Online discourse is not just the death of the soul, because there is so much division bad-faith arguing there, but it is also the death of the mind, because of the unwillingness to engage in any serious conversation. This is most obvious when it comes to inter-generational discourse, because older generations can say whatever they want about the younger generations, always adapting their criticism based on the person or situation presented to them.
For instance, if young people do not drink alcohol, then they are said to be prude, cowards, anti-social, that type of stuff. But whenever there are younger people who do drink a lot of alcohol, they are critiqued for being reckless and irresponsible.
This is the general pattern that unfolds: both extremes can be critiqued and older generations choose whichever is convenient for them to complain about younger people. Of course it is undeniable that extremes are basically always unhealthy, as virtue is about aptness to the context at hand, and people who swing too far in one direction tend to get stuck in that certain mode. But the following examples might perhaps highlight the absurdity of the no-win situation 1 better.
Examples:
None of this means that there aren't real trends and real problems with young people. Obviously, people spending lots of time in front of a screen creates a lot of issues sooner or later, and obviously there are better forms of art being made than others, this is not meant to be a defense of hyper-relativism, and the older generations are correct in pointing out this type of problems.
I gave series of two-sided examples, and it is clear that young people tend to be on one side rather than the other. But my point is that no matter which side became the trend which younger people followed, older people would find a way to complain! It is impossible for the latter to be impressed by the former.
Just think for a moment about what it would take for older generations to be impressed by the new ones. Seriously, what would it take? If you had significantly more young people interested in technology and science for instance, then they would necessarily struggle in other areas of life, because everything has an opportunity cost, since spending time in one field means that you cannot spend that same time in other fields.
And I am willing to bet that even if younger people were essentially perfect, both in their academic life and private life, older people would find a way to complain about this, saying that they aren't relatable as human beings anymore, too obsessed with goals, productivity and self-development as opposed to simply enjoying life. My sincere thought is that complaints always find a way to justify themselves.
The deeper issues with older generations pointing the problems with the newer ones is that, firstly, older people are hardly beacons of virtue either. They are quick to admonish, but not so keen on following their own advice and inspiring others through their life.
Secondly, focusing on what younger generations do wrong is exactly what people who have no confidence or ability to contribute to the world in any notable sense do. Complaining endlessly about everything under the sun is the cynic's favorite pastime, because they have given up on any constructive action.
The only way that younger generations can live better is if they are inspired and supported to do so. People by and large learn through example, not through what people merely say, especially if they bring in a disparaging tone.
I am not a fan of most people of my generation (Gen Z), but then again, I don't think that generations are even the right way to think about collective behavior. I think that by and large, human beings are very unconscious in modern times, and whatever peculiarities a given generation has is more of a reflection of the environment they grew up in, rather than any virtues or vices "innate" to the generation. Discourse of that kind is a waste of time, it's one of the many emergent strategies on social media aimed at making people mad and arguing with one another. Life is too short to engage in that bullshit.
1 There is a similar no-win situation with writing, and how in-depth you discuss a given topic. If you don't give enough explanations or examples, then you are accused of oversimplifying, or of leaving key details or aspects which would totally change the conversation. But if you write too much, then you are accused of overthinking simple matters, flooding the reader with too many examples, and in a way raising suspicion, because only someone with an agenda would need to think and write so much about something to begin with.
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2026-05-04