Are We Losing Our Curiosity?

Though born at the tail end of Gen X, I never questioned where I belonged. I always felt my generational pull firmly. I’m now a working professional getting my first taste of Gen Z employees. I feel that tug even more strongly.

Growing up as a latch-key kid, I took my sense of independence for granted. For me and most of my peers, both parents worked necessitating us to take on responsibilities at a young age. My parents were fine with me doing extracurricular activities. However, I had to find my own transportation most of the time. We figured things out, mostly because we didn’t have other options. This forced us to be curious, engage with others, and learn how to be resourceful. If I didn’t know something, I hunted around for the answer. Sometimes this meant going to the library or asking other people. We didn’t have the internet.

By contrast, I notice with many Gen Z’s, they just don’t seem as curious. I wonder if this is because they grew up with an abundance of information instantly available, literally at their fingertips, all the time. It’s almost as though the over stimulation desensitized their curiosity muscle. Or maybe they have overload from too much internet, social media, and digital interaction.

Even more surprising to me is the reticence I see in Gen Z’s to take the initiative to look things up. For example, I’m honestly shocked sometimes after interactions with distinctly Gen Z’s because they don’t think to use the internet. This is usually my first instinct. They often seem uncomfortable to ask somebody else. I’m guessing the latter might be because they’ve had so much digital social interaction that reaching out in person probably feels foreign to them.

By contrast, many people I know who are Gen X or even Gen Y, will make attempts to figure things out. They do this either by researching, asking around, or looking things up. This is all done before escalating something or submitting a more formal query. I have a hunch this is because of being raised to be independent from a young age. However, part of being independent also means knowing when to reach out to someone else for assistance. We were, in essence, independent to make those decisions. We weren’t alone, even if we only had a telephone to connect us.