I sometimes wonder if I would have been better off being born twenty years earlier or twenty years later. I hope, despite being 54, that I am still staying abreast of modern technology. I hope that I keep doing that and do not succumb to the seeming inevitability of older people of saying it was all better when I was young. I see posts like that on Facebook – the things that say: “We had no internet, played out on the street, got the cane but it was a better world. Share if you agree.” To which my response is sexism, racism, homophobia, hidden paedophilia (it is not a modern thing, just that it is now being exposed), corporal punishment and class privilege. No – it was not better and you are not remembering properly and foolish for suggesting it. I do not want to be posting those in twenty years. All I can say to those people is that the memory lies, it was not better – it was simpler and it is hard to cope as the world becomes more complicated when your brain has been wired a certain way in childhood.
The 1950s revival in the 70s epitomises this kind of hazy nostalgia – remembering the good bits and ignoring the problems of the era.
Born twenty years later though I would have missed the threat of nuclear annihilation but would be facing a future of a Climate Crisis where large swathes of the world may be uninhabitable.
My personal skills may have fitted a world before the IT revolution better. I have a very good memory (though sadly not as good as it was), a fast reading speed and the ability to use and evaluate information at speed.
In the world that I started work in before Information Technology took off this was perfect for being an accountant. It was also perfect for passing exams – I have qualifications in subjects that I really have no skills in, but I was able to dredge up enough facts to pass them in an exam situation. They were also skills that made me very good at Trivial Pursuit.
My skills worked better in a world without the internet where having a good memory was a really important skill. No Wikipedia or Shazam. No IMDB or any other resource – remembering what song was called or who an actor was relied on what you could remember and the resources at the local library.
Ultimately, I think that I got it right earlier. Your brain is wired in a certain way due to the nature of the world when it is still plastic. I still read as much as I can, current teenagers seem to be far more visual learners and will search out youtube videos in preference to a Wikipedia article.
We are all doomed to be passed by – the best we can do is hang onto the technology train as long as we can. Society will change and the next generation will handle those changes in ways the previous one is just unable to.
The Boo Radleys are remembered for Wake Up Boo. I heard this on a tape given away with a music magazine (https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/05/26/all-of-these-and-seven-more-wonders-i-will-find/ ). Soaring and awesome.
Memory Babe
Five Miles Out 