Generational Shifts

A while ago a coworker posed an interesting question to me at lunch. Attitudes about social issues have changed a lot in America in the last century. For example, opinions about race shift dramatically between my grandparents’ generation and my parents’ generation, while opinions about gay rights seem to have shifted between my parents’ generation and my own. (Admittedly, these are massive generalizations.) So, the question is, what do you think our children will look back on in 30 years and think we’re wrong about?

My coworker (who isn’t a vegetarian) suggested that it may be ‘eating meat’. That’s possible. Eventually I think this sort of gap will exist around the meaning of the word ‘person’, as that will likely become more complicated as biotechnology and artificial intelligence improves. I think it’ll be more than a generation before that sort of shift happens, though.