­“Okay Boomer.” This phrase has been everywhere on social media in the last few months. It is a way of the ‘younger’ generations, like Millenials and Gen Z, dismissing the ideas and opinions of the older, Baby Boomer generation. There has always been a notion that the Baby Boomers are so different from the way that the Millenials and Gen Z grew up. The latter are considered the children of technology, and the Boomers had more of a traditional way of growing up, with less technology and worldly connectivity. But how different are we really?

 There are so many aspects that make us all more similar than different. We all feel the same emotions and have similar experiences, which define the milestones in many people’s lives. Whether it be graduating high school or starting a family, there is an inherent desire to be successful and make a good life for ourselves, because it is human nature. Every generation goes through struggles, and each one is seen as radical and different by their elders. The desire to rebel and do what one wants to do, fight the status quo, and strive to change the world to make it a better place for ourselves and everyone else can be seen in every single generation. Even though the intention is the same, each one has different views on how to do that, and that is what causes the rift between the generations.

The world is always changing. Between the development of technology since past years and the changes in social norms, each generation grew up with different cultures. In recent years, the internet and smartphones have shaped much of youth culture. They both are an influential factor in people’s personality and opinions. While the internet is a crucial part of everyday life today, the people who grew up without any of these ‘royalties’ feel that they have made kids lazy these days. While technology does allow people from different parts of the world to be more connected, and leads to a more open-minded society, it has also become the ‘easy way out’ for many people. Instead of actually learning and bettering themselves, they resort to Google searches, and this contributes to the young people’s reputation of the lazy generation. Looking at the situation from another perspective however, is that if you go into any restaurant, you can see adults just as glued to their phones as teens, if not more

Even if the methods of acquiring information have changed, or perhaps become easier, the commonality between all the generations is the quest for knowledge and always wanting to know more. In the end, we are all pieces of the same puzzle.