Metaview

Red Baron read an interview with psychologist Rüdiger Maas titled, “Wir brauchen den Metablick (We need the metaview).“ It dealt with the profound change in the relationship between the old and the young in our society. 

The future has begun ...
Damn, all household appliances are more intelligent than me ... (Found on Facebook)

While kids learned the analog worldly wisdom of their grandparents in the past, now the young try to teach their digital knowledge to the old, often in vain.

Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg. So we read in the article:

"What's more, many of the behavioral values that older people have acquired in the analog world no longer apply at all to the new digital generation that is moving up the ladder. It means that everything that happened is no longer relevant, and everything is happening at breakneck speed."

"Older people can no longer perceive the digital world in the same way, and then they're running behind. Only the experiential knowledge of the young counts in this world - and that's why we have the urge to want to stay younger and younger."

Red Baron's ambitions are more modest. I just want to stay clear in my mind, walk without a walking aid, and not miss my experience that, alas, comes too late.

Then the author elaborates on a topic that I experienced and still personally live. I had to get by with relatively little as a student and maintain my lifestyle. In Maas's text, I just changed the "they" to "I" and the "them" to "me."

"My generation knows renunciation and lack. I would rather cut the mold off bread or cheese than throw anything away. So there are clear signs of deficiency, not just of a physical nature, that have a long-lasting effect. In my opinion, my generation is the most sustainable generation we have, no matter how rich we people have become. We wear our clothes longer, turn off the water faster, and turn down the heat sooner."

For me, the war and the shortages have been very formative experiences. Is it a shame that in Ukraine in the twenty-first century, toddlers and kids will now be marked for their lives.

Maas continues, "Children and young people grow up in a world where there is nothing you can't get today. But this devalues a lot of things. Older people have held up what little they had for a long time and found it essential. It was then also more enjoyable. "

"In terms of society as a whole, we have two currents that we can see across all generations. On the one hand, there is extreme ego-centeredness in the analog world. Then there is this pseudo-networked digital world, which through its constant digital communication, does not promote empathy either. We know that empathy decreases because I no longer have to deal directly with my counterpart. And then we simply don't allow a second, different opinion. There is only one opinion; the other one is immediately badmouthed."

Would I go so far as the Genius? (Found on Facebook)

"There is no more dialogue, which means no one takes the other person's perspective. It is valid for the elderly but also for the young. "

Maas's final wish, "What I would like to see is parents having the metaview, i.e., taking the digital world more seriously and simultaneously keeping an eye on their children in a very analog way. We should use the digital world for efficiency reasons and not out of boredom. Finally, we can learn again that the analog world is exciting too."
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