better’ - Phil and I are arguing that the ‘event variable’ of a generation is essentially just as useful as the zodiac in accurately determining Personality without the context of the Behavioral Reaction; or predicting the Behavioral Reaction without the context of an individual’s Personality.
- Using generations or horoscopes to determine a group’s personality or behavior to make sweeping generalizations should be met with skepticism. When someone claims “profound knowledge” of others based on the time in which they were born, they’re most likely full of shit.
Phill’s afterthoughts:
-Oh I had no idea that this argument was going to get intense. By the way, Micah definitely has a point that the Zodiac signs are total garbage (in terms of predictors) and that Generational events can definitely shape people’s behavior more predictably than if I am a Gemini (that is such a Gemini thing to say).
-I wanted to bring this point up that it really shouldn’t be an ageism issue or a political issue. In reality, the ability to have empathy is one of the biggest indicators of personality traits, and honestly that has nothing to do with age.
-That being said, we will all pay for the previous generation’s sins, now isn’t that obvious.