Your generation is stupid and they don't even realise it.

It's been a thing I heard multiple times throughout my teen to adult years and I was furious and confused whenever I heard it.

From my perspective my generation was more informed and mentally more matured (in some cases way more than required ie sexual in pre adult age) but I never thought as a whole they were stupid.

I also heard my gen is ungrateful and easily manipulated and made to work for someone's agenda while thinking of it as some noble cause or social services or even for sake of their(our) own betterment.

But after looking at a certain situation folding out here and the opinions on it by people who I think are almost close to my generation, I am starting to feel there were some merit in the words I heard before and we certainly are more easily manipulated due to early exposure to all sorts of shenanigans because of digital advancements.

I am from gen z btw.

Quote from draggehz

well most people do get wiser as they age

I don't think that trait is accessible to masses.

Quote from SandyBee3

Every generation hears something similar from the one before… it’s a cycle. Often, it’s just older generations, like Boomers, struggling to accept that times are changing.

That said, I have to admit, Gen Z (and likely Gen Alpha soon as well) do seem particularly vulnerable to manipulation right now. Growing up with constant internet access has exposed these generations to a flood of information…some of it misleading or agenda-driven. Social media often amplifies ideas without context, which only worsens the problem.

A clear example is how right-wing figures target college campuses for debates. They frame their arguments to seem more reasonable than they are, exploiting the fact that younger students may not yet have the experience or critical thinking skills to deconstruct these tactics. It’s not about intelligence, but rather how easily emotions can be manipulated, or how complex issues can be oversimplified.

This also applies to people who claim to be fighting for a good cause. Many follow boycotts or protests without fully understanding what they’re participating in. A recent example is people boycotting brands based on a list alleging they were funding a horrible regime, only to discover it wasn’t true. This led to attacks on businesses and harassment of individuals, all because of a list that no one knew who created or what the criteria were.

Suddenly, a group of morally upright people turned into bullies, thinking they were doing the right thing.

Ultimately, this generation is more emotion-driven than knowledge-driven when it comes to forming opinions and choosing what to follow.

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I think the main issue is we as a generation (assuming you are gen z as well) are actually unwilling to take advice from older generation who actually want to help us not the ones who want to flex or manipulate us. We are way more rebellious because of all the accessible information and jump to conclusions without having proper understanding of it.

I feel this thought process of 'i know it all' which is very dominant in this generation (with not enough proper understanding) causes us harm and makes us one dimensional and very easy to be manipulated with sugar coated words.